Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Estimation of the Unbiodegradable Fraction of Thickened Waste Activated Sludge

The study investigated the unbiodegradable fraction of particulate chemical oxygen demand (PCOD) in thickened waste activated sludge (TWAS) using semicontinuous‐flow completely‐mixed anaerobic digesters. A laboratory‐scale semicontinuous stirred tank reactor was used to investigate TWAS anaerobic biodegradability at hydraulic retention time of 16.7 d to 33.3 d and organic loading rate (OLR) of 1.21 kg COD/m3•d to 3.47 kg COD/m3•d. The COD and volatile suspended solids (VSS) removal for TWAS were 37% to 44% and 39% to 42% at an OLR of 1.27 and 3.47 kg COD/m3•d, respectively. Using a biomass yield (YAD) of 0.29 g COD biomass/g COD substrate, decay rate (bAD)of 0.015 d−1; and a solids retention time (SRT) of 16.7 d; two linear fits correlating the difference between effluent biomass; and effluent particulate COD with influent total COD, the unbiodegradable fractions of PCOD and VSS were estimated from the slopes of the linear fits to be in the range of 0.26 to 0.28.
Reinforcement Learning in Topology-based Representation for Human Body Movement with Whole Arm Manipulation

Moving a human body or a large and bulky object may require the strength of whole arm manipulation (WAM). This type of manipulation places the load on the robot’s arms and relies on global properties of the interaction to succeed— rather than local contacts such as grasping or non-prehensile pushing. In this paper, we learn to generate motions that enable WAM for holding and transporting of humans in certain rescue or patient care scenarios. We model the task as a reinforcement learning problem in order to provide a robot behavior that can directly respond to external perturbation and human motion. For this, we represent global properties of the robot-human interaction with topology-based coordinates that are computed from arm and torso positions. These coordinates also allow transferring the learned policy to other body shapes and sizes. For training and evaluation, we simulate a dynamic sea rescue scenario and show in quantitative experiments that the policy can solve unseen scenarios with differently-shaped humans, floating humans, or with perception noise. Our qualitative experiments show the subsequent transporting after holding is achieved and we demonstrate that the policy can be directly transferred to a real world setting.
Unsupervised Learning Method for Plant and Leaf Segmentation

Plant phenotyping is a recent application of computer vision in agriculture and food security. To automatically recognize plants species, we need first to extract the plant and associated substructures. Manual segmentation of plant structures is tedious, error prone and expensive. Automatic plant segmentation is useful for leaf extraction, identification, and counting. We have developed a robust and fast unsupervised approach for plant extraction and leaf detection. K-means based mask (of the pot) followed by Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm is adapted to estimate a mixture model for identifying the foreground area for the plant. We utilized the EM with 3 RGB channels to identify the foreground verses background for plant localization. K-means has been used to extract the circular plant can as one of the intermediate result to fuse it with EM results for noise removal since the images suffered from contrast and illumination variations. For leaf segmentation, we utilized distance transform and watershed segmentation to localize the leaves individually followed by stem link algorithm to connect the stem with corresponding leaves. The results have been evaluated by the same algorithms that have been used in the contest of plant phenotyping [1]. In our work, we used A1 and A2 datasets1 to test our algorithm. We achieved promissing score in some evaluation metrics and comparable in the others.
Peripheral blood lymphocyte responses to cytomegalovirus seropositivity after allogeneic-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Background The main purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among cytomegalovirus (CMV) viremia, peripheral immune cells alternations, and leukemia prognosis. Patients and methods We studied 90 leukemia patients who underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) from 2008 to 2015. Their complete clinical laboratory data were collected until 1 year after transplantation. Results All patients were serum CMV negative before allo-HSCT. After transplantation, the CMV reactivation group showed increased peripheral CD8+ T cells and decreased CD4+ T cells and B cells. However, CD8/CD4 ratio and B cells restored by control of CMV infection due to 2 months maximum course of ganciclovir treatment. CMV seropositivity was positively related to leukemia-free survival (LFS) of all recruited leukemia types. Conclusion In summary, CMV drives immune cell post-transplantation fluctuation, which also favors LFS of leukemia partly resulted from CD8+ T cells.
An Analytic Model of Traffic Surges for Multi-Server Queues in Cloud Environments

Many computer systems, such as cloud computing environments and Internet datacenters, consist of a multitude of servers that process user requests. The performance and scalability of these environments suffer significantly when the workload surges to levels that cause the arrival rate of requests to exceed the system's capacity to process them. This paper models these systems as G/G/c queues and derives equations that estimate the impact of workload surges on these multiserver systems. The existing queuing literature offers approximations and/or bounds for G/G/c systems in equilibrium, but not when these systems are subject to workload surges. This paper's main contributions are: (1) Generic equations for surges of any shape. (2) A set of equations to estimate the impact of trapezoidal and triangular shaped surges on response time. (3) Extensive validations of the derived equations using a G/G/c simulator developed by the authors (available online) and with Google cluster-usage trace workloads. The results show that the equations estimate with great accuracy the impact of surges on response time. The work presented in this paper can be utilized in the design of autonomic elasticity controllers in the cloud to vary the number of servers to mitigate the impact of workload surges.
The Loss of α- and β-Tubulin Proteins Are a Pathological Hallmark of Chronic Alcohol Consumption and Natural Brain Ageing

Repetitive excessive alcohol intoxication leads to neuronal damage and brain shrinkage. We examined cytoskeletal protein expression in human post-mortem tissue from Brodmann’s area 9 of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Brain samples from 44 individuals were divided into equal groups of 11 control, 11 alcoholic, 11 non-alcoholic suicides, and 11 suicide alcoholics matched for age, sex, and post-mortem delay. Tissue from alcoholic cohorts displayed significantly reduced expression of α- and β-tubulins, and increased levels of acetylated α-tubulin. Protein levels of histone deacetylase-6 (HDAC6), and the microtubule-associated proteins MAP-2 and MAP-tau were reduced in alcoholic cohorts, although for MAPs this was not significant. Tubulin gene expressions increased in alcoholic cohorts but not significantly. Brains from rats administered alcohol for 4 weeks also displayed significantly reduced tubulin protein levels and increased α-tubulin acetylation. PFC tissue from control subjects had reduced tubulin protein expression that was most notable from the sixth to the eighth decade of life. Collectively, loss of neuronal tubulin proteins are a hallmark of both chronic alcohol consumption and natural brain ageing. The reduction of cytosolic tubulin proteins could contribute to the brain volumetric losses reported for alcoholic patients and the elderly.
Experimental Study on Shear Behavior of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Beams with High-Strength Reinforcement

Many researchers have performed experimental and theoretical studies on the shear behavior of steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) beams with conventional reinforcement; few studies involve the shear behavior of SFRC beams with high-strength reinforcement. In this paper, the shear test of eleven beams with high-strength reinforcement was carried out, including eight SFRC beams and three reinforced concrete (RC) beams. The load-deflection curve, concrete strain, stirrup strain, diagonal crack width, failure mode and shear bearing capacity of the beams were investigated. The test results show that steel fiber increases the stiffness, ultimate load and failure deformation of the beams, but the increase effect of steel fiber decreases with the increase of stirrup ratio. After the diagonal crack appears, steel fiber reduces the concrete strains of the diagonal section, stirrup strains and diagonal crack width. In addition, steel fiber reduces crack height and increases crack number. Finally, the experimental values of the shear capacities were compared with the values calculated by CECS38:2004 and ACI544.4R, and the equation of shear capacity in CECS38:2004 was modified to effectively predict the shear capacities of SFRC beams with high-strength reinforcement.
Immunoglobulin A anti‐phospholipid antibodies in Swedish cases of systemic lupus erythematosus: associations with disease phenotypes, vascular events and damage accrual

Immunoglobulin (Ig) G‐ and IgM‐class anti‐cardiolipin antibodies (aCL) and lupus anti‐coagulant (LA) are included in the 1997 update of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR‐97) systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) criteria. Despite limited evidence, IgA‐aCL and IgA anti‐β2‐glycoprotein‐I (anti‐β2GPI) were included in the 2012 Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics criteria. The present study aimed to evaluate IgG‐/IgA‐/IgM‐aCL and anti‐β2GPI occurrence in relation to disease phenotype, smoking habits, pharmacotherapy, anti‐phospholipid syndrome (APS) and organ damage among 526 Swedish SLE patients meeting ACR‐97. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (n = 100), primary Sjögren’s syndrome (n = 50) and blood donors (n = 507) served as controls. Anti‐phospholipid antibodies (aPL) were analysed by fluoroenzyme‐immunoassays detecting aCL/anti‐β2GPI. Seventy‐six (14%) SLE cases fulfilled the Sydney APS‐criteria, and ≥ 1 aCL/anti‐β2GPI isotype (IgG/IgA/IgM) occurred in 138 SLE patients (26%). Forty‐five (9%) of the SLE cases had IgA‐aCL, 20 of whom (4%) lacked IgG‐/IgM‐aCL. Seventy‐four (14%) tested positive for IgA anti‐β2GPI, 34 (6%) being seronegative regarding IgG/IgM anti‐β2GPI. Six (1%) had APS manifestations but were seropositive regarding IgA‐aCL and/or IgA anti‐β2GPI in the absence of IgG/IgM‐aPL and LA. Positive LA and IgG‐aPL tests were associated with most APS‐related events and organ damage. Exclusive IgA anti‐β2GPI occurrence associated inversely with Caucasian ethnicity [odds ratio (OR) = 0·21, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0·06–0·72) and photosensitivity (OR = 0·19, 95% CI = 0·05–0·72). Nephritis, smoking, LA‐positivity and statin/corticosteroid‐medication associated strongly with organ damage, whereas hydroxychloroquine‐medication was protective. In conclusion, IgA‐aPL is not rare in SLE (16%) and IgA‐aPL analysis may have additional value among SLE cases with suspected APS testing negative for other isotypes of aPL and LA.
Cardiovascular risk model performance in women with and without hypertensive disorders of pregnancy

Objectives Compare the predictive performance of Framingham Risk Score (FRS), Pooled Cohort Equations (PCEs) and Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) model between women with and without a history of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (hHDP) and determine the effects of recalibration and refitting on predictive performance. Methods We included 29 751 women, 6302 with hHDP and 17 369 without. We assessed whether models accurately predicted observed 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk (calibration) and whether they accurately distinguished between women developing CVD during follow-up and not (discrimination), separately for women with and without hHDP. We also recalibrated (updating intercept and slope) and refitted (recalculating coefficients) the models. Results Original FRS and PCEs overpredicted 10-year CVD risks, with expected:observed (E:O) ratios ranging from 1.51 (for FRS in women with hHDP) to 2.29 (for PCEs in women without hHDP), while E:O ratios were close to 1 for SCORE. Overprediction attenuated slightly after recalibration for FRS and PCEs in both hHDP groups. Discrimination was reasonable for all models, with C-statistics ranging from 0.70-0.81 (women with hHDP) and 0.72–0.74 (women without hHDP). C-statistics improved slightly after refitting 0.71–0.83 (with hHDP) and 0.73–0.80 (without hHDP). The E:O ratio of the original PCE model was statistically significantly better in women with hHDP compared with women without hHDP. Conclusions SCORE performed best in terms of both calibration and discrimination, while FRS and PCEs overpredicted risk in women with and without hHDP, but improved after recalibrating and refitting the models. No separate model for women with hHDP seems necessary, despite their higher baseline risk.
Multi-Focus Image Fusion Algorithm in Sensor Networks

Most imaging systems have a limited depth-of-field in the sensor networks that consist of multiple visual sensors. Due to different object distances, not every object can be clearly imaged by a single sensor. This paper proposes a multi-focus image fusion algorithm in sensor networks. The algorithm combines the advantages of multi-scale analysis and image phase analysis. It uses dynamic window and phase stretch transform (PST) to extract the focused regions of each image accurately and performs multi-resolution analysis of images through the non-sub-sampled shearlet transform. Then, the images are fused according to the local standard deviation of PST feature maps. The results of the simulation experiments prove that our algorithm is effective and outperforms some state-of-the-art algorithms.
An nO(1/ϵ) Approximation Scheme For The Minimum Dominating Set In Unit Disk Graphs

We present an $n^{O(1/\epsilon )}$ PTAS for minimum dominating set problem in unit disk graphs. Our approach gives an asymptotic improvement over the best known [Nieberg and Hurink WAOA2005], which runs in $n^{O(1/\epsilon \log 1/\epsilon )}$, under a more strict (but typical) assumption that the underlying geometric structure is known, i.e., the locations of all unit disks are specified. Our key ingredient is an improved dynamic programming algorithm that depends exponentially on a more essential 1-dimensional “width” of the problem.
Applying behavioral activation to sustain and enhance the effects of contingency management for reducing stimulant use among individuals with HIV infection

ABSTRACT There is a high prevalence of stimulant use among HIV-infected individuals, which is associated with suboptimal antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, HIV treatment interruptions, detectable HIV viral load, and transmission of HIV via increased sexual risk behavior. Contingency management (CM) is an initially effective treatment for stimulant use. However, the effects of CM are not sustained after the active intervention has ended. One potential contributor to the intractability of existing treatments may be a lack of attention to replacement activities or the role of depressed mood. Behavioral activation (BA) is an evidence-based approach for depression that involves identifying and participating in pleasurable, goal-directed activities. As a potential approach to address the CM rebound effect – informed by our formative qualitative research with the participant population – we conducted an open pilot trial of an intervention combining CM-BA for HIV-infected individuals with stimulant use disorder. Participants completed weekly BA therapy sessions (10–16 sessions) and thrice-weekly toxicology screenings (12 weeks); contingencies were rewarded for negative toxicology tests to support reengagement into positive life activities. Major assessments were conducted at baseline, 3-, and 6-months. Toxicology screening was repeated prior to the 6-month assessment. Eleven participants with stimulant use disorder enrolled; 7 initiated treatment and completed the full intervention. The mean age was 46 (SD = 5.03) and 14% identified as a racial/ethnic minority. Of the completers, the mean change score in self-reported stimulant use within the past 30 days (within-person change; reduction in self-reported stimulant use) was 4.14 days at 3 months and 5.0 days at 6 months [Cohen’s d = 0.89]. The mean change score in weekly toxicology screens (reduction in positive toxicology screens) was . 71 at 3 months and 1 at 6 months [Cohen’s d = 1.05]. Exit interviews indicated that the integrated intervention was well received and acceptable. This study provides preliminary evidence that a combined CM-BA intervention for this population was feasible (100% retention at 6-months), acceptable (100% of intervention sessions attended; participants rated the intervention ‘acceptable’ or ‘very acceptable’), and may be an option to augment the potency and sustained impact of CM for this population. Future pilot testing using a randomized controlled design is warranted.
Fair Protocols for Verifiable Computations Using Bitcoin and Ethereum

Outsourcing a computation has been a major research area in cryptography. A delegator (D) outsources a computation to a worker (W), who expects to get paid in return for delivering correct outputs. The delegator has to verify the output returned, to guard against malicious or malfunctioning worker. The worker may not trust the delegator to pay for computations performed by him. Blockchain systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum offer public verifiability of transactions generated in their networks. These transactions are of the form of a set of opcodes in Bitcoins or initiate execution of a contract in Ethereum, thus offering execution of small programs publicly. A fair protocol for verifiable computation between two parties D and W must provide the following guarantee: (1) Fast verification: The work performed to verify the correctness of output of a function is less than the work performed to compute function. (2) Pay to learn output: W obtains pay from D iff D received the correct output of the computation from W. In this work, we design two ideal functionalities F^*_CRR for single worker case and F^*_CRR for multiple workers case. Existing methods do not allow Mutual revocation of deposit transaction which reduces the cost of script execution. Our ideal functionalities offer mutual revocation of the deposit transaction made by D. We show the realization of our ideal functionality F^*_CRR in Bitcoin, and we also discuss fair protocols for verifiable computations of GCD of two large numbers and optimization problems. As our final work, we show a fair protocol for proofbased verifiable computing schemes.
Emotional security theory: An application to sibling bereavement

Abstract There is a need for guiding theory to understand the experiences and outcomes of bereaved siblings, particularly from a family systems framework. The present study investigated the relevance of emotional security theory in a sample of 72 young adults who experienced sibling bereavement. We investigated (1) whether perceptions of prolonged parental grief predicted key aspects of emotional security (disengagement, preoccupation, and security), and (2) whether emotional security mediated a relation between perceptions of prolonged parental grief and young adult emotional functioning. Results supported the potential utility of emotional security theory as a theoretical framework for understanding sibling bereavement.
Interest Recognition from Online Instant Messaging Sessions Using Text Segmentation and Document Embedding Techniques

In this paper, we present techniques for recognizing users' interest from online instant messages for more timely and user-friendly targeted advertisement. We devise three text segmentation methods to identify blocks of utterances in an instant messaging session that resonate interests in certain products. We adapt document embedding technique for classifying a given text segment into a multi-level product category. We use over 50,000 product descriptions available on Groupon as training data and evaluate the effectiveness of our approaches based on the chat sessions that are simulated with dialogue from TV drama scripts.
Screening and prevention for latent tuberculosis in immunosuppressed patients at risk for tuberculosis: a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines

Objective Immunosuppressed individuals are at a high risk of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) and clinical practice guidelines for the screening and management of LTBI in at-risk patients have been developed. We assessed the scope, quality and consistency of clinical practice guidelines on screening for LTBI and the prevention of tuberculosis infection (TB) in high-risk patient populations. Design We conducted a systematic review of clinical practice guidelines. Methodological quality of these guidelines was assessed using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Education (AGREE) II instrument. Textual synthesis was used to summarise and compare the recommendations. Data sources Electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO) and guideline registries were searched from inception to December 2017. Results Thirty-eight guidelines were included. Nineteen focused on patients receiving medical immunosuppression, seven on transplantation, three on patients with HIV and nine were generalised across all at risk populations. Most guidelines (n=32, 84%) used a systematic approach to identify and appraise the evidence. The methodological quality of the guidelines varied with the overall mean AGREE II scores ranging from 35% to 80%. Guidelines performed poorly in terms of editorial independence (average score 35%, range 0%–92%); however, most were robust in defining their scope and purpose (average score 80%, range 56%–100%). Guidelines recommended either or both the tuberculin skin test and the interferon gamma release assay for screening. Treatment of LTBI with isoniazid was consistently recommended. Conclusion Clinical practice guidelines on LTBI vary in quality and scope. The recommendations for screening varied across guidelines, while recommendations for treatment were largely consistent. Improving the consistency and quality of guidelines may help to optimise the screening and management of LTBI for improved patient outcomes.
Walking Gait Measurement and Analysis via Knee Angle Movement and Foot Plantar Pressures

The study on human gait has gained lots of attentions for years since there are many applications including medical rehabilitation for patients having walking disorders. However, such study requires an equipment to measure the movement of body parts accurately. This work aims to build an equipment to measure, collect, visualize and analyze the knee angles and foot plantar pressures of a person who walks normally as well as of a patient who walks with some disorders. The equipment is a wearable device consisting of the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) installed on the thigh and shank for gathering angles of knee movements, the Force-Sensitive Resistor (FSR) for gathering foot pressures from plantar during a walk, the Arduino Uno units for collecting the gait data from both legs, and a NodeMCU for a controller. The collected data will be stored into a database, and the outputs are visualized via a web user interface. The statistical analysis of the walking are also displayed so that the history of walking can be used to analyze changes or tell some walking patterns of a person.