Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
COMPLEMENTACTIVATION CONTRIBUTES TO VENTILATOR-INDUCED LUNG INJURY IN RATS

Mechanical ventilation is life-saving but it includes the risk for ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). The risk for VILI increases when non-physiologic stress and strain is applied to the lungs (1). Ventilation with high tidal volumes can lead to local overdistension and pulmonary edema (2, 3). Ventilation with too low tidal volume and low levels of PEEP can cause repetitive opening and closing of alveoli thereby increasing shear stress (4). Invasive mechanical ventilation also triggers local and systemic release of inflammatory mediators (5, 6). Among the inflammatory mediators are components of the complement system present (7-9). The complement system is an integral part of the innate immune system and consists of more than thirty serum and cell proteins (10). Activation of the complement cascade can be triggered via the classical, the alternative, and the mannosebinding lectin pathway (1 1-13). The three pathways conver g to the formation of C3 convertase (14). The C3 convertase cleaves C3 in C3a and C3b, which contributes to the formation of C5a and C5b. C5b initiates the formation of the terminal membrane attack complex with consecutive cell lysis in a cascade-like sequence (15). The split products C3a and C5a are collectively called anaphylatoxins. Anaphylatoxins trigger inflammatory effects like increased vascular permeability , enhanced white blood cell chemotaxis and adherence to the pulmonary endothelium with the subsequent release of lysosomal enzymes and cytokines (16, 17). Application of C1 esterase inhibitor (C1INH) is best known as treatment for hereditary angioedema. C1INH strictly regulates the classical pathway of the complement system and also reduces the activation of the lectin pathway . Thereby, C1INH offers the opportunity to examine to the contributions of both activation pathways in VILI (18-21). JOURNALOF PHYSIOLOGYAND PHARMACOLOGY 2016, 67, 6, 911-918
Identification of the lightning vulnerable points on complex grounded structures

The identification of the most vulnerable points on a given structure to be struck by lightning is an important issue on the design of a reliable lightning protection system. Traditionally, the location of these lightning strike points is conducted using the rolling sphere method, through an empirical correlation with the prospective peak return stroke current. However, field observations in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore have shown that the points where lightning flashes strike grounded structures depend also on their height and shape. Since a lightning strike point is believed to be the place on a grounded structure where a propagating upward leader is first initiated, a physical leader inception model is used here to estimate the background electric fields required to initiate a stable upward leader from the corners of some complex buildings. The computed locations of the points from where leaders are incepted are compared with the damaged points on buildings struck by lightning. It is found that the corners of the buildings which are characterized by lower leader inception fields correspond to the observed lightning strike points. Furthermore, it is observed that the geometry of the buildings as well as their surrounding structures significantly influence the conditions necessary to initiate upward leaders and, therefore, the location of the most probable strike points.
Low-Loss Lithium Niobate on Insulator (LNOI) Waveguides of a 10 cm-Length and a Sub-Nanometer Surface Roughness

We develop a technique for realizing lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) waveguides of a multi-centimeter-length with a propagation loss as low as 0.027 dB/cm. Our technique relies on patterning a chromium (Cr) thin film coated on the top surface of LNOI into a hard mask with a femtosecond laser followed by the chemo-mechanical polishing for structuring the LNOI into the waveguides. The surface roughness on the waveguides is determined to be 0.452 nm with an atomic force microscope (AFM). The approach is compatible with other surface patterning technologies such as optical and electron beam lithographies or laser direct writing, enabling high-throughput manufacturing of large-scale LNOI-based photonic integrated circuits.
Slope Compensation Design for a Peak Current-Mode Controlled Boost-Flyback Converter

Peak current-mode control is widely used in power converters and involves the use of an external compensation ramp to suppress undesired behaviors and to enhance the stability range of the Period-1 orbit. A boost converter uses an analytical expression to find a compensation ramp; however, other more complex converters do not use such an expression, and the corresponding compensation ramp must be computed using complex mechanisms. A boost-flyback converter is a power converter with coupled inductors. In addition to its high efficiency and high voltage gains, this converter reduces voltage stress acting on semiconductor devices and thus offers many benefits as a converter. This paper presents an analytical expression for computing the value of a compensation ramp for a peak current-mode controlled boost-flyback converter using its simplified model. Formula results are compared to analytical results based on a monodromy matrix with numerical results using bifurcations diagrams and with experimental results using a lab prototype of 100 W.
On the natural frequency and vibration mode of composite beam with non-uniform cross-section

In this paper, the vibratory properties and expression of natural modes of laminated composite beam with variable cross-section ratios of elastic modulus and density along the axis of the beam have been investigated via theoretical analysis. Based on the generalized Hamilton principle, the longitudinal and transverse vibration equations have been deduced by the means of variational method. Then, the natural frequencies of longitudinal and transverse vibration modes have been obtained using the method of power series, which agree well with finite element simulations. The first-order natural frequencies of longitudinal and transverse of composite beams are plotted as a function of the elastic modulus or densities difference of two components. With distinct material characteristics, the effect of shape factor on the first and second order lateral modes of composite beam is also revealed. In addition, the study shows that the boundary conditions impose a strong effect on the shape factor. The method presented in this paper is not only suitable for the laminated composite beam with variable cross-section, but will also be applicable to more general cases of composite beams of complex geometry and component in vibration mechanics. This controllable vibration performance achieved in this paper may shed some light on and stimulate new architectural design of composite engineering structures.
Clinical Outcomes and Cardiovascular Responses to Different Exercise Training Intensities in Patients With Heart Failure

Methods A MEDLINE search (1985 to 2012) was conducted for exercise-based rehabilitation trials in heart failure, using the search terms “exercise training,” “left ventricular dysfunction,” “peak VO2,” “cardio-myopathy,” and “systolic heart dysfunction. ” Seventy-four studies were included, producing 76 intervention groups; 9 (11.8%) were high-intensity, 38 (50%) vigorous-intensity, 24 (31.6%) moderate-intensity, and 5 (6.6%) low-intensity groups, providing a total of 3,265 exercising subjects and 2,612 control subjects.
Ethnic Disparities in the Graduate Labour Market

This paper examines ethnic wage differentials for the entire population of students enrolled in 1996 using unique administrative panel data for the period 1996 to 2005 from the Dutch tertiary education system. The study decomposes wage differentials into two components: a component which can be explained by the observed characteristics and unexplained component. The analysis provides novel evidence for the magnitude and the origin of ethnic wage differentials by gender. In general, ethnic wage gap is larger for migrant women than migrant men and larger for Western and Caribbean migrants than Mediterranean migrants. Ethnic minority students appear to have large wage surplus which is almost entirely explained from their favourable observed characteristics. Most notably, Mediterranean female graduates have significant positive wage discrimination while Western female graduates seem to face a small wage penalty.
Relationship between Country of Origin Image and Brand Equity: An Empirical Evidence in England Market*

This study investigates the reflections of „country-of-origin image‟ on consumers‟ brand equity. In this context, a research design was formed to measure the perceptions towards Turkish-originate brands BEKO in the sector of durable household appliances such as, refrigerator, laundry& dishwasher etc. Data was collected from 275 British consumers at several locations in the city Coventry in the UK through face to face interviews by using a structured questionnaire. The findings of the data were evaluated in terms of designing an international or global competitiveness. The findings reported in this study that evaluations about country image have an effect on the brand evaluation processes of consumers from various aspects
Tango-Therapy: An Alternative Approach in Early Rehabilitation of Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of central nervous system (CNS), characterized by the presence of multifocal demyelination plaques with characteristic symptoms as fatigue, balance disorder, reduced endurance in gait and decrease in quality of life. The study supposed that the motor treatment through dance could represent useful therapeutic option, together with other treatments already in use such as the pharmacological and physiotherapy one. We included 9 person (6 male and 3 female) affected by relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) with an expanded disability status scale (EDSS) score less than 3, underwent rehabilitation treatment with Argentine Tango (Riabilitango®method). The study lasted twenty months, considering a sixty-minute session a week. The aim of the study was to verify the real improvement of quality of life, fatigue, balance disorder and gait endurance due to the dance treatment. We collected outcomes data of Short Form 36 (SF-36) in physical function (PF) (45.56 ± 21.42 vs. 69.44 ± 23.64), vitality (VT) (45.00 ± 7.90 vs. 67.77 ± 6.18), social function (SF) (54.00 ± 13.86 vs. 75.11 ± 6.25), general health (GH) (32.22 ± 5.06 vs. 54.11 ± 5.20); Modified fatigue impact test scales (MFSI) (3.56 ± 3.72 vs. 37.22 ± 3.88); Berg balance scale (BBS-it) (33.89 ± 4.12 vs. 45.11 ± 3.51); Six Minute Walk Test (6mWT), in distance (m) (352.89 ± 174.56 vs. 397.22 ± 174.83), oxygen saturation in arterial blood (%SpO2) (87.67 ± 3.35 vs. 91.78 ± 5.92) and beast per minute (bpm) (82.67 ± 13.08 vs. 72.67 ± 10.52). We found statistically significant (p In conclusion, despite the small sample size included, the results confirm that Riabilitango®significantly leads to better functional performances in person affected by RRMS with EDSS less then 3, finding benefits in terms of quality of life. Data suggest that integration between dance treatment method and the pharmacological, could represent the useful approach.
Nonradiating anapole states in nanophotonics: from fundamentals to applications

Nonradiating sources are nontrivial charge–current distributions that do not generate fields outside the source domain. The pursuit of their possible existence has fascinated several generations of physicists and triggered developments in various branches of science ranging from medical imaging to dark matter. Recently, one of the most fundamental types of nonradiating sources, named anapole states, has been realized in nanophotonics regime and soon spurred considerable research efforts and widespread interest. A series of astounding advances have been achieved within a very short period of time, uncovering the great potential of anapole states in many aspects such as lasing, sensing, metamaterials, and nonlinear optics. In this review, we provide a detailed account of anapole states in nanophotonics research, encompassing their basic concepts, historical origins, and new physical effects. We discuss the recent research frontiers in understanding and employing optical anapoles and provide an outlook for this vibrant field of research.
A New Quantitative Behavioral Model for Financial Prediction

Accuracy in predicting financial asset prices has become a challenge in the present day dynamic world. The use of mathematics have become very extensive in the financial world, most of the mathematical models concentrates on the market data rather than the behavior of the market from which the data has been generated. An attempt has been made in this paper to model the prediction of asset prices based on both the market data and the behavior of the market participants. The impact of the market participant’s behavior has been modeled in present quantitative behavioral approach; to model the participant’s impact first one should predict the number of participants in each category. Most of the times, finding the exact number of participants in each category is not easily available from the market data, so an evolutionary based swarm intelligence model has been adopted in the present framework to find the proportion of the participants in each category. Finally the whole methodology has been applied to gold asset class to validate the present method. The model is tested regoursly using different time varying samples to validate the present methodology; the results indicate that the best is about 75% and the worst error reduction is around 50%. This indicates that the model presented in this paper is better in predicting the financial asset prices over the conventional mathematical models alone.
Improving stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy using probability theory:modeling a Poisson point process

In this thesis the stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy technique is described and analyzed. A Markov model is proposed to model the dynamics involved in the super resolution fluorescence microscopy technique. The model is validated based on raw data and describes part of the dynamics. The dataset should still be improved by the specialist after which this conclusion should be revised. The Markov model is implemented in Java to simulate datasets comparable to the images produced through the dSTORM technique. For these simulated datasets the exact number and positions of the fluorescent dyes are known. The developed algorithms are tested on these simulates sets. Subsequently the algorithms are used to analyse a first preliminary dSTORM dataset. The first conclusion of this thesis is about the distribution of the dyes over the surface of the sphere. The general assumption in nanoparticle literature is that dyes attach randomly to beads. Based on a test with a type-I error of 5% and a power of 94.0% we reject the null hypothesis that this assumption is true. More research should be done on this complex problem. An estimator for the number of dyes that are not bleached at the equilibrium time is presented. This builds upon only a small part of the Markov model and does not rely on the homogeneity assumption. The estimator proposed (MSE = 46.0) performs better than the unbiased estimator that divides the number of localizations observed by the expected blinks per dye (MSE = 79.6). Furthermore an algorithm that solves the inverse problem of estimating the real positions of a given number of dyes based on observed localizations has been implemented. In the future this algorithm can be adjusted to perform better in this particular setting than the most commonly used kmeans algorithm. Together the estimator and the algorithm can solve overcounting. Finally, a real dSTORM image is processed using the estimator and the algorithm presented.
EdgeBox: Live Edge Video Analytics for Near Real-Time Event Detection

With growing popularity of surveillance cameras in public and workplace safety, there is increasing demand for automatic event detection. An edge computing based security solution, EdgeBox, is proposed to detect safety threat events in a near real time fashion and notify related parties when possible. We choose an armed bank robbery scenario as our case study to show how the EdgeBox solution can improve security awareness and prompt responses to safety incidents.
Soluplus Based Polymeric Micelles and Mixed Micelles of Lornoxicam: Design, Characterization and In vivo Efficacy Studies in Rats

Aim: To investigate potential of polymer Soluplus (SP), to form micellar/mixed micellar systems and its ability to improve solubility and consequently therapeutic efficacy of model BCS Class-II drug Lornoxicam (LNX). Methods: Soluplus based micellar systems were prepared using thin film hydration method. CMC (critical micelle concentration) was determined using two methods, namely, Iodine UV spectroscopy and Pyrene fluorescence spectroscopy. Micellar systems were characterized for their particle size, drug loading, CMC and SANS study to understand the dynamics of micellar systems. The LNX loaded micellar systems were evaluated in vivo, to evaluate their effectiveness in improving the anti-inflammatory activity of LNX in rat-paw edema model and also to observe possible reduction in ulcerogenic potential of LNX. Results: SP as well as its mixed micellar systems could effectively form stable micelles with mean diameter in range of 60-70 nm and promising LNX loading efficiency. It was evident from CMC studies (using Iodine UV spectroscopy and Pyrene fluorescence spectroscopy methods) and with rubinghs regular solution theory that Soluplus could effectively form stable mixed micelles with other micelle forming agents like Solutol HS 15 (ST) and Phospholipon 90 H (PL 90H). SANS spectra confirms the presence of micellar systems and applying sphere model of SASFIT software, it was found that micelles exhibited spherical shape. In vivo anti-inflammatory study indicated that LNX loaded micellar systems resulted in superior therapeutic efficacy than LNX suspension, even at a reduced dose (p<0.05). The ulcerogenic potential of LNX was also significantly reduced when LNX was incorporated into the micellar system. Conclusion: Soluplus possessed ability to form stable micellar systems which demonstrated promising potential to improve solubilization of a BCS class II drug, LNX and improved its therapeutic efficacy with reduction in adverse effects when tested in vivo in rats.
NUCLEAR ACTIVITY IS MORE PREVALENT IN STAR-FORMING GALAXIES

We explore the question of whether low and moderate luminosity active galactic nuclei (AGNs) are preferentially found in galaxies that are undergoing a transition from active star formation (SF) to quiescence. This notion has been suggested by studies of the UV–optical colors of AGN hosts, which find them to be common among galaxies in the so-called Green Valley, a region of galaxy color space believed to be composed mostly of galaxies undergoing SF quenching. Combining the deepest current X-ray and Herschel/PACS far-infrared (FIR) observations of the two Chandra Deep Fields with redshifts, stellar masses, and rest-frame photometry derived from the extensive and uniform multi-wavelength data in these fields, we compare the rest-frame U − V color distributions and star formation rate distributions of AGNs and carefully constructed samples of inactive control galaxies. The UV-to-optical colors of AGNs are consistent with equally massive inactive galaxies at redshifts out to z ∼ 2, but we show that such colors are poor tracers of SF. While the FIR distributions of both star-forming AGNs and star-forming inactive galaxies are statistically similar, we show that AGNs are preferentially found in star-forming host galaxies, or, in other words, AGNs are less likely to be found in weakly star-forming or quenched galaxies. We postulate that, among X-ray-selected AGNs of low and moderate accretion luminosities, the supply of cold gas primarily determines the accretion rate distribution of the nuclear black holes.
FORMULATION AND IN-VIVO STUDY OF KETOPROFEN TABLETS PREPARED USING CHITOSAN INTERPOLYMER COMPLEXES

The application of interpolymer complexes (IPCs) for oral controlled drug delivery systems was tested between chitosan and various anionic polymers viz sodium alginate, sodium carboxymethylcellulose and pectin. The prepared IPCs were investigated using Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Ketoprofen tablets were prepared using the polymers alone, physical mixtures of chitosan with sodium alginate, sodium carboxymethylcellulose or pectin in different ratios; 1:3, 1:1 and 3:1, and the corresponding IPCs. In-vitro release studies were carried out in two dissolution media; 0.1 N HCl of pH 1.2 and phosphate buffer of pH 7.4. It was found that, chitosan sod. carboxymethylcellulose IPC tablets showed more controlled drug release compared to that containing chitosan sodium alginate and chitosan pectin IPCs. The dissolution rate from tablets prepared using physical mixtures of polymers were found to be dependant on the interaction between chitosan and each of the anionic polymers in the physical mixtures, their ratios and pH of the dissolution medium. Tablets prepared using chitosan sod. carboxymethylcellulose physical mixture 1:1 and chitosan sod. carboxymethylcellulose IPC were selected for the in-vivo study using albino rabbits. The results showed a lower peak plasma concentration and marked controlled release effect of drug in tablets containing the physical mixture compared to that of the IPC and the control tablets.
Probability density functions for the variable solar wind near the solar cycle minimum

Unconditional and conditional statistics are used for studying the histograms of magnetic field multiscale fluctuations in the solar wind near the solar cycle minimum in 2008. The unconditional statistics involves the magnetic data during the whole year in 2008. The conditional statistics involves the magnetic field time series split into concatenated subsets of data according to a threshold in dynamic pressure. The threshold separates fast‐stream leading edge compressional and trailing edge uncompressional fluctuations. The histograms obtained from these data sets are associated with both multiscale (B) and small‐scale (δB) magnetic fluctuations, the latter corresponding to time‐delayed differences. It is shown here that, by keeping flexibility but avoiding the unnecessary redundancy in modeling, the histograms can be effectively described by a limited set of theoretical probability distribution functions (PDFs), such as the normal, lognormal, kappa, and log‐kappa functions. In a statistical sense the model PDFs correspond to additive and multiplicative processes exhibiting correlations. It is demonstrated here that the skewed small‐scale histograms inherent in turbulent cascades are better described by the skewed log‐kappa than by the symmetric kappa model. Nevertheless, the observed skewness is rather small, resulting in potential difficulties of estimation of the third‐order moments. This paper also investigates the dependence of the statistical convergence of PDF model parameters, goodness of fit, and skewness on the data sample size. It is shown that the minimum lengths of data intervals required for the robust estimation of parameters is scale, process, and model dependent.