Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ns-3 Simulation Model for Underground Networks

Underground communications networks have many interesting applications such as border surveillance, agriculture monitoring and infrastructure monitoring. The first networks used in these applications were wired networks, but recent studies have shown that wireless underground networks are feasible and have deployment advantages. Wireless underground networks can have nodes buried in the soil, which establish communication between them or have some nodes aboveground as data sinks; in the later case, the communication is between aboveground and underground devices. This dissertation addresses the need for a simulation environment for these networks and accomplishes that need by implementing this environment into the network simulator ns-3. Further the results obtained are also validated using experiments done previously in the field for the 433 MHz and 2.4 GHz frequencies. The results obtained regarding the accuracy of the model revealed to be quite promising, which may lead to attract more investigators into this particular field of study.
Student Dropout Analysis with Application of Data Mining Methods

One of the indicators of potential problems in the higher education system may be a large number of student dropouts in the junior years. An analysis of the existing transaction data provides the information on students that will allow the definition of the key processes that have to be adapted in order to enhance the efficiency of studying. To understand better the problem of dropouts, the data are processed by the application of data mining methods: logistic regression, decision trees and neural networks. The models are built according to the SEMMA methodology and then compared to select the one which best predicts the student dropout. This paper concentrates primarily to the application of the data mining method in area of higher education, in which such methods have not been applied yet. In addition, a model, useful for strategic planning of additional mechanisms to improve the efficiency of studying, is also suggested.
Robust hovering control of a single-DOF flapping wing MAV

We present in this note preliminary results on control design and stability analysis for robust control of ? apping wing Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs). The simple case considered in this paper, namely hovering control of a 1-DOF MAV model, is meant to illustrate some of the speci? c issues arising with the control of ? apping-wing MAV, which stem from the peculiar characteristics of the actuation mechanism. The main purpose of the paper is to set a rigorous framework in which results from averaging theory and stabilization by bounded feedback can be effectively combined.
A Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire for the Assessment of Organic Brain Deficit in Elderly Patients †

Clinicians whose practice includes elderly patients need a short, reliable instrument to detect the presence of intellectual impairment and to determine the degree. A 10‐item Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (SPMSQ), easily administered by any clinician in the office or in a hospital, has been designed, tested, standardized and validated. The standardization and validation procedure included administering the test to 997 elderly persons residing in the community, to 141 elderly persons referred for psychiatric and other health and social problems to a multipurpose clinic, and to 102 elderly persons living in institutions such as nursing homes, homes for the aged, or state mental hospitals. It was found that educational level and race had to be taken into account in scoring individual performance. On the basis of the large community population, standards of performance were established for: 1) intact mental functioning, 2) borderline or mild organic impairment, 3) definite but moderate organic impairment, and 4) severe organic impairment. In the 141 clinic patients, the SPMSQ scores were correlated with the clinical diagnoses. There was a high level of agreement between the clinical diagnosis of organic brain syndrome and the SPMSQ scores that indicated moderate or severe organic impairment.
Connective tissue growth factor is secreted through the Golgi and is degraded in the endosome.

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a cysteine-rich heparin-binding polypeptide that promotes proliferation, collagen synthesis, and chemotaxis in mesanchymal cells. When coinjected subcutaneously with transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta), CTGF promotes sustained fibrosis in rats. However, little is known about the cell biology and structure/functional relationship of CTGF. In particular, no detailed characterization of the subcellular localization of CTGF has occurred, nor have sequences been identified within this protein required for this localization. In this report, using immunofluorescence and Western blot analysis, we show that CTGF is localized to the Golgi apparatus both in dermal fibroblasts and activated hepatic stellate cells. Using these methods, no CTGF was detected in endosomal, plasma membrane, cytosolic or nuclear fractions. Addition of brefeldin A, a drug that disrupts the Golgi, blocks the secretion of CTGF. We further show that the amino-terminal 37 amino acids of CTGF are sufficient to localize a heterologous protein (red fluorescent protein, RFP) to the Golgi. Although within this region of human CTGF is a N-glycosylation site, tunicamycin, which blocks N-linked glycosylation, has no significant effect on CTGF secretion. Surprisingly, mutation of a single amino acid residue, CYS-34, to alanine prevents localization of a CTGF-RFP fusion protein to the Golgi. These results are the first proof that endogenous CTGF is localized to the Golgi apparatus. Furthermore, using exogenously added (125)I-labeled CTGF, we show that CTGF is internalized and rapidly degraded in the endosome. That is, CTGF is quantitatively secreted through the golgi and is degraded in the endosome.
An Effective Distributed GHSOM Algorithm for Unsupervised Clustering on Big Data

Clustering techniques that group samples based on their attribute similarity have been widely used in many fields such as pattern recognition, feature extraction and malicious behavior characterization. Due to its importance, various clustering techniques have been developed with distributed frameworks such as K-means with Hadoop in Apache Mahout for scalable computation. While K-means requires the number of clusters and self organizing maps (SOM) requires the map size to be given, the technique of GHSOM (growing hierarchical self organizing maps) that clusters samples dynamically to satisfy the requirement on tolerance of variation between samples, poses an attractive unsupervised learning solution for data that have limited information to decide the number of clusters in advance. However it is not scalable with sequential computation, which limits its applications on big data. In this paper, we present a novel distributed algorithm on GHSOM. We take advantage of parallel computation with scala actor models for GHSOM construction, distributing vertical and horizontal expansion tasks to actors and showing significant performance improvement. To evaluate the presented approach, we collect and analyze execution behaviors of thousands of malware in real life and derive detection rules with the presented unsupervised clustering on millions samples, showing its performance improvement, rule effectiveness and potential usage in practice.
An interview study of young adults born to mothers with mild intellectual disability

A group of 10 young adults from a population-based series in Sweden, of originally 42 individuals, born to mothers with mild intellectual disability (ID), were interviewed with regard to their experiences during childhood, adolescence, and their current situation. The interview revealed that 6 of the 10 individuals had been removed from their biological parents during childhood, 6 reported clear child abuse and/or neglect, and 6 individuals had mild ID. The majority of the individuals reported difficulties in their relations with family and in school. The small number of participants (n = 10) who could be personally interviewed reflected the major problems that were encountered in the process of making contact with this group of young individuals. In conclusion, this study adds to other reports that children of mothers with ID constitute an extremely vulnerable group. Therefore, these families need full and continuous attention from the supportive systems in society.
Compact dual-band BPF for GPS and WLAN with two dual-mode stepped impedance resonators

A compact dual-band microstrip bandpass filter (BPF) is proposed using two dual-mode stepped impedance resonators (SIRs). Either of the dual-mode SIRs can not only separately generate one passband but also control the passband performance. Due to the intrinsic characteristics of the SIRs and source-load coupling, three transmission zeros are created near the passband edges to improve the selectivity of the filter. A dualband filter located at 1.57GHz (GPS application) and 2.40GHz (WLAN application) is simulated and fabricated. Good agreements are obtained between its measured and simulated S-parameters.
Antiangiogenic and proteolytic activities of prostate-specific antigen

9 INTRODUCTION . 10 REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE . 11 1. Prostate cancer . 11 2. Proteases . 12 2.1 Classification . 13 2.2 Specificity and catalytic mechanism . 13 2.3 Regulation of proteolytic activity . 15 2.4 Proteases in cancer . 16 3. Kallikrein-related peptidases . 17 4. Prostate-specific antigen . 20 4.1 Gene structure . 20 4.2 Protein structure . 21 4.3 Expression . 21 4.4 Complexed and nicked forms of PSA . 22 4.5 Proteolytic activity and specificity . 22 4.6 Biological function of PSA . 23 4.7 Clinical use of PSA . 27 5. Angiogenesis . 30 5.1 Tumor angiogenesis . 30 5.2 Proteases in angiogenesis . 32 5.3 Angiogenesis inhibitors . 33 5.4 Angiogenesis models . 35 AIMS OF THE STUDY . 37 MATERIALS AND METHODS . 38 1. Proteins, peptides and other compounds . 38 1.1 Purification of PSA (I-V) . 38 2. Assays for the enzymatic activity of PSA (I-V) . 38 3. Peptide binding assay (V) . 40 4. Proteolytic activity of PSA toward protein substrates . 40 4.1 Degradation of Matrigel (V) . 40 4.2 Degradation of protein substrates (V) . 40 4.3 Assay for the degradation of IGFBP-3 (V) . 41 5. SDS-PAGE, silver staining and Western blotting (V) . 41 6. Mass spectrometry . 41 6.1 Characterization of PSA isoforms (I) . 41 6.2 Identification of Matrigel-derived PSA substrates (V) . 41 7. Edman degradation (V) . 42 8. Cell culture . 42 8.1 LNCaP cells (I) . 42 8.2 Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (I-V) . 42 8.3 Proliferation and viability assays (I) . 43 9. Immunoassays for endostatin and angiostatin . 43 10. Gene expression analyses (IV) . 43 10.1 RNA isolation, DNA microarray and data analysis . 43 10.2 Quantitative RT-PCR . 44 11. Statistical analyses . 45 12. Ethics . 45 RESULTS . 46 1. Characterization of PSA isoforms (I) . 46 2. Proteolytic activity of PSA . 47 2.1 Identification of nidogen-1 as a PSA substrate (V) . 48 2.2 Degradation of protein substrates by PSA (V) . 48 3. Stimulators and inhibitors of PSA activity . 48 3.1 PSA-stimulating peptides (V) . 48 3.2 Small molecule inhibitors of PSA (III) . 51 4. Antiangiogenic activity of PSA (I-III, V) . 51 5. PSA-induced changes in HUVEC gene expression (IV) . 54 DISCUSSION . 56 1. Characterization of internal cleavage sites and glycosylation of PSA isoforms (I) . 56 2. Proteolytic activity of PSA toward protein substrates (V) . 57 2.1 Stimulators and inhibitors of the enzymatic activity of PSA (III, V) . 60 3. Antiangiogenic activity of PSA (I-V) . 60 3.1 PSA-induced changes in HUVEC gene expression (IV) . 63 3.2 Significance of the antiangiogenic activity of PSA . 64 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS . 66 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . 67 REFERENCES . 69
A hybrid content-based clustering architecture: minimising uncertainty in personalised multimedia content

This paper aims at demonstrating the validity of a hybrid content-based clustering architecture that combines personalisation techniques. The paper describes a hybrid content-based clustering architecture for adaptive web-sites using an advanced personalisation process, emphasising in personalising multimedia content. The overall personalisation process is described following all stages and the experimental results and statistical analysis presented indicate that this architecture achieves more successful recommendations, thus reduces uncertainty of recommendations. Finally, this paper suggests the enhancement of the current hybrid filtering process by employing fuzzy logic for improving the profiling system and user modelling, therefore reducing the uncertainty level even further.
A study forecasting the development tendency of the textile industry in Taiwan

As the newly emerging technological industry becomes a main axis of the developing economy in Taiwan, the textile industry still plays an important role among traditional industry. Not only has it provided a lot of working opportunities, but it has also brought a huge amount of export surplus. However, since the textile industry still keeps on expanding in some under-developed countries, and in order to maintain the competitiveness of Taiwan textiles in the international market, the Delphi Method is used to make a forecast analysis on the future development of the textile industry in Taiwan. It is hoped that the results obtained will serve as references for the industry, government, and academics in their continuous promotion and research of the textile industry.
An explosive outbreak of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype-8 infection in a highly vaccinated residential care home, England, summer 2012

SUMMARY In August 2012, an explosive outbreak of severe lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) due to Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype-8 occurred in a highly vaccinated elderly institutionalized population in England. Fifteen of 23 residents developed LRTI over 4 days (attack rate 65%); 11 had confirmed S. pneumoniae serotype-8 disease, and two died. Following amoxicillin chemoprophylaxis and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) re-vaccination no further cases occurred in the following 2 months. No association was found between being an outbreak-associated case and age (P = 0·36), underlying comorbidities [relative risk (RR) 0·84 95% confidence interval (CI) 0·34–2·09], or prior receipt of PPV (RR 1·4, 95% CI 0·60–3·33). However, the median number of years since PPV was significantly higher for cases (n = 15, 10·2 years, range 7·3–17·9 years) than non-cases (n = 8, 7·2 years, range 6·8–12·8 years) (P = 0·045), provided evidence of waning immunity. Alternative vaccination strategies should be considered to prevent future S. pneumoniae outbreaks in institutionalized elderly populations.
Autonomous field mapping and operation with proximity sensing

This paper describes a method of autonomous field mapping and operation with proximity sensing. Localization and mapping are important functions for mobile robots to enhance the efficiency of operations in the work field. Conventionally, the GPS-based localization and LRF-based localization are popular for mobile robots working outdoor and indoor fields, respectively. However, the GPS is not enough in accuracy for operation in small area, and D-GPS costs too high for commercial implementations. The LRF-based method functions well in indoor environments, but is difficult for localization in the outdoor field without architectural structures to scan. In this paper, we propose a novel method of field sensing using proximity sensors. The proximity sensor allows to identify a boundary and landmarks embedded in the field, and they can be easily installed into commercial products in low cost. We developed some algorithms of autonomous mapping and operation behavior based on proximity sensing, and examined the effectiveness with a real mobile robot in a test field.
Genetically Engineered Stem Cell Therapy for Tissue Regeneration

Abstract: Therapeutic angiogenesis/vasculogenesis represents a new approach to treat patients with ischemic disease not curable with conventional treatment. This review focuses on the rationale and preliminary results of combining stem cell and gene therapy for regenerative medicine. Under disease conditions, impaired neovascularization results from diminished vascular growth factor production and primary dysfunction of endothelial cells and their progenitors. Advances in our ability to genetically manipulate cells ex vivo has provided the technological platform to implement stem cell biology and circumvent the potential hazard of direct gene transfer. Ex vivo engineered endothelial progenitor cells have been used for the treatment of peripheral limb ischemia. The approach eliminates the drawback of immune response against viral vectors and makes feasible repeating the therapeutic procedure in case of injury recurrence. The strategy of using stem cells as vectors for curative agents proved to be of value for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension and thrombosis. Transplantation of neural stem cells genetically modified to secrete nerve growth factor was able to ameliorate the death of striatal projection neurons caused by transient focal ischemia in the adult rat. By a similar approach, engineered neural stem cells might be used for treating neurodegenerative disorders. Therefore, genetic manipulation of stem cells opens new avenues for regenerative medicine.
Teacher Tensions when Adopting a New Approach to Teaching about Photosynthesis.

This study examined a Thai biology teacher’s creative tensions when she was challenged to adopt a new teaching approach to photosynthesis with her class. The teacher was purposively selected on her need of professional growth. Data from observations and interviews documented the tensions. The data indicated that the biology teacher experienced tensions with regard to her own conceptual knowledge, in initiating teacherstudent discussion and in challenging students’ class participation. The teacher’s prior professional experience and the researcher’s additional reflection may have helped the teacher to solve these pedagogical problems.
Ocular aspirin distribution: a comparison of intravenous, topical, and coulomb-controlled iontophoresis administration.

PURPOSE To evaluate the pharmacokinetics and safety of aspirin delivered by a single, noninvasive, transscleral, coulomb-controlled iontophoresis (CCI) treatment; topical application; or by one intravenous (IV) injection. METHODS Forty-one adult New Zealand White rabbits received either a single IV injection, topical, or CCI administration of aspirin at a concentration of 10 mg/mL. Histologic evaluation was performed in four CCI-treated eyes to assess safety. Pharmacokinetic distribution in all ocular tissues and fluids was studied at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 hours after the treatments. Immediately after death, the eyes were dissected and salicylic acid (SA) concentration was determined by HPLC analysis. Blood was sampled at 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 hours, and plasma SA levels for systemic distribution were measured by HPLC analysis. RESULTS No tissue damage was observed clinically or histologically. SA was found in all tissues and fluids throughout the study period of 8 hours. The highest concentrations of SA were observed with CCI immediately after treatment for all tissues and were the highest SA tissue peaks obtained by the studied delivery methods. IV administration demonstrated a delayed tissue peak of salicylate at 2 hours after administration. At 8 hours, ocular SA concentrations were in the same range for CCI and IV administration. IV injection resulted in blood plasma levels up to 28 times higher than CCI and remained significantly elevated until 8 hours after the treatments. CONCLUSIONS CCI is a safe and effective method of administering aspirin to the eye while avoiding the systemic side effects associated with IV injection.
Fault diagnosis of gas turbine based on support vector machine

In this paper, a fault diagnosis method based on support vector machine (SVM) is proposed for gas turbine bearing. Firstly, through analysis and processing of vibration signals, the singular value decomposition related EEMD technique is applied to extract feature vectors of the signals. The results are used as the input of SVM classifier model. Then, by using the SVM network intelligence, the turbine bearing operating status and fault type are determined. Experimental results show that the proposed SVM classification method with small sample can accurately and efficiently classify the working status and fault type of the gas turbine bearing, and has some engineering applications values.
Cost-effectiveness of assertive community treatment versus standard case management for persons with co-occurring severe mental illness and substance use disorders.

OBJECTIVE To determine the cost-effectiveness of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) in comparison to Standard Case Management (SCM) for persons with severe mental illness and substance use disorders. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING Original data on the effectiveness and social costs of ACT and SCM that were collected between 1989 and 1995. Seven community mental health centers in New Hampshire provided both types of treatment. STUDY DESIGN Persons with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder and a concurrent substance use disorder were randomly assigned to ACT or SCM and followed for three years. The primary variables assessed were substance use, psychiatric symptoms, functioning, quality of life, and social costs. DATA COLLECTION METHODS Effectiveness data were obtained from interviews at six-month intervals with persons enrolled in treatment and with their service providers. Social cost and service utilization data came from client reports; interviews with informal caregivers; provider information systems and Medicaid claims; law enforcement agencies; courts; and community service providers. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Participants in both groups showed significant reductions in substance use over time. Focusing on quality of life and substance use outcomes, ACT and SCM were not significantly different in cost-effectiveness over the entire three-year study period. Longitudinal analyses showed that SCM tended to be more efficient during the first two years but that ACT was significantly more efficient than SCM during the final year of the study. CONCLUSIONS In an adequately funded system, ACT is not more cost-effective than SCM. However, ACT efficiency appears to improve over time.
Individual Differences in Object Localization in Virtual Environments

The present research examined the effects of disorientation on human ability to locate objects in space in a virtual environment (VE). Participants were asked to memorize the location of virtual objects, and then they were asked to indicate where the objects were located while they were inside a virtual chamber. This procedure was repeated in both eyesclosed and disoriented conditions. Subject pointing responses were used to measure memory for the relative location of objects in virtual space. This method was extended from previous research in a real-world setting. The results showed systematic individual differences in the effects of disorientation on the ability to locate objects in space. Further, the use of strategies played a role in object localization ability, but strategy use was affected by the individual differences in spatial representations used by subjects.