Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tissue-specific somatic stem-cell isolation and characterization from human endometriosis. Key roles in the initiation of endometrial proliferative disorders.

AIM The endometrial-proliferation related diseases leads to endometrial hyperplasia, i.e., endometriosis. Endometrial progenitor and stem cells play key roles in the beginning of endometrial proliferative disorders. The purpose of this study was the isolation of stem cells in the endometriosis lesion as well as the evaluation and comparison of the stemness-related target genes in endometriosis endometrial stem cells (EESCs), normal endometrial stem cell (ESCs), endometrial lesions stem cell (ELSCs) and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). METHODS EESCs, ESCs, ELSCs and MSCs were isolated. Flowcytometry and real-time PCR were utilized to detect the cell surface marker and expression pattern of 16 stemness genes. The proliferation of all stem cells was observed by MTT assay. The differentiation potential was evaluated by alizarin red, oil red O and RT-PCR method. The karyotyping was performed on EESCs and ELSCs at passage 20. RESULTS The unique patterns of gene expression were detected although EESCs, ESCs, ELSCs and MSCs have a background expression of stemness-related genes. Spindle-like morphology, normal karyotype, adipogenic and osteogenic potential, significantly expression of Oct4, SALL4, DPPA2, Sox2, Sox17 and also specific surface markers such as CD44, CD105, CD90, CD73 and CD146 in EESCs and ELSCs was observed. CONCLUSION According to our data, stem cells in endometriosis endometrial and endometriosis are such a informative tools to study of pathogenesis of gynecological diseases. Furthermore, endometrial stem/progenitor cells which easily obtain from tissue may be valuable targets for early diagnosis of endometrial disorders in the future.
The effect of processing temperature on microbial safety and antioxidant activity of minimally processed "raw food"

352 © 2016 National Agricultural and Food Centre (Slovakia) The proponents of healthy lifestyle, particularly vegetarians or vegans, frequently prepare meals from various plant-based ingredients applying moderate temperature of dehydration/drying in order to protect nutritional composition from thermal damage. Numerous recipes for preparing of raw food are available in internet. The preparation of bars or cakes from buckwheat containing various ingredients was the most abundant. A mixture of ingredients is usually allowed to soak in water overnight, and then cakes are prepared and dried in food dehydrator at a moderate temperature. According to the popular book of Russo [1], a propagator of raw food diet, the thermal treatment should not exceed 46 °C, which purportedly keeps the enzymes active and helpful for the further digestion of the meal. It was well described that temperature treatment of raw fruits and vegetables resulted in loss of essential nutrients, and thus decreased the overall quality of the final product [2]. On the other hand, the effect of drying temperature on the content of bioactive components, such as vitamins, carotenoids or phenolic compounds, and the corresponding antioxidant activity was not conclusively established at temperatures ranging from 30 °C to 60 °C [3–9]. For instance, the decrease of ascorbic acid content with the increase of drying temperature was obThe effect of processing temperature on microbial safety and antioxidant activity of minimally processed “raw food”
Generation of N‐ethyl‐N‐nitrosourea‐induced mouse mutants with deviations in plasma enzyme activities as novel organ‐specific disease models

Measurement of plasma enzyme activities is part of routine medical examination protocols and provides valuable parameters for the diagnosis of various organ diseases. In the phenotype‐driven Munich N‐ethyl‐N‐nitrosourea (ENU) mouse mutagenesis project, clinical chemical blood analysis was carried out on more than 20 000 G1 and G3 offspring of chemically mutagenized inbred C3H mice to detect dominant and recessive mutations leading to deviations in the plasma enzyme activities of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, α‐amylase and creatine kinase. We identified a large number of animals that consistently exhibited altered plasma enzyme activities. Transmission of the phenotypic deviations to the subsequent generations led to the successful establishment of mutant lines for each parameter. Breeding experiments in selected lines detected the linkage of the causative mutations to defined chromosomal regions. Subsequently, identification of the mutated genes was successfully carried out in chosen lines, resulting in a novel alkaline phosphatase liver/bone/kidney (Alpl) alteration in one line and the strong indication for a dystrophin (Dmd) alteration in another line. The mouse mutants with abnormal plasma enzyme activities recovered in the Munich ENU project are novel tools for the systematic dissection of the pathogenesis of organ diseases.
Development of a novel proton conducting fuel cell based on a Ni‐YSZ support

A new proton conducting fuel cell design based on the BZCYYb electrolyte is studied in this research. In high performance YSZ based SOFCs, the Ni-YSZ support plays a key role in providing required electrical properties and robust mechanical behavior. In the present study, this well-established Ni-YSZ support is used to maintain the proton conducting fuel cell integrity. The cell is in a Ni-YSZ (375 μm support)/Ni-BZCYYb (20 μm anode functional layer)/BZCYYb (10 μm electrolyte)/LSCF-BZCYYb (25 μm cathode) configuration. Maximum power density values of 166, 218 and 285 mW/cm2 have been obtained at 600, 650 and 700°C, respectively. AC impedance spectroscopy results show values of 2.17, 1.23 and 0.76 Ω•cm2 at these temperatures where the main resistance contributor above 600°C is ohmic resistance. Very fine NiO and YSZ powders were used to achieve a suitable sintering shrinkage which can enhance the electrolyte sintering. During co-sintering of the support and BZCYYb electrolyte layers, the higher shrinkage of the support layer led to compressive stress in the electrolyte, thereby enhancing its densification. The promising results of the current study show that a new generation of proton conducting fuel cells based on the chemically and mechanically robust Ni-YSZ support can be developed which can improve long term performance and reduce fabrication costs of proton conducting fuel cells. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Control architecture for Cybernetic Transportation Systems in urban environments

Nowadays, the insertion of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) in the society is a fact, due to a big number of projects, demonstrations and researches that have been carried out around the world. The Cybernetic Transportation Systems (CTS) are part of the ITS, and these have especial attention thanks to its versatility, adaptability and clean energy characteristics. This paper aims to describe the evolution of the on-demand door-to-door transport systems, with Cybercars, in the framework of the IMARA team. A review of different approaches and the description of the last projects and scenarios with CTSs are considered. This work focuses in a new approach that contemplates a modular architecture, which allows parametric curve generation in real time, considering the different environment conditions-obstacle detections, shape of the road, among others. This architecture has been tested in simulations. These results promise good behavior for its future implementation in real urban scenarios, in the framework of the CityMobil2 project 1.
Sporothriolide derivatives as chemotaxonomic markers for Hypoxylon monticulosum

During the course of a screening for novel anti-infective agents from cultures of tropical Xylariaceae originating from French Guiana and Thailand, pronounced antifungal activity was noted in extracts of cultures of Hypoxylon monticulosum. A bioassay-guided fractionation led to the known metabolite sporothriolide as active principle. In addition, three new derivatives of sporothriolide were isolated, for which we propose the trivial names sporothric acid, isosporothric acid and dihydroisosporothric acid. Their chemical structures were elucidated by high-resolution electrospray mass spectrometry in conjunction with two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D-NMR) spectroscopy. From earlier studies on the biogenesis of the chemically similar canadensolides, we postulate that the new compounds were shunt products, rather than biogenetic precursors of sporothriolide. Interestingly, this compound class, as well as strong antifungal activities, was only observed in multiple cultures of H. monticulosum, but not in several hundreds of Hypoxylon cultures studied previously or concurrently. Therefore, sporothriolide production may constitute a species-specific feature with respect to Hypoxylon and the Xylariaceae, although the compound was previously reported from non-related fungal taxa.
Monocular Hand Pose Estimation Using Variable Metric Gradient-Descent

In this paper, we propose a novel model-based approach to recover 3D hand pose from 2D images through a compact articulated 3D hand model whose parameters are inferred in a Bayesian manner. To this end, we propose generative models for hand and background pixels leading to a loglikelihood objective function which aims at enclosing hand-like pixels within the silhouette of the projected 3D model while excluding background-like pixels.Segmentation and hand pose estimation are unified through the minimization of a single likelihood function, which is novel and improve overall robustness. We derive the gradient in the hand parameter space of such an area-based objective function, which is new and allows faster convergence rate than gradient free methods. Furthermore , we propose a new constrained variable metric gradient descent to speed up convergence and finally the so called smart particle filter is used to improve robustness through multiple hypotheses and to exploit temporal coherence. Very promising experimental results demonstrate the potentials of our approach.
Can internet video-on-demand be profitable?

Video-on-demand in the Internet has become an immensely popular service in recent years. But due to its high bandwidth requirements and popularity, it is also a costly service to provide. We consider the design and potential benefits of peer-assisted video-on-demand, in which participating peers assist the server in delivering VoD content. The assistance is done in such a way that it provides the same user quality experience as pure client-server distribution. We focus on the single-video approach, whereby a peer only redistributes a video that it is currently watching. Using a nine-month trace from a client-server VoD deployment for MSN Video, we assess what the 95 percentile server bandwidth costs would have been if a peer-assisted employment had been instead used. We show that peer-assistance can dramatically reduce server bandwidth costs, particularly if peers prefetch content when there is spare upload capacity in the system. We consider the impact of peer-assisted VoD on the cross-traffic among ISPs. Although this traffic is significant, if care is taken to localize the P2P traffic within the ISPs, we can eliminate the ISP cross traffic while still achieving important reductions in server bandwidth. We also develop a simple analytical model which captures many of the critical features of peer-assisted VoD, including its operational modes.
Snapshot of a Bacterial Microbiome Shift during the Early Symptoms of a Massive Sponge Die-Off in the Western Mediterranean

Ocean warming is affecting marine benthic ecosystems through mass mortality events that involve marine invertebrates, in particular bivalves, corals, and sponges. Among these events, extensive die-offs of Ircinia fasciculata sponges have been recurrently reported in western Mediterranean. The goal of our study was to test whether the temperature-related mass sponge die-offs were associated with or preceded by an early unbalanced bacterial microbiome in the sponge tissues. We took advantage of the early detection of disease and compared the microbiomes of healthy vs. early diseased I. fasciculata tissues. Our results showed a microbiome shift in early diseased tissues. The abundance of Gammaproteobacteria and Acidobacteria increased and that of Deltaproteobacteria decreased in diseased vs. healthy tissues. The change in community composition was also noticeable at the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) level. Diseased tissues contained more bacterial sequences previously identified in injured or stressed sponges and corals than healthy tissues. Bacterial diversity increased significantly in diseased tissues, which contained a higher number of low abundance OTUs. Our results do not support the hypothesis of one particular pathogen, whether a Vibrio or any other bacteria, triggering the Northwestern Mediterranean mass mortalities of I. fasciculata. Our data rather suggest an early disruption of the bacterial microbiome balance in healthy sponges through a shift in OTU abundances, and the purported consequent decline of the sponge fitness and resistance to infections. Opportunistic bacteria could colonize the sponge tissues, taking benefit of the sponge weakness, before one or more virulent pathogens might proliferate ending in the mass sponge die-off.
Development of redundant robot simulator for Avoiding arbitrary obstacles based on semi-analytical method of solving inverse kinematics

A method for solving obstacle avoidance for a redundant robot is proposed in the present paper. Extra degrees of freedom (DOF) of a redundant robot are effective for realizing an objective position and orientation of its end effector (referred to hereafter as "pose"), while the robot is avoiding obstacles. The path should be planned so as that the robot can avoid obstacles and realize the desired goal pose. The models of six elementary types of obstacles are assumed, taking account of real environment. The path planning method proposed herein is divided into three procedures as follows: 1) solving inverse kinematics by an analytical method for avoiding six elementary types of obstacles, 2) solving inverse kinematics by a semi-analytical method for realizing a goal pose, and 3) generating a path from a start pose to the goal one. A computational simulator for a redundant robot to avoid arbitrary obstacles based on these procedures is developed.
On Approximating Multi-Criteria TSP

We present approximation algorithms for almost all variants of the multi-criteria traveling salesman problem (TSP), whose performances are independent of the number $k$ of criteria and come close to the approximation ratios obtained for TSP with a single objective function. We present randomized approximation algorithms for multi-criteria maximum traveling salesman problems (Max-TSP). For multi-criteria Max-STSP, where the edge weights have to be symmetric, we devise an algorithm that achieves an approximation ratio of $2/3 - \varepsilon$. For multi-criteria Max-ATSP, where the edge weights may be asymmetric, we present an algorithm with an approximation ratio of $1/2 - \varepsilon$. Our algorithms work for any fixed number $k$ of objectives. To get these ratios, we introduce a decomposition technique for cycle covers. These decompositions are optimal in the sense that no decomposition can always yield more than a fraction of $2/3$ and $1/2$, respectively, of the weight of a cycle cover. Furthermore, we present a deterministic algorithm for bi-criteria Max-STSP\ that achieves an approximation ratio of $61/243 \approx 1/4$. Finally, we present a randomized approximation algorithm for the asymmetric multi-criteria minimum TSP with triangle inequality (Min-ATSP). This algorithm achieves a ratio of $\log n + \varepsilon$. For this variant of multi-criteria TSP, this is the first approximation algorithm we are aware of. If the distances fulfil the $\gamma$-triangle inequality, its ratio is $1/(1-\gamma) + \varepsilon$.
Ti3C2 MXenes modified with in situ grown carbon nanotubes for enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption properties

Ti3C2Tx MXenes modified with in situ grown carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are fabricated via a simple catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The as-prepared Ti3C2Tx/CNT nanocomposites show that one-dimensional (1D) carbon nanotubes are uniformly distributed in the interlayers of two-dimensional (2D) Ti3C2Tx MXene flakes. Compared with the pristine Ti3C2Tx MXenes, the hierarchical sandwich microstructure makes a contribution to the excellent electromagnetic wave absorption performance in the frequency range of 2–18 GHz, including higher absorption intensity (the minimum reflection coefficient reaches −52.9 dB, ∼99.999% absorption), broader effective absorption bandwidth (4.46 GHz), lower filler loading (35 wt%) and thinner thickness (only 1.55 mm). In addition, with the adjustment of thickness from 1.55 to 5 mm, the effective absorption bandwidth can reach up to 14.54 GHz (3.46–18 GHz). Different absorption mechanisms mainly based on polarization behaviors and conductivity loss are discussed. This work not only proposes the design of a novel electromagnetic wave absorber, but also provides an effective route for extending further the applications of 2D MXene materials in the field of electromagnetic wave absorption.
Evaluation and development of potentially better practices to prevent neonatal nosocomial bacteremia.

OBJECTIVE Six neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) that are members of the Vermont Oxford National Evidence-Based Quality Improvement Collaborative for Neonatology collaborated to reduce infection rates. There were 7 centers in the original focus group, but 1 center left the collaborative after 1 year. The objective of this study was to develop strategies to decrease nosocomial infection rates in NICUs. METHODS The process included a comprehensive literature review, internal practice analyses, benchmark studies, and development of practical experience through rapid-cycle changes, subsequent analysis, and feedback. This process led to 3 summary statements on potentially better practices in handwashing, approach to nosocomial sepsis evaluations, and central venous catheter management. RESULTS These statements provide a basis for an evidence-based approach to lowering neonatal intensive care unit nosocomial infection rates. CONCLUSIONS The 2-year process also led to changes in the culture and habits of the institutions involved, which should in turn have long-term effects on other aspects of quality improvement.
A MAC protocol for ATM over satellite

In this paper we analyse the performance of an Adaptive Random-Reservation Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol which can support all ATM service classes while providing the required Quality of Service (QoS). Our study focuses on parameter optimisation of the multiple access schemes for ATM over a GEO satellite with on-board processing capabilities, considering various traffic mixes of Constant Bit Rate (CBR), real-time VBR (rt-VBR), non-real-time VBR (nrt-VBR) and Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR). It is shown that a TDMA access protocol combining both Random Access and Demand Assignment Multiple Access (DAMA) can achieve a high throughput and is particularly suited for a scenario with a high number of terminals with very bursty UBR traffic (e.g. web browsing). The adaptive MAC protocol was designed to allow statistical multiplexing of ATM traffic over the air interface, especially for the independent and spatially distributed terminals. It is shown that the potential user population which can be served is considerably increased by statistically multiplexing bursty traffic over the air interface.
Potential for Local Fertilization: A Benthocosm Test of Long-Term and Short-Term Effects of Mussel Excretion on the Plankton

Mussel aquaculture has expanded worldwide and it is important to assess its impact on the water column and the planktonic food web to determine the sustainability of farming practices. Mussel farming may affect the planktonic food web indirectly by excreting bioavailable nutrients in the water column (a short-term effect) or by increasing nutrient effluxes from biodeposit-enriched sediments (a long-term effect). We tested both of these indirect effects in a lagoon by using plankton-enclosing benthocosms that were placed on the bottom of a shallow lagoon either inside of a mussel farm or at reference sites with no history of aquaculture. At each site, half of the benthocosms were enriched with seawater that had held mussels (excretion treatment), the other half received non-enriched seawater as a control treatment. We monitored nutrients ([PO43-] and [NH4+]), dissolved oxygen and plankton components (bacteria, the phytoplankton and the zooplankton) over 5 days. We found a significant relationship between long-term accumulation of mussel biodeposits in sediments, water-column nutrient concentrations and plankton growth. Effects of mussel excretion were not detected, too weak to be significant given the spatial and temporal variability observed in the lagoon. Effects of mussels on the water column are thus likely to be coupled to benthic processes in such semi-enclosed water bodies.
Proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Software Develpment Patterns (SDPP'02)

Industrial software engineers need a flexible and modular process model that enables them to combine the benefits of existing process models, methods, techniques, and best practices in a project-specific way. To devise such a process model, a comprehensive and clear notion of software development processes and the corresponding process artifacts is required. Over the last years, we have been working on the concept of process patterns. The underlying meta model and the corresponding description techniques provide a common understanding of all kinds of software development processes and their artifacts, respectively. The proceedings of the 1st Workshop on Software Development Process Patterns harvest best practices, techniques, methods, and development process fragments presented as software development process patterns. Thereby the proceedings combine and relate these patterns, thus making a first step towards a comprehensive process pattern language. This language is based on a common software development process framework, and it includes methodical guidelines on the selection of the appropriate process pattern for a specific situation.
Challenges in Heterogeneous Web Data Analytics - Case Finnish Growth Companies in Social Media

Diverse data about various phenomena are implicitly available in the modern web. In particular websites categorized as social media provide rich and heterogeneous data about various entities such as people, corporations, brands as well as their properties and relationships. An analyst who seeks to leverage this diverse data is faced with the challenge of integrating and making sense of a set of heterogeneous data sources. In this paper, we provide an introduction and a problem statement for heterogeneous web data analytics. To further highlight and discuss practical challenges, we introduce a case study of Finnish growth companies in social media. Instead of a purely data-driven approach, the presented approach is rooted in the idea that an analyst can actively participate in the data collection and integration process, while the process can still retain repeatability and transparency. The key contribution of this paper is the statement of the challenges related to heterogeneous web data analytics.