Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fadu head and neck squamous cell carcinoma induces hyperexcitability of primary sensory neurons in an in vitro coculture model

Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. Squamouscell carcinoma cells promoted an inflammatory microenvironment and induced sensitization of both human and rat dorsal root ganglion neurons in patch clamp electrophysiology recordings. Abstract Introduction: Currently, cancer pain is viewed as a process orchestrated by the release of pronociceptive molecules and the invasion of neural structures, referred to as perineural invasion (PNI). Cancer pain resulting from PNI is well-documented, but the mechanisms leading to peripheral sensitization because of tumor growth are not fully known. Methods: A retrospective study was used to examine how the use of anti-inflammatory medications affected preoperative pain in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma cancer. We then used an in vitro coculture model in which dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons were incubated together with Fadu human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cancer cells to explore how cancer cells affect the electrical membrane properties of sensory neurons. Results: We found that inflammation contributes to preoperative pain in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. After coculture with Fadu human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cancer cells, we identified markers of inflammation in coculture media and found evidence of neuronal sensitization, including spontaneous activity, reduced current thresholds, depolarized resting membrane potential, and enhanced responses to current stimulation in human and rat DRG neurons. In rats, these effects were influenced by sex and age: neurons from young adult female rats were resistant to changes in neuronal activity, in contrast to neurons from older adult female rats or male rats of either age group. Conclusions: Pro-inflammatory substances released in cancer cell–DRG coculture promoted neuronal hyperexcitability and may contribute to cancer pain after PNI, and these effects may differ across age groups and sexes.
Real-time respiratory motion compensation of the liver using 4D ultrasound and GPU

Poster: "ECR 2015 / B-0856 / Real-time respiratory motion compensation of the liver using 4D ultrasound and GPU" by: "J. Banerjee, C. Klink, E. D. Peters, W. J. Niessen, A. Moelker, T. V. Walsum; Rotterdam/NL"
Modulation of Prosthetic Ankle Plantarflexion Through Direct Myoelectric Control of a Subject-Optimized Neuromuscular Model

The ideal neuroprosthetic control paradigm minimizes disparities in dynamic performance and subjective embodiment between artificial and intact physiology. In this letter, we address the former by introducing the Activation Mapping paradigm, a cascaded optimization procedure that enables a subject with unilateral transtibial amputation to neurally modulate the torque developed during prosthetic ankle plantarflexion. Specifically, in the first stage, the optimization procedure develops a digital locomotor clone that recovers symmetric gait dynamics for the hypothetical subject prior to amputation. In the second stage, the resultant ankle torque-angle trajectory serves as a reference to optimize over the morphological parameters of a neuromuscular ankle model. The optimized model contains a single agonist-antagonist muscle pair driven by a recording of the subject’s within-socket walking electromyograms that reproduces the reference ankle dynamics. In this manner, the subject’s natural residual muscular activations are mapped to their idealized gait dynamics to form a one degree-of-freedom neuromuscular ankle controller. The subsequent implementation of the activation map on a powered ankle prosthesis enables the subject to not only generate physiological ankle dynamics to increase their self-selected walking speed from 1.22 m/s to 1.33 m/s, but also to volitionally perform bilaterally symmetric standing calf raises while balancing for at least 2.0 seconds.
A fully Eulerian approach to fluid-solid interaction in elasto-capillarity

The interaction of an elastic substrate with liquid droplets is at small length scales dominated by surface tension forces. Understanding how these forces deform the solid is crucial for the design of new materials, structures and fabrication techniques. In this work, we present a fully Eulerian approach to the interaction between a two-phase fluid and an incompressible solid [1,2]. The solid-fluid interface is represented by a matched Finite-element grid and moved in the typical Arbitrary-Lagrangian–Eulerian way. As all equations are formulated in a Eulerian frame of reference, we obtain a single momentum equation including the solid and both fluid materials, which is very simple to solve monolithically. We illustrate the numerical robustness of this novel method and compare it to recent experimental and numerical results. We conclude with first numerical simulations of a two-phase fluid interacting with a viscoelastic Kelvin-Voigt solid.
A PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF MASTER

Risk management is at the core of all insurance firms, both locally and globally. To a great extent, threats posed by poor risk management have led to massive insurance claims towards insurers leading to a reduced performance by such firms. The study's objective was to establish the influence of risk management practices on the performance of insurance firms in Kenya. The study is anchored on the Contingency theory of enterprise risk management, open systems theory, and institutional theory. A descriptive survey design was embraced. All the fifty-six (56) registered insurers for the period ended 2019 were contacted for the study. The research adopted primary besides secondary data. Preliminary data were obtained through structured questionnaires filled by underwriting managers or the equivalent in each firm. Secondary data was sourced from IRA industry annual reports designed for the last five years, 2015-2019. Data analysis was performed through descriptive and inferential statistics, correlation analysis alongside multiple regression. The findings established a statistically significant correlation between Risk Monitoring/Control and Performance (r=0.755, p-value=0.000). Risk mitigation was also found to significantly influence the performance of Kenyan registered insurers (r=0.435, p-value=0.001). A significant positive relationship was also established between Risk Identification and the performance of insurance companies in Kenya (r=0.355, p-value=0.010). However, Risk Assessment was established to have an inconsequential influence on Kenyan registered insurers' performance (r=0.207, p-value=0.140). The collective influence of Risk Management techniques on the insurers' performance was established to be positively significant. The study has contributed towards theory by researchers, policy alongside management gaining a vibrant picture of the effect of Peril Supervision techniques on Processes. Therefore, the study recommends underwriting firms implement risk management practices through good data mining techniques and enhanced artificial intelligence systems to help capture real-life information on risk management practices. The research also recommends the implementation of risk management practices since they have been established to influence performance. The study was limited due to its adoption of a cross-sectional survey design and was conducted in the insurance subsector, not the entire financial sector. Hence, the study recommends that future
From Old To New: An Analysis of Changes Between The Old and New Regime of Indonesian Investment Treaties

International Investment Law as a system relies heavily on the treaties applicable on a case-by-case basis. Most often these treaties are Bilateral Investment Treaties, treaties negotiated between States which offer to promote and protect investment in the two States Party. These treaties are responsible for promoting and protecting billions of dollars’ worth of investments and as such when a country as economically involved in a large region as Indonesia discontinues its existing BITs in hopes of renegotiating a “better” treaty, the situation warrants scrutiny. In 2014, the Government of Indonesia chose to terminate many of the existing BITs, and in 2018, the first of the wave of renegotiated BITs have appeared in the form of the 2018 Indonesia-Singapore BIT. The differences between the old and new BIT must be properly analyzed in order to approximate what impact these new BITs could have on the investment regime in Indonesia.
Volunteers on horseback: initial evaluation

Volunteers on horseback is a scheme set up as part of the Northamptonshire Police Rural Action agenda. Envisaged as a way to align public input into policing with individual hobbies and interests, the scheme invites ‘responsible horse owners’ who regularly hack around their local area, to sign up and ‘help keep rural communities safe’. This report offers insight into the current operation of the scheme in practice, from the perspective of those involved. This will be explored through interview findings across a range of themes informed by (i) ‘Northamptonshire Police Policy on Horse Riding Initiatives’; and (ii) current literature and practice. Consideration shall also be given to other mounted police schemes: PCSOs on horseback, and special constables on horseback.
An exploration of the health promotion activities implemented by universities: have we got the right balance?

ABSTRACT Guidelines for implementing health promotion programmes within university settings outline key action areas for addressing health concerns. Further guidance is needed to help manage specific health promotion activities according to the needs and resources available to universities. Decisions about allocating resources to improve employee health depend on diverse factors such as the workplace, industry, country, and employee. A more nuanced understanding of health promotion programme implementation should help universities address the alarming rates of occupational stress reported among employees. This present study develops a taxonomy to help universities implement appropriate activities. Content analysis and interview findings highlight the importance of communication between workplaces and employees to determine the motivations for adopting health promotion activities. Collaboration between an extensive network of stakeholders will likely ensure that appropriate activities are available, supported, and implemented to target employee health concerns.
Design and Characterization of Various Circuit Topologies for Battery/Ultracapacitor Hybrid Energy Storage Systems.

GOVINDARAJ, ARVIND. Design and Characterization of Various Circuit Topologies for Battery/Ultracapacitor Hybrid Energy Storage Systems. (Under the direction of Dr. Srdjan M. Lukic). There is a good possibility that plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles will have an increasing role in the future. One of the key limiting factors in the performance of such vehicles is the performance of the energy source. A single battery technology which can meet the complete range of requirements (high instantaneous power and high energy density) is ideal; but such an ideal battery does not exist yet. A hybrid power pack consisting of batteries and ultracapacitors has the advantage of combining high energy capability (batteries) with high power capability (ultracapacitor). The objective of this thesis is to design and characterize topologies for effectively combining batteries (focused on Li-Ion technology) and ultracapacitors. Existing circuit topologies have been characterized; new variants and a new topology have been proposed. Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) topologies have been classified as passive and active types. Performance of passive HESS topologies (direct paralleling and paralleling with an inductance) have been characterized. Active HESS topologies; primarily the classic buck-boost converter and variants (Battery Facing Load and Ultracapacitor Facing Load) are analyzed and a design method is presented. A novel contribution of this work has been defining clearly the 2 major variants of this converter and discussing their merits and demerits. An interleaved version of the buck-boost converter is proposed. An experimental platform was constructed to verify performance of these topologies. A new topology which attempts to improve performance over the existing topologies and makes efficient use of the ultracapacitor in the HESS has been presented. The design of a new battery management system which was required for HESS experiments and research on battery modeling has also been presented in this thesis. Design and Characterization of Various Circuit Topologies for Battery/Ultracapacitor Hybrid Energy Storage Systems by Arvind Govindaraj A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fullfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science Electrical Engineering Raleigh, North Carolina 2010
Effects of Abdominal Microcurrent in the Consumption and Proportion of Energy Substrates during Aerobic Exercise: A Pilot Study

Microcurrent therapy can increase lipolytic activity. However, it is unknown if the increased availability of lipids can influence the selection of energy substrates during a single session of aerobic exercise. We aimed to analyze the effect of microcurrent application to the abdominal region in the consumption of lipids and carbohydrates, and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) during a single session of moderate aerobic exercise in young adults. A pilot study was conducted in which participants were allocated to intervention (IG) or placebo (PG) groups. In both groups, 40 min of microcurrent application with two frequencies (25 and 10 Hz) followed by 50 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (45–55% of heart rate reserve) on a cycloergometer were performed. The microcurrent application was performed without intensity in the PG. A portable gas analyzer (K4b2) was used during exercise in both groups. Thirty-eight participants (20.6 ± 1.8 years; 18 in IG and 20 in PG) were enrolled. There were no significant differences in the consumption of substrates or RER between the groups during exercise (p > 0.05). Microcurrent application seems to be insufficient to influence the consumption of energy substrates and RER during a single session of aerobic exercise in young adults.
Performance analysis of FSO systems in lognormal-Rician turbulence with pointing errors

In this paper, an approximate closed-form probability density function expression for the lognormal-Rician atmospheric turbulence with generalized pointing errors model is developed using a series representation. To reveal the importance of the proposed approximation, the approximate analytic expressions of the ergodic capacity and outage probability are derived for free-space optical (FSO) systems over such channels. Also, by using the obtained asymptotic ergodic capacity expressions, the impact of pointing errors on the ergodic capacity is considerably mitigated by selecting the optimum beam width at the transmitter side. All of the derived analytical results are confirmed by Monte Carlo simulation results.
INNOVATIVE AUTOMATED ADHESIVE BONDING PROCESS IN THE WOOD INDUSTRY

The glueing operation represents a very critical phase in the production processes typical of the wood industry, as it affects the products quality level and is a tiring and dangerous task for the operators. In this work, taking as a starting point the production process adopted in a small firm operating in the furniture sector, an optimization of the prefabrication operations has been carried out and an automated solution has been conceived for the execution of glueing on wood parts. Specific automated equipment has been developed able to carry out the clamping functions and the locking of components in desiccation phase. Materials loading/unloading operations are instead carried out by hand. To the theoretical development of the equipment follows the prototypal installation on which clamping mechanisms have been tested and optimized.
Prescribed-Time Control of Vehicular Platoons Based on a Disturbance Observer

This brief focuses on the problem of prescribed-time platoon control for vehicles with external disturbances. First, a novel disturbance observer is developed, which can accurately estimate the disturbance with zero estimation error within a specified time. Then, a prescribed-time control scheme is proposed, by employing the disturbance observer and sliding mode control method. It is proved that the given control scheme can not only ensure the tracking errors converge to the origin in the prescribed time, but also the settling time can be preassigned by assigning a simple parameter within physically allowable range. Meanwhile, the prescribed-time string stability of the platoon is also guaranteed. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme is illustrated by numerical simulations.
‘High nitrogen‐fixing rates associated with ground‐covering mosses in a tropical mountain cloud forest will decrease drastically in a future climate’

1. Tropical mountain cloud forests (TMCF) harbour a high bryophyte (mosses and liverworts) biomass and diversity. Furthermore, the high air humidity makes these forests well suited for bryophyte-associated nitrogen (N 2 ) fixation by cyanobacteria, providing a potentially important source of N input to the ecosystem. However, few studies have assessed bryophyte-associated N input in these ecosystems, and these have focused on epiphytic bryophytes, whereas abundant ground-covering bryophytes have not been included. 2. In this study, we quantified N 2 fixation rates associated with bryophytes,
Model reference adaptive vector control for induction motor without speed sensor

The wide applications of vector control improve the high-accuracy performance of alternating current (AC) adjustable speed system. In order to obverse the full-order flux and calculate the real-time speed, this article introduces the motor T equivalent circuit to build a full-order flux observer model, where the current and flux variables of stator and rotor are adopted. Model reference adaptive control is introduced to build the AC motor flux observer. The current output is used as feedback to build the feedback matrix. The calculation method of motor speed, which is part of the inputs of flux observation, is applied to realize the adaptive control. The concept of characteristic function is introduced to calculate the flux, of which the foundation is the variables of composite form of voltage and current models. The characteristic function is deduced as a relative-state variable function. The feedback matrix is improved and designed to ensure the motor flux observer is a smooth switch between current and voltage model in low and high speeds, respectively. Experimental results show that the feedback and characteristic model are feasible, and the vector control with speed sensorless based on the full-order flux observer has better performance and anti-disturbance.
Fabrication of Sub-10 nm Metallic Structures via Nanomasking Technique for Plasmonic Enhancement Applications

One area of nanoscience that has become popular in recent years is the study of optics at the nanoscale. Due to enhanced fabrication techniques, new geometries and improved dimensional resolutions have been allowing the creation of nanostructures for use in this area. Nanoscale geometries cause unique optical effects such as enhancement of the signal’s electric field strength at the surface of a substrate. Specifically, structures separated by nanogaps (10 nm and smaller) have been shown to exhibit strong field enhancement within the gaps. This has opened up the potential for surface enhanced spectroscopies, enhanced absorption for photovoltaics, and improved sensing and detection technologies. This work discusses a new fabrication technique to create nanostructures and nanogaps below the resolution limit of the lithography system used, down to sub-10 nm dimensions. This involves a sacrificial mask, and thus has been dubbed the “nanomasking” technique. This technique increases the previously demonstrated capabilities by enabling fabrication of many nanogaps that are below the resolution limit of the lithography system over a wafer-scale area. It also provides the unique ability to create sub-lithography limited nanostructures both with and without adjacent nanogaps. Various geometries have been fabricated using the technique, demonstrating its versatility. Results show promise for the possibility of using nanomasking to create optical enhancement devices. The broad range of fabrication capabilities of the technique may allow it to be useful in many other areas of nanotechnology as well. It makes it easier to fabricate nanostructures across a greater surface area. This is crucial for newly developed nanofabrication methods if they are to benefit future technology or manufacturing processes.
Synthesis and Characterization Nanosilica from Geothermal Waste by Wet Grinding Method as an Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)

In this study, nanosilica for Enhanced Oil Recovey (EOR) has been successfully synthesized using geothermal waste. The method used is wet grinding method with deposition time variations to determine its effect on time deposition on particle size. Characterization using X-Ray Fluoroscene (XRF), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were also carried out to determine the characteristics of the material. Wettability of nanosilica then was confirmed by contact angle test. Based on the results, it was shown that the purified silica has silica content up to 98.85% with an amorphous phase. The results of Particle Size Analyzer (PSA) show that deposition time determines nanoparticles size. The longer time deposition, the smaller particles can be produced with the best result at 4 days deposition because it can produced the smallest particle at 71.5 nm. The morphology of nanosilica is granular that has been confirmed by SEM. Contact angle test reveals that nanosilica geothermal waste has ability to change wettability. Nanosilica can decrease contact angel of crude oil from 23,3o to 13,9o.
A spacetime formulation for unsteady aerodynamics with geometry and topology changes

A spacetime formulation is presented to solve unsteady aerodynamic problems involving large deformation or topological change such as store separation, slat and flap deployment or spoiler deflection. This technique avoids complex CFD meshing methods, such as Chimera, by the use of a finite-volume approach both in space and time, and permits a locally varying real timestep. The use of a central-difference scheme in the time direction can yield non-physical transient solutions as a consequence of information travelling backwards in time. Therefore, an upwind formulation is provided and validated against one-dimensional and two-dimensional test cases. A hybrid formulation (central in space, upwind in time) is also given and unsteady cases are computed for a spoiler and spoiler/flap deployment, with all three formulations compared, demonstrating that the use of an upwind time stencil yields more representative physical solutions and improves the rate of convergence.