Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aerobic Exercise Attenuates Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction through Promoting Skeletal Muscle Microcirculation and Increasing Muscle Mass

Background Aerobic exercise has been proven to have a positive effect on cardiac function after hypertension; however, the mechanism is not entirely clarified. Skeletal muscle mass and microcirculation are closely associated with blood pressure and cardiac function. Objective This study was designed to investigate the effects of aerobic exercise on the skeletal muscle capillary and muscle mass, to explore the possible mechanisms involved in exercise-induced mitigation of cardiac dysfunction in pressure overload mice. Methods In this study, 60 BALB/C mice aged 8 weeks were randomly divided into 3 groups: control (CON), TAC, and TAC plus exercise (TAE) group and utilized transverse aortic constriction (TAC) to establish hypertensive model; meanwhile, treadmill training is used for aerobic exercise. After 5 days of recovery, mice in the TAE group were subjected to 10-week aerobic exercise. Carotid pressure and cardiac function were examined before mice were executed by Millar catheter and ultrasound, respectively. Muscle mass of gastrocnemius was weighed; cross-sectional area and the number of capillaries of gastrocnemius were detected by HE and immunohistochemistry, respectively. The mRNA and protein levels of VEGF in skeletal muscle were determined by RT-PCR and western blot, respectively. Results We found that ① 10-week aerobic exercise counteracted hypertension and attenuated cardiac dysfunction in TAC-induced hypertensive mice; ② TAC decreased muscle mass of gastrocnemius and resulted in muscle atrophy, while 10-week aerobic exercise could reserve transverse aortic constriction-induced the decline of muscle mass and muscle atrophy; and ③ TAC reduced the number of capillaries and the protein level of VEGF in gastrocnemius, whereas 10-week aerobic exercise augmented the number of capillaries, the mRNA and protein levels of VEGF in mice were subjected to TAC surgery. Conclusions This study indicates that 10-week aerobic exercise might fulfill its blood pressure-lowering effect via improving skeletal muscle microcirculation and increasing muscle mass.
Yes, Denmark Is a More Educationally Mobile Society than the United States: Rejoinder to Kristian Karlson

In this rejoinder to Kristian Bernt Karlson (KBK), we maintain that there are substantial differences in intergenerational educational mobility between Denmark and the United States. In fact, when we include additional parental information from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97) for the United States, as suggested by KBK, the gap between Denmark and the United States increases. To confirm our findings, we show that the same conclusion about markedly higher educational mobility in Denmark holds when data from the General Social Survey are substituted for the NLSY97.
Experimental investigation of edge restraint on punching shear behaviour of RC slabs

Current codes of practice usually do not consider the effect of edge restraint on the punching shear capacity of flat plate type reinforced concrete structures. As the punching shear provisions incorporated in various codes of practice are a direct result of the empirical procedures, they do not usually provide an accurate estimation of the ultimate punching load capacity of a slab with its edges restrained against rotation. This is because no account is taken of the enhancement of punching capacity due to the in-plane restraint in many types of reinforced concrete slab systems. A total of 16 model slabs with restrained and unrestrained edges have been tested in an effort to ascertain the influence of boundary restraint, thickness of the slabs on their structural behaviour and punching load-carrying capacity. Edge restraint has been provided by means of edge beams of various dimensions in order to mimic the behaviour of continuous slabs. The cracking pattern and load-deflection behaviour of the slabs tested have also been monitored closely.
Power Profile and Thresholding Assisted Multi-Label NILM Classification

Next-generation power systems aim at optimizing the energy consumption of household appliances by utilising computationally intelligent techniques, referred to as load monitoring. Non-intrusive load monitoring (NILM) is considered to be one of the most cost-effective methods for load classification. The objective is to segregate the energy consumption of individual appliances from their aggregated energy consumption. The extracted energy consumption of individual devices can then be used to achieve demand-side management and energy saving through optimal load management strategies. Machine learning (ML) has been popularly used to solve many complex problems including NILM. With the availability of the energy consumption datasets, various ML algorithms have been effectively trained and tested. However, most of the current methodologies for NILM employ neural networks only for a limited operational output level of appliances and their combinations (i.e., only for a small number of classes). On the contrary, this work depicts a more practical scenario where over a hundred different combinations were considered and labelled for the training and testing of various machine learning algorithms. Moreover, two novel concepts—i.e., thresholding/occurrence per million (OPM) along with power windowing—were utilised, which significantly improved the performance of the trained algorithms. All the trained algorithms were thoroughly evaluated using various performance parameters. The results shown demonstrate the effectiveness of thresholding and OPM concepts in classifying concurrently operating appliances using ML.
Milling performance assessment of Ti-6Al-4V under CO2 cooling utilizing coated AlCrN/TiAlN insert

ABSTRACT Incomparable properties of high-temperature-resistant alloys demand the hunt for front-line skills to machining these materials. Usage of conventional cooling mode at elevated pressure is a strategic solution recognized in the last few decades. Because of the unfriendly nature of the traditional coolants, new approaches such as Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) and Cryogenic cooling were caught the eyes of manufacturing industries. The cryogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) environmental condition is an ecological friendly as well as effectual cooling technique to dwindle the heat at the cutting place. Even though the technique (cryogenic) has more salient features, the optimum cutting condition determination is necessary to minimize the working cost or maximize the production rate. Therefore, in the current work, an effort was made to study the effect of machining Ti-6Al-4V using the AlCrN/TiAlN-coated tool and compared it with disparate optimization techniques. The findings of this study can assist the metalworking industries in arranging the machining system in terms of surface superiority by reducing tool wear with optimal factors and levels, which leads to sustainable manufacturing.
A BROAD-SPECIFICITY Β-GLUCOSIDASE FROM A WILD TYPE OF YEAST ISOLATE AND ITS POTENTIAL USE IN FOOD INDUSTRY

A novel intracellular β-glucosidase was isolated from a wild type of yeast Trichosporon sp. Production of enzyme was stimulated with highest level of production in medium containing 1 % lactose as a sole carbon source at pH 7 and 30 oC for 48 hr. The enzyme preparation exhibits activity towards several β-glucosidic substrates, indicating that, it has broadspecificity; furthermore the activity towards lactose hydrolysis was the highest compared with other substrates. Also, it was able to catalyze transglycosylation. Therefore it was used for milk lactose hydrolysis as well as oligosaccharides production. It has, thus potential use in food industry.
Correction of the Popular Bias Test Method Recommended by ISO/TS16949 for Manufacturing Industries

Measurement systems play important roles in producing consistent, high quality products in manufacturing industries. An important requirement for a measurement system is the consistency or stability of its measurement results. The measurement bias needs to be checked periodically in production to decide whether the measurement system needs to be recalibrated timely to maintain the consistency. A very popular conventional method of statistical bias test recommended by ISO/TS16949 for manufacturing industries has been reviewed. Its flaws and problems are pointed out and illustrated with special examples. A new method of engineering bias test and its equivalent accuracy test have been proposed to correct the problems of the conventional statistical bias test.
Optimized Design of Discrete Traction Induction Motor Model at Low-Switching Frequency

By low-switching frequency of power devices, as well as synchronization between control strategies and pulse-width modulation (PWM) pulse update, the control and calculation frequency of the high-power ac traction drive control system of metro vehicle is low, which leads to some problems of instability in a high-speed region and conflict with the control timing of the digital signal processor (DSP) in the conventional discrete traction induction motor model. This paper analyzed the defects of the conventional discrete model at low-switching frequency and proposed an optimized discrete model based on in-depth study of model pole trajectory, which solved the contradiction among stability in high-speed region, the computational load, and the control timing. The proposed model is also applied for the rotor flux observer design of field-oriented control. Simulation and experimental results are given to demonstrate the steady-state and dynamic performance of the proposed model.
Altered Cytokine and BDNF Levels in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Previous studies have shown that immunological factors are involved in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The present study examined whether immunological abnormalities are associated with cognitive and behavioral deficits in children with ASD and whether children with ASD show different immunological biomarkers and brain-derived neurotrophic factor BDNF levels than typically developing (TD) children. Sixteen children with TD and 18 children with ASD, aged 6–18 years, voluntarily participated in the study. Participants’ executive functions were measured using neuropsychological tests, and behavioral measures were measured using parent ratings. Immunological measures were assessed by measuring the participants’ blood serum levels of chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5). Children with ASD showed greater deficits in cognitive functions as well as altered levels of immunological measures when compared to TD children, and their cognitive functions and behavioral deficits were significantly associated with increased CCL5 levels and decreased BDNF levels. These results provide evidence to support the notion that altered immune functions and neurotrophin deficiency are involved in the pathogenesis of ASD.
Segmentation of Preretinal Space in Optical Coherence Tomography Images Using Deep Neural Networks

This paper proposes an efficient segmentation of the preretinal area between the inner limiting membrane (ILM) and posterior cortical vitreous (PCV) of the human eye in an image obtained with the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT). The research was carried out using a database of three-dimensional OCT imaging scans obtained with the Optovue RTVue XR Avanti device. Various types of neural networks (UNet, Attention UNet, ReLayNet, LFUNet) were tested for semantic segmentation, their effectiveness was assessed using the Dice coefficient and compared to the graph theory techniques. Improvement in segmentation efficiency was achieved through the use of relative distance maps. We also show that selecting a larger kernel size for convolutional layers can improve segmentation quality depending on the neural network model. In the case of PVC, we obtain the effectiveness reaching up to 96.35%. The proposed solution can be widely used to diagnose vitreomacular traction changes, which is not yet available in scientific or commercial OCT imaging solutions.
An Interconnected Adaptive Observer for PMS Motors

Abstract Controlling electrical drives without mechanical sensors at the machine shaft has several benefits e.g. low cost and high reliability. To avoid these sensors, state observers must be resorted to get the required information using only measured voltages and currents at the machine terminals. In this paper we are considering the problem of estimating mechanical state variables in permanent magnet synchronous motor driven by back-to-back rectifier-inverter (AC/DC/AC IGBT-based PWM converter). Only the electrical variables are supposed to be accessible to measurements. A sensorless interconnected adaptive observer of the high-gain type is designed to get online estimates of the rotor position and speed as well as the machine load torque. Parameter adaptation is resorted because the stator resistor is not supposed to be known. The observer convergence is formally analyzed and illustrated by simulation. This theoretical result is confirmed by simulations which, besides, show that the observer convergence is quite robust with respect to motor parameters uncertainties.
Maximum Virtual Stiffness Distribution Analysis and Measurement for Haptic Device

Maximum virtual stiffness is a critical performance measure for haptic devices. Stable haptic interaction is necessary for realistic feeling of virtual environment. The virtual environment is determined by the application and device. To ensure the stable haptic interaction, the virtual environment must be suitable for the device. Therefore, the virtual stiffness should not be greater than the minimum value of maximum virtual stiffness that a haptic device can stably render in the workspace. This paper proposes a method, utilizing the eigenvalue and eigenvector of stiffness matrix in joint space, to analyze and measure the maximum virtual stiffness distribution in the work space of a haptic device. Therefore, for a given haptic device, the maximum virtual stiffness at each position and orientation can be forecasted by this method. A new sufficient condition for haptic stability is also presented in the view of driven motor in this paper. A series experiments validate the effectiveness of this method.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Updates in Health Care of Adolescents: A Simple Review Article

The purpose of this study was to identify what topics adolescents would like to have discussed or addressed when visiting family physicians and to assess the extent to which such discussion is taking place. The main health issues in adolescents are; injuries as intentional injuries are the leading cause of death and disability among adolescents. Violence, mental health, alcohol and drug use, tobacco use, HIV/AIDS, other infectious diseases and early pregnancy and childbirth. There seems to be a need for more comprehensive health education in schools and for health professionals, particularly general practitioners, to opportunistically address these problems in their adolescent patients. Also parents should take their teens to their GP for treatment for these problems, hoped their doctor would be comfortable with such treatment, and wanted their doctor to discuss these problems with their teens.
Landslide Characteristics and Evolution: What We Can Learn from Three Adjacent Landslides

Landslide processes are a consequence of the interactions between their triggers and the surrounding environment. Understanding the differences in landslide movement processes and characteristics can provide new insights for landslide prevention and mitigation. Three adjacent landslides characterized by different movement processes were triggered from August to September in 2018 in Hualong County, China. A combination of surface and subsurface characteristics illustrated that Xiongwa (XW) landslides 1 and 2 have deformed several times and exhibit significant heterogeneity, whereas the Xiashitang (XST) landslide is a typical retrogressive landslide, and its material has moved downslope along a shear surface. Time-series Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and Differential InSAR (DInSAR) techniques were used to detect the displacement processes of these three landslides. The pre-failure displacement signals of a slow-moving landslide (the XST landslide) can be clearly revealed by using time-series InSAR. However, these sudden landslides, which are a typical catastrophic natural hazard across the globe, are easily ignored by time-series InSAR. We confirmed that effective antecedent precipitation played an important role in the three landslides’ occurrence. The deformation of an existing landslide itself can also trigger new adjacent landslides in this study. These findings indicate that landslide early warnings are still a challenge since landslide processes and mechanisms are complicated. We need to learn to live with natural disasters, and more relevant detection and field investigations should be conducted for landslide risk mitigation.
Trajectory Options for MAV Navigation

Unmanned micro air vehicle control in pitch plane is quite challenging. In order to develop an autonomous navigation scheme in pitch plane, longitudinal autopilot design for flight control modes such as take-off, landing, climb, altitude hold, etc., have been actively pursued in the literature. The aircraft trajectories that a controller generates are important to understand these modes. In this paper, it is shown that a multiple input system can offer infinitely a large number of trajectory options that can be used to develop various flight control modes and plan an MAV navigation scheme. Accordingly, the controllers are determined. An MAV example is considered and trajectory options for climb and descend modes are illustrated.
Fecal Lactoferrin As A Diagnostic and Prognostic Marker in Egyptian IBD Patients

Background: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are organic chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract characterized by variable disease activity with repeated periods of remission and exacerbation. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is prevalent in up to fifth of population; diarrhea type has the broadest differential diagnosis. To distinguish inflammatory versus functional disorder fecal biomarkers as fecal lactoferrin (FL), being non-invasive acute phase proteins produced by inflamed mucosa, can help to avoid invasive procedures. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess sensitivity and specificity of fecal lactoferrin as a non-invasive biomarker in Egyptian patients with IBD and to detect its role in assessment of disease severity. Patients and methods: This comparative case control study was held through one year duration. Patients were recruited from Internal Medicine and Hepatology Department at a University Hospital. 50 subjects were classified into 3 groups: Group I included 30 patients with inflammatory bowel disease, Group II included 10 patients with irritable bowel syndrome, Group III included 10 healthy subjects as control group. Results: fecal lactoferrin assay (FLA) levels were highest in patients with IBD in comparison with IBS patients and healthy group. Moreover FLA levels also correlated significantly with disease severity in patients with IBD as higher levels of FLA were found in patients with severe ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn`s disease. Conclusion: Fecal lactoferrin can be used to differentiate IBD from IBS with 96.7% sensitivity and 100% specificity at cutoff value of 37 ug/ml while at cutoff value 7.2 ug/ml FLA has 100% sensitivity and specificity in differentiating IBD patients from healthy subjects in Egyptian population. Yet it can’t differentiate ulcerative colitis versus Crohn’s disease.
Feature Selection Method for Manual Operated Directional Valve Based on EMD and GA-PLS

A feature selection method for manual operated directional valve based on EMD and GA-PLS is proposed. Vibration signal from a manual operated directional valve is difficult to find the main fault features. The EMD method is used to decompose the vibration signal into a number of intrinsic mode function (IMF) components. Auto-regressive (AR) model is a time-series tool which can represent the important information of system state. Therefore, AR model of each IMF component is established. The AR parameters and the loss function are regarded as the feature vectors. In order to reduce feature vectors, Genetic algorithm-partial least squares (GA-PLS) is a suitable method for selecting effective features. GA-PLS method is used for selecting new features from these feature vectors, which constitute the AR parameters and the loss function. Experimental results show that this method can be applied to select features effectively.
A Global Performance Index for the Kinematic Optimization of Robotic Manipulators

In this paper, a novel performance index for the kinematic optimization of robotic manipulators is presented. The index is based on the condition number of the Jacobian matrix of the manipulator, which is known to be a measure of the amplification of the errors due to the kinematic and static transformations between the joint and Cartesian spaces. Moreover, the index proposed here, termed global conditioning index (CGI), is meant to assess the distribution of the aforementioned condition number over the whole workspace. Furthermore, the concept of a global index is applicable to other local kinematic or dynamic indices. The index introduced here is applied to a simple serial two-link manipulator, to a spherical three-degree-of-freedom serial wrist, and to three-degree-of-freedom parallel planar and spherical manipulators. Results of the optimization of these manipulators, based on the GCI, are included.
Numerical Analysis of Fluid Flow in an Internal Turbine Blade Cooling Passage

The need to develop ultra-high efficiency turbines demands the exploration of methods which will improve the thermal efficiency and the specific thrust of the engine. One means of achieving these goals is to increase the turbine inlet temperature. In order to accomplish this, further advances in turbine blade cooling technology will have to be realized. A technique which has only recently been used in the analysis of turbine blade cooling is computational fluid dynamics. The purpose of this paper is to present a numerical study of the flowfield inside of the internal cooling passage of a radial turbine blade. The passage is modeled as two-dimensional and non-rotating. The flowfield solutions are obtained using a pseudo-compressible formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations. The spatial discretization is performed using a symmetric second-order accurate TVD (Total Variational Diminishing) scheme. Calculations are performed on a multi-block-structured grid. Turbulence is modeled using a modified κ-ω model. In the absence of experimental data, results appear to be realistic based on common experiences with fluid mechanics. © 1995 ASME