Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The impact of fluoroquinolone resistance of Gram‐negative bacteria in respiratory secretions on the outcome of lung transplant (non‐cystic fibrosis) recipients

Bacterial airway colonization is frequent among lung transplant recipients. These patients are often treated with antibiotics, which may lead to selection of resistant bacteria. The purpose of this study was to assess whether antibiotic treatment causes acquisition of quinolone‐resistant Gram‐negative bacteria (QR‐GNB), and the effect of such colonization on mortality and on lung rejection. We retrospectively examined data from non‐cystic fibrosis, non‐bronchiectases lung transplant recipients for antibiotic treatment, GNB in respiratory secretions, bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), and mortality. Of 126 patients included, 86 patients had QR‐GNB, 22 had quinolone‐sensitive bacteria (QS‐GNB), and 17 had no growth. Median antibiotic exposure, defined as the fraction of days with antibiotic treatment, was 2.8% in patients without growth, 11.1% in patients with QS‐GNB (p = 0.012), and 26% in patients with QR‐GNB (p < 0.0001). Age‐adjusted mortality hazard ratio was 9.2 (95% CI 1.272–78.9) for patients with QR‐GNB compared with QS‐GNB. Age‐adjusted hazard ratios for BOS was 3.7 (95% CI 1.33–10.3) for QR‐GNB compared with QS‐GNB. We found a positive correlation between antibiotic treatment and emergence of QR‐GNB. Airway colonization with QR‐GNB was significantly associated with mortality and with BOS. Further research is needed to determine whether a change in antibiotic subscription policy is required.
Cooperative co-evolution of configuration and control for modular robots

The general approach in modular robots is to hand design the morphology, and then optimizes the controller of the structure for a given task. Evolutionary robotics has proposed evolution as a bio-inspired approach to overcome the limitations of human intuition in designing robots; theoretically, the resulting structures will be better adapted. In this work, we propose an approach based on cooperative co-evolutionary genetic algorithms to design configurations and controllers for homogenous robots implicitly to support self-reconfiguration, The algorithm introduces some elements to make finding solutions easier and faster by co-evolving two populations; a population of motions sequence to search a sequence of movements that can rearrange a given modular configuration into a new one that suits a different task defined by its desired function and a population of homogenous fixed topology ANNs for the controllers to perform locomotion as a behavior evolved using genetic algorithm based on standard deviation norm. The modular robots are evaluated in a simulation environment implemented with NVidia physics engine; PhysX. The experiments carried out in this work show that co-evolving both the configuration and the controllers positively contributes to the robot's performance and optimizes its locomotion behavior.
Two-Dimensional Nanopore And Nanoporous Devices For Molecular Sensing And Ion Selectivity

Nanopore-based devices provide the ability to detect, analyze and manipulate molecules by monitoring changes in ionic current and sieving molecules dissolved in an electrolyte. While devices with single nanopores can be used as molecular sensors and analyzers, including as a possible high-throughput DNA sequencer, devices with multiple nanopores (nanoporous devices) can be used to filter out ions from solutions, with possible use in water desalination. Sensitivity and molecular flux can be enhanced by using two-dimensional (2D) materials, like graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), as the nanopore membrane. However, these devices face challenges yet to be solved, including (a) fast DNA translocation velocity through 2D nanopores that limits temporal resolution required to achieve DNA sequencing, and (b) sensitive fabrication techniques that prevents large-scale commercialization of such devices. Additionally, TMD nanoporous membranes have been predicted to possess higher permeability of water molecules than their graphene counterparts, but no related experiments have been presented. In this dissertation, we explore not only ways to tackle the stated limitations, but also perform ion selectivity measurements through ion-irradiated TMD nanoporous devices. First, we investigate ionic flow and associated leakage currents in voltage-gated graphene nanopores predicted to help slow down DNA translocation velocity. We extract important parameters that can help reduce leakage currents while enhancing the signal strength and gating control. Next, we report DNA detection with high sensitivity through monolayer tungsten disulfide (WS2) nanopores fabricated via electron-beam drilling and observe laser irradiation induced expansion of the pore, which we are able to control with nanometer precision. Follow-up experiments are performed, wherein we characterize this technique by irradiating intact suspended WS2 membranes to fabricate nanoporous membranes and measure dependence of the induced defect sizes and density on laser power density. This process can be finetuned in future studies to enable facile creation of both nanopores and nanoporous devices based on TMDs. Additionally, we study and calibrate sub-nm defect formation in suspended molybdenum disulfide membranes using ion-beam irradiation. Ionic current characterization of the devices exhibits selective ionic transport, thus laying experimental foundation for future studies on TMD-based nanoporous devices for water desalination. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Electrical & Systems Engineering This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn. edu/edissertations/2722 First Advisor Marija Drndic
Excitation and abundance study of CO + in the interstellar medium

Context. Observations of CO + suggest column densities on the order 10 12 cm −2 that can not be reproduced by many chemical models. CO + is more likely to be destroyed than excited in collisions with hydrogen. An anomalous excitation mechanism may thus have to be considered when interpreting CO + observations. Other uncertainties in models are the chemical network, the gas temperature or the geometry of the emitting source. Similar is true for other reactive ions that will be observed soon with the Herschel Space Observatory. Aims. Chemical constraints are explored for observable CO + abundances. The influence of an anomalous excitation mechanism on CO + line intensities is investigated. Model results are compared to observations. Methods. Chemical models are used to perform a parameter study of CO + abundances. Line fluxes are calculated for N(CO + ) = 10 12 cm −2 and different gas densities and temperatures using a non–LTE escape probability method. The chemical formation and destruction rates are considered explicitly in the detailed balance equations of the radiative transfer. In addition, the rotational levels of CO + are assumed to be excited upon chemical formation according to a formation temperature. Collisional excitation by atomic and molecular hydrogen as well as by electrons is studied for conditions appropriate to dense photon-dominated regions (PDRs) and star-forming environments.
Possible advantages of silicon carbide in electrolyte-layer free fuel cell

In the history of fuel cell since the invention and demonstration of Sir William Grove in 1839, several challenges have been faced by the technology. Some of the challenges are related to capital and operational costs of the technology while many other challenges are related to the operational mechanism [1-4]. To solve these challenges, several attempts have been made by researchers from different perspectives. In order to improve the operation of the devices, new materials have been investigated to improve the functionality. All of the fuel cell devices have their activation energies which can be calculated from performance plot of the device. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) also needs activation energy to perform the redox reactions. Electrolyte-layer free fuel cell (EFFC) is a relatively new technology into the SOFC, invented in 2010 by Bin Zhu and colleagues [5,6]. EFFC has several advantages over other fuel cell types; it has several challenges as well which need to be addressed with the passage of time. One of them is the activation energy of the device and time expansion to activate the inner and outer body of the device. Usually, it happens that core part of the device takes longer time to be activated as compared to the outer part. This could be due to less thermal conductivity of the materials that are used to fabricate the devices. It is suggested here that if a material with higher thermal conductivity could be mixed homogeneously in the semiconductor-ionic material of the EFFC before its fabrication, it may affect positively on the performance of the device because the material may help the device to activate internally and externally faster due to fast heat conduction.
Dynamosaicing: Mosaicing of Dynamic Scenes

This paper explores the manipulation of time in video editing, which allows us to control the chronological time of events. These time manipulations include slowing down (or postponing) some dynamic events while speeding up (or advancing) others. When a video camera scans a scene, aligning all the events to a single time interval will result in a panoramic movie. Time manipulations are obtained by first constructing an aligned space-time volume from the input video, and then sweeping a continuous 2D slice (time front) through that volume, generating a new sequence of images. For dynamic scenes, aligning the input video frames poses an important challenge. We propose to align dynamic scenes using a new notion of "dynamics constancy," which is more appropriate for this task than the traditional assumption of "brightness constancy. " Another challenge is to avoid visual seams inside moving objects and other visual artifacts resulting from sweeping the space-time volumes with time fronts of arbitrary geometry. To avoid such artifacts, we formulate the problem of finding optimal time front geometry as one of finding a minimal cut in a 4D graph, and solve it using max-flow methods.
Design of a RESTful Web Information System for Drug Prescription and Administration

Drug prescription and administration processes strongly impact on the occurrence of risks in medical settings for they can be sources of adverse drug events (ADEs). A properly engineered use of information and communication technologies has proven to be a promising approach to reduce these risks. In this study, we propose PHARMA, a web information system which supports healthcare staff in the secure cooperative execution of drug prescription, transcription and registration tasks. PHARMA allows the easy sharing and management of documents containing drug-related information (i.e., drug prescriptions, medical reports, screening), which is often inconsistent and scattered across different information systems and heterogeneous organization domains (e.g., departments, other hospital facilities). PHARMA enables users to access such information in a consistent and secure way, through the adoption of REST and web-oriented design paradigms and protocols. We describe the implementation of the PHARMA prototype, and we discuss the results of the usability evaluation that we carried out with the staff of a hospital in Florence, Italy.
The Effect of Depressive Symptoms and CD4 Count on Adherence to Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy in Sub-Saharan Africa

Background: Studies have identified several programmatic and nonprogrammatic indicators that affect adherence to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Depression has been shown to impact adherence to HAART. This cross-sectional analysis of data collected from Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and Tanzania in 2008 examined the relationship between levels of depressive symptoms, clinical progression, and adherence to HAART. Methods: A multinational, multicenter, observational, retrospective cross-sectional evaluation of a population of focus comprised randomly selected patients on HAART. The dependent variable was adherence to HAART. The primary variable of interest to be assessed was patients’ level of depressive symptom score. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to examine the relationship between explanatory variables and adherence to HAART. Results: A total of 2344 patients were recruited for adherence survey. About 70% of the study sample reported having some level of depression. Logistic regression results show that patients who reported, respectively, low, moderate, and high levels of depressive symptoms are 35% (P < .001), 56% (P < .001), and 64% (P < .001) less likely to adhere to HAART than those who reported having no depressive symptoms. At multivariate analysis, adherence to HAART was independently associated with the levels of depressive symptoms, older age, CD4 count >200 cells/mm3, Truvada (tenofovir [TDF]/emtricitabine [FTC])-based regimens, good knowledge about HAART, and longer period on therapy. Conclusions: These results indicate that mental health and clinical parameters are significant factors in determining patients’ adherence to their HAART, which need to be more aggressively addressed as a critical component of care and treatment support.
A retinex-based enhancing approach for single underwater image

Since the light is absorbed and scattered while traveling in water, color distortion, under-exposure and fuzz are three major problems of underwater imaging. In this paper, a novel retinex-based enhancing approach is proposed to enhance single underwater image. The proposed approach has mainly three steps to solve the problems mentioned above. First, a simple but effective color correction strategy is adopted to address the color distortion. Second, a variational framework for retinex is proposed to decompose the reflectance and the illumination, which represent the detail and brightness respectively, from single underwater image. An effective alternating direction optimization strategy is adopted to solve the proposed model. Third, the reflectance and the illumination are enhanced by different strategies to address the under-exposure and fuzz problem. The final enhanced image is obtained by combining use the enhanced reflectance and illumination. The enhanced result is improved by color correction, lightens dark regions, naturalness preservation, and well enhanced edges and details. Moreover, the proposed approach is a general method that can enhance other kinds of degraded image, such as sandstorm image.
Considering fluctuations of material properties, stainless steel 1.4301, on manufacturability of kitchen sinks

In production of deep drawn sheet metal parts, it is often challenging to achieve a robust process. Especially in the production of kitchen sinks made out of stainless steel, the fluctuation of the process and material properties often lead to robustness problems. Therefore, numerical simulations are used to detect critical regions. To keep a constant product quality, process control is realised based on metamodels, which are computed by means of a series of finite element simulations. In order to enhance the forecast capability of the simulation model and to increase the reliability of quality features, the yield curve, the yield locus and the forming limit curve (FLC) of different suppliers are measured with tensile, bulge and Nakazima experiments. Because of the large deformation capability of stainless steels, large drawing depths can be achieved. However, the classic Nakazima geometries are not distributed homogenously in the forming limit diagram (FLD). To overcome this shortcoming, a shape optimization of the Nakazima specimen has been performed. Furthermore the influence of alloying elements on the hardening behaviour and on the FLC are analysed. In addition, the measured FLC-T (temperature dependent FLC) conducted with heated Nakazima tests is compared with the computed FLC-T with the modified maximum force criterion (MMFC).
Differential Recognition of TLR-Dependent Microbial Ligands in Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells1

Bronchial epithelial cells represent the first line of defense against invading airborne pathogens. They are important contributors to innate mucosal immunity and provide a variety of antimicrobial effectors. However, mucosal surfaces are prone to contact with pathogenic, as well as nonpathogenic microbes, and therefore, immune recognition principles have to be tightly controlled to avoid uncontrolled permanent activation. TLRs have been shown to recognize conserved microbial patterns and to mediate inducible activation of innate immunity. Our experiments demonstrate that bronchial epithelial cells express functional TLR1–6 and TLR9 and thus make use of a common principle of professional innate immune cells. Although it was observed that TLR2 ligands dependent on heterodimeric signaling either with TLR1 or TLR6 were functional, other ligands like lipoteichoic acid were not. Additionally, it was found that bronchial epithelial cells could be stimulated only marginally by Gram-positive bacteria bearing known TLR2 ligands while Gram-negative bacteria were easily recognized. This correlated with low expression of TLR2 and the missing expression of the coreceptor CD36. Transgenic expression of both receptors restored responsiveness to the complete set of TLR2 ligands and Staphylococcus aureus. Additional gene-array experiments confirmed hyporesponsiveness to this bacterium while Pseudomonas aeruginosa and respiratory syncytial virus induced common, as well as pathogen-specific, sets of genes. The findings indicate that bronchial epithelium regulates its sensitivity to recognize microbes by managing receptor expression levels. This could serve the special needs of controlled microbial recognition in mucosal compartments.
Faultprog: Testing the Accuracy of Binary-Level Software Fault Injection

Off-The-Shelf (OTS) software components are the cornerstone of modern systems, including safety-critical ones. However, the dependability of OTS components is uncertain due to the lack of source code, design artifacts and test cases, since only their binary code is supplied. Fault injection in components’ binary code is a solution to understand the risks posed by buggy OTS components. In this paper, we consider the problem of the accurate mutation of binary code for fault injection purposes. Fault injection emulates bugs in high-level programming constructs (assignments, expressions, function calls, .) by mutating their translation in binary code. However, the semantic gap between the source code and its binary translation often leads to inaccurate mutations. We propose Faultprog, a systematic approach for testing the accuracy of binary mutation tools. Faultprog automatically generates synthetic programs using a stochastic grammar, and mutates both their binary code with the tool under test, and their source code as reference for comparisons. Moreover, we present a case study on a commercial binary mutation tool, where Faultprog was adopted to identify code patterns and compiler optimizations that affect its mutation accuracy.
Customer Loyalty and Supplier Quality Competition

We develop a model of customer choice in response to random variation in quality. The choice model yields closed-form expressions which reflect the effect of competing suppliers' service quality on the long-run fraction of purchases a customer makes at the various competitors. We then use the expressions as the basis of simple normative models for suppliers seeking to maximize their long-run average profits. The results provide insight into the effect of switching behavior on the service levels offered by competing suppliers.
A Uyghur Morpheme Analysis Method based on Conditional Random Fields

Morpheme analysis is very important for Uyghur language processing. Morpheme analysis of Uyghur is quite different from other language, for this task the keys include feature selection and the design of a morpheme annotated corpus . In this paper we propose a new statistical-based Uyghur morpheme analysis method by using Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) model. The preliminary experiment results demonstrate that the proposed method is effective;the F-measure of morpheme analysis reaches 87% in the open test.
Robust control with disturbance observer for twisted and coiled polymer actuator

A twisted and coiled polymer actuator can be easily fabricated by commercially available fishing line. It can be actuated by heating and generate large and flexible deformation. The actuator using conductive nylon fibers can be activated by Joule heating and easily controlled; however, actuator dynamics exhibit nonlinear property. Also, dynamic is varied by several conditions such as an external load, a wind speed and the fabrication method. Therefore, controllers should realize good robustness and high tracking performance. In this research, a control system using the disturbance observer was applied to solve these problems. The nominal model was identified by using input-output data and a disturbance observer was designed to compensate the external disturbance based on the nominal model. The validity of the applied method was investigated through numerical simulations and experiments. Numerical simulations and experiments confirmed that the tracking performance and robustness is improved by the feedback system with the disturbance observer.
Research of hydration heat of Portland cement used in bridge construction of Kerch Strait

The article discusses issues related to the study of heat generation of cements used in the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait. This problem seems to be important because of the construction of the mentioned object in conditions of a dry hot climate. The study was conducted with the use of modern information and analytical systems in real time, allowing obtaining results close to real conditions. On the basis of comparative analysis of the calculation and practical measurement of heat the main conclusions of the work were done, recommendations on the use of cements of various types in the construction of the bridge Kerch and other similar extra-curricular facilities that are included in the basis of the developed technological regulations for the production of preparatory, reinforcement, formwork and concrete works in circumstance of year-round construction.
"N-acyliminium ion pool" as a heterodiene in [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction.

[reaction: see text] An N-acyliminium ion pool was found to undergo cycloaddition reaction with a variety of dienophiles such as alkenes and alkynes. A concerted mechanism seems to be most likely for alkyl-substituted alkenes as suggested by the DFT calculations, whereas a stepwise mechanism plays the major role for aryl-substituted alkenes. It is also noteworthy that the present study demonstrates the potential of the combination of the cation pool method and the micromixing in both mechanistic and synthetic aspects.
The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment

The status of experimental tests of general relativity and of theoretical frameworks for analyzing them is reviewed and updated. Einstein’s equivalence principle (EEP) is well supported by experiments such as the Eötvös experiment, tests of local Lorentz invariance and clock experiments. Ongoing tests of EEP and of the inverse square law are searching for new interactions arising from unification or quantum gravity. Tests of general relativity at the post-Newtonian level have reached high precision, including the light deflection, the Shapiro time delay, the perihelion advance of Mercury, the Nordtvedt effect in lunar motion, and frame-dragging. Gravitational wave damping has been detected in an amount that agrees with general relativity to better than half a percent using the Hulse-Taylor binary pulsar, and a growing family of other binary pulsar systems is yielding new tests, especially of strong-field effects. Current and future tests of relativity will center on strong gravity and gravitational waves.