Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electroencephalograph Recording with Ten-Twenty Electrode System Based on Arduino Mega 2560

Improved Technology until now started to help many aspects of human works, including medical facilities. One of them is Electroencephalography (EEG) which records electrical activities of the brain. This technology is used to diagnose any brain disease that makes an abnormality at EEG signal recording. EEG usually has non-invasive methods, where electrodes placed on the scalp that easy and reusable. This technology itself has been started in 1924 by Hans Berger. This paper discusses the basic construction of EEG, focused on simulation, device construction, and results from devices. It will further mention how Arduino Mega 2560 record analog signals, circuit diagrams that will be used, and final results that showed and processed on SCILAB application. The final result would use Ten-Twenty Electrode System which can be compared with any result from any different recording and be displayed in SCILAB with graph form that has been filtered with Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) results.
Copper welding applications with a 2 kW cw laser in the green wavelength regime

We report on industrial high-power lasers in the green wavelength regime. By means of a thin disk oscillator and a resonator-internal nonlinear crystal for second harmonic generation we provide 2000 W continuous-wave laser radiation at a wavelength of 515 nm, transported by a fiber with a 150 µm core diameter and NA 0.1. Application tests show that this laser is perfectly suited for copper welding due to the superior absorption of the green wavelength compared to IR, which allows the production of spatter-free weld spots and seams with an unprecedented reproducibility in diameter and welding depth. Now with 2 kW available power in the green, the welding performance for high quality welds can be increased compared to the already available 1 kW green laser system. The higher power leads to a larger melt volume and higher process efficiency. It is also possible to weld other materials with high quality results, for example stainless steel or aluminum. A particular advantage compared to the common IR lasers is the ability of the green laser for heat conduction mode because of the higher absorption. But due to the high beam quality also high-quality deep penetration welding is applicable, with the comfort to use scanner optics with a big field of work. This offers a whole range of new applications, e.g. remotedeburring of copper parts or producing a shiny copper surface by using shielding gas in addition. A further significant benefit of the green wavelength is that the surface condition does not influence the welding process, which allows to skip many expensive preprocessing steps such as tin-coating. Especially for e-mobility tasks the green 2 kW laser source is a suitable option for increasing productivity and quality: One example are copper foil stacks for battery production, which can be welded with higher speed and reduced spatter formation without ultrasonic pre-welding.
Manufacturing of molds by multiphoton polymerization for micro-replication of optically enhanced surfaces

Freeform and microstructured features are generated by MultiPhoton Polymerization with an ultrafast laser, on tool-steel inserts, for microreplication of optical surfaces. The generation of optical surfaces has been studied by combining laser machining and multiphoton polymerization techniques. Resolution in the range of few microns, down to 300 nm lateral dimension, has been targeted on the optically enhanced surfaces. The microstructured surfaces have been further replicated by injection molding on polymer components of several cm2. The fabrication accuracy and precision has been evaluated in terms of lateral and vertical resolution of the laser generated features, and the replicated ones. The technology aims to simplify the assembly routes for heterogeneously integrated optoelectronics through direct overmolding of the optics on the components (transceivers, LEDs or sensors), with drastic improvements in cost, productivity and performance.
Perceptions of Individuals with Parkinson’s Disease about Quality of Life

Introduction : Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder manifested by motor and non-motor symptoms that compromise patients’ quality of life. The instrument used to assess Parkinson’s disease patients’ quality of life is the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire (pdq-39). This study aims to identify issues related to quality of life from the patients’ perspective, compare the results obtained with the aspects included in the pdq-39, and describe some strategies that patients have adopted to overcome difficulties. Materials and methods : This is a qualitative and descriptive study based on a focus group consisting of six patients. Data were analyzed using the content analysis method. Results : Aspects related to all pdq-39 domains were mentioned by the patients, highlighting those related to limitations on their mobility and daily activities, as well as aspects related to their emotional wellbeing. The patients did not mention some aspects of mobility that are included in the pdq-39, but limitations in the domain of emotional well-being that are included in the pdq-39 were detected. In order to overcome difficulties, patients devise various strategies that require social support. Conclusion : Understanding and reflecting on Parkinson’s disease patients’ perceptions of their quality of life contributes to our understanding of the disease and stimulates proposals for adequate clinical interventions to provide comprehensive care. It is suggested that the pdq-39 be reviewed and adapted to the current context, taking into account the most recent knowledge and technological advances related to Parkinson’s disease.
Cancer and inflammation studies using zebrafish cell lines

As the zebrafish, Danio rerio, has been increasingly used as an animal model for biomedical research, we aimed to establish zebrafish cell line models for inflammation and cancer studies in this thesis. Several zebrafish cell lines were characterized and their genetic and physiological properties were compared. We also developed a set of tool methods to investigate cellular signaling events in zebrafish cell lines. Our case studies illustrated that zebrafish cell lines are as reliable models as the widely used mammalian cell cultures. Taking advantage of the transparency of zebrafish embryos and cell implantation protocols, zebrafish cell lines can serve as a bridge platform between in vitro, in silico, ex vivo and in vivo studies in order to enhance our understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying disease progression.
Facial Expression Recognition Using Principal Component Analysis

— Expression detection is useful as a non-invasive method of lie detection and behaviour prediction. However, these facial expressions may be difficult to detect to the untrained eye. In this paper we implements facial expression recognition techniques using Principal Component analysis (PCA). Experiments are performed using standard database like Japanese Female Facial Expression (JAFFE) database. The universally accepted six principal emotions to be recognized are: Angry, Happy, Sad, Disgust, Fear and Surprise along with neutral. Euclidean distance based matching Classifier is used.
Validation of a Preformulated, Field Deployable, Recombinase Polymerase Amplification Assay for Phytophthora Species

Recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assays are valuable molecular diagnostic tools that can detect and identify plant pathogens in the field without time-consuming DNA extractions. Historically, RPA assay reagents were commercially available as a lyophilized pellet in microfuge strip tubes, but have become available in liquid form more recently—both require the addition of primers and probes prior to use, which can be challenging to handle in a field setting. Lyophilization of primers and probes, along with RPA reagents, contained within a single tube limits the risk of contamination, eliminates the need for refrigeration, as the lyophilized reagents are stable at ambient temperatures, and simplifies field use of the assays. This study investigates the potential effect of preformulation on assay performance using a previously validated Phytophthora genus-specific RPA assay, lyophilized with primers and probes included with the RPA reagents. The preformulated lyophilized Phytophthora RPA assay was compared with a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay and commercially available RPA kits using three qPCR platforms (BioRad CFX96, QuantStudio 6 and Applied Biosystems ViiA7) and one isothermal platform (Axxin T16-ISO RPA), with experiments run in four separate labs. The assay was tested for sensitivity (ranging from 500 to 0.33 pg of DNA) and specificity using purified oomycete DNA, as well as crude extracts of Phytophthora-infected and non-infected plants. The limit of detection (LOD) using purified DNA was 33 pg in the CFX96 and ViiA7 qPCR platforms using the preformulated kits, while the Axxin T16-ISO RPA chamber and the QuantStudio 6 platform could detect down to 3.3 pg with or without added plant extract. The LOD using a crude plant extract for the BioRad CFX96 was 330 pg, whereas the LOD for the ViiA7 system was 33 pg. These trials demonstrate the consistency and uniformity of pathogen detection with preformulated RPA kits for Phytophthora detection when conducted by different labs using different instruments for measuring results.
The Hawthorne Effect in Eye-blinking: Awareness that One’s Blinks are Being Counted Alters Blink Behavior

ABSTRACT Purpose: Spontaneous eye-blink rate is the number of involuntary blinks performed during a certain period of time. Assessing blink rate in humans provides valuable physiological and behavioral data for studying neuropathology and emotional states. Cognitive states, including awareness on the part of the subject that his or her blinks are being counted, may influence blink activity and confound blink rate measurements. The goal of this study was to provide direct experimental evaluation of the hypothesis that subject awareness affects tasked-based blink activity. Materials and methods: 30 young healthy adult males with normal vision underwent a series of tasks – viewing images, talking, sitting quietly, and cross fixation – while being video recorded. Each subject completed the tasks naively, then repeated them after being explicitly told their blink rate was being measured. Blink rate was measured through minute-by-minute blink counts by human raters. Results: We found a transitory impact on blink count during the first and third minute of a passive image-viewing task that occurred immediately after subjects were informed of their eye blinks being counted. However, the overall blink rate across the 7-min passive image-viewing task was not influenced. In three other tasks – fixation, silence, and conversation – we observed no statistically significant difference in minute-by-minute blink count or overall blink rate. Conclusions: We conclude that informing a subject that his eye blinks are being counted exerts a modest but significant acute influence on blinking activity, but critically does not appear to confound blink rate over prolonged tasks.
REDD1 loss reprograms lipid metabolism to drive progression of RAS mutant tumors

In this study, Qiao et al. set out to investigate the role of REDD1 in the development of KRAS-driven tumors. Using genetically engineered mouse models, the authors show that loss of REDD1 promotes the development of oncogenic KRAS-driven pancreatic and lung cancers. Additionally, the authors use a combination of transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses to show that REDD1 deficiency induces lipid uptake, enhances fatty acid oxidation, and suppresses de novo lipid biosynthesis, in particular under hypoxia conditions, which plays an important role for the redox homeostasis of tumor cells through the regulation of NADPH levels.
Towards machine to brain interfaces: sensory stimulation enhances sensorimotor dynamic functional connectivity in upper limb amputees

Objective. Recent development of sensory stimulation techniques demonstrates the ability to elicit touch-like phantom sensations in upper limb amputees. The cortical processing of this phantom sensation and the corresponding influences on sensorimotor functional connectivity have not been studied. We hypothesize that sensory stimulation has a profound impact on the sensorimotor cortical functional interactions, which will be uncovered by dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) analysis of amputees’ electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings. Approach. We investigated dFC between cortical areas associated with somatosensory, motor, visual, and multisensory processing functions using EEG signals. We applied dFC to the EEG of two amputees performing hand movements with and without sensory stimulation and compared the results with those from three able-bodied subjects. We quantified the changes due to sensory stimulation using dFC metrics, namely temporal distance, number of connection paths, temporal global and local efficiencies, and clustering coefficient. Main results. We show a significant effect of sensory stimulation on functional connectivity in the amputee brains, with notable facilitation on multisensory processing among the cortical systems involved in sensorimotor processing. The dFC metrics reveal that sensory stimulation enhances the speed of information transfer (shown by decreases in temporal distance) and the number of connection paths between the brain systems involved in sensorimotor processing, including primary somatosensory and motor, and higher order processing regions. Significance. This is the first work to reveal dynamic communication between somatosensory, motor, and higher order processing regions in the cortex of amputees in response to sensory stimulation. We believe that our work provides crucial insights into the cortical impact of sensory stimulation in amputees, which may lead to the design of personalized brain-informed sensory feedback paradigms. This in turn may lead to building novel Machine to Brain Interfaces involving sensory feedback and the resultant enhanced motor performance.
Minimally invasive surgery in urogynecology: a comparison of standard laparoscopic, minilaparoscopic, percutaneous surgical system and Robotic sacral colpopexy.

BACKGROUND We compared surgical outcome of sacral colpopexy (SCP) performed with the most recent minimally invasive surgery such as 3 mm laparoscopy (MiniLPS), percutaneous system (PSS), standard laparoscopy (LPS) and robotic. METHODS This is a multicenter retrospective cohort study conducted at Urogynecological department of the Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS of Rome and at the Gynecological Clinic of the Hospital Maggiore della Carità of Novara and of Policlinico di Abano. We collected data of 115 patients who underwent laparoscopic SCP for pelvic organ prolapse between June 2017 and June 2018 using PSS, MiniLPS, standard LPS and da Vinci Si. RESULTS Patients of all four groups had similar characteristics. The median Operative time (OT) was significantly longer in Robotic procedure compared to all other groups There were no significant differences between the 4 groups in terms of estimated blood loss, conversion to laparotomy, intraoperative complications and median postoperative ileus. Visual analogue scale (VAS) at 4 h was significantly less for miniLPS compared to the other techniques. VAS at 24 h was higher for Robotic procedures than other techniques. CONCLUSIONS Results rule out that minimize surgical invasiveness of laparoscopic techniques could bring improvements in SCP not only from a cosmetic point of view but also from a functional one without requiring longer OT and maintaining the same standard laparoscopic configuration. Even if Robotic SCP is useful and safe because of its guarantee of efficiency, it cannot be considered the first choice for many women.
Mutual Authentication Protocol for D2D Communications in a Cloud-Based E-Health System

The development of the Internet of Things (IoT) predicts several new applications, some of which are designed to be incorporated into e-health systems, and some technologies, like cloud computing and device-to-device communication (D2D), are promising for use in the support of resource-constrained devices employed in Mobile-health (m-health) and Telecare Medicine Information Systems (TMIS). In a scenario with billions of devices predicted for the IoT, it is essential to avoid performance and security problems, among others. Security is fundamental for the achievement of optimal performance regarding the sensibility of e-health shared data and, especially, the anonymity of patients and other entities, while it is also essential to consider the scarcity of bandwidth in wireless networks. This paper proposes a new mutual authentication protocol for m-health systems, which supports D2D communication, ensuring security and surpassing the performance and security of other authentication procedures reported in the literature.
Interleukin-34 Stimulates Gut Fibroblasts to Produce Collagen Synthesis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM The mechanisms underlying the formation of intestinal fibrostrictures (FS) in Crohn's disease (CD) are not fully understood, but activation of fibroblasts and excessive collagen deposition are supposed to contribute to the development of FS. Here we investigated whether interleukine-34 (IL-34), that is over-produced in CD, regulates collagen production by gut fibroblasts. METHODS IL-34 and its receptor macrophage colony-stimulating factor receptor 1 (M-CSFR-1) were evaluated in inflammatory (I), FS CD, and control (CTR) ileal mucosal samples by real-time PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemistry.IL-34 and M-CSFR-1 expression was evaluated in normal and FS CD fibroblasts. Control fibroblasts were stimulated with IL-34 in the presence or absence of a MAP kinase p38 inhibitor while FS CD fibroblasts were cultured with a specific IL-34 antisense oligonucleotide and collagen production was evaluated by real time, western blotting and Sircol assay. The effect of IL-34 on the wound-healing capacity of fibroblasts was evaluated by scratch test. RESULTS We showed enhanced M-CSFR-1 and IL-34 RNA and protein expression in FS CD mucosal samples as compared to ICD and CTR samples. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that stromal cells were positive for M-CSFR-1 and IL-34. Enhanced M-CSFR-1 and IL-34 RNA and protein expression was seen in FS CD fibroblasts as compared to CTR. Stimulation of control fibroblasts with IL-34 enhanced COL1A1 and COL3A1 expression, secretion of collagen through a p38 MAP kinase-dependent mechanism and wound healing. IL-34 knockdown in FS CD fibroblasts associated with reduced collagen production and wound repair. CONCLUSIONS Data indicate a prominent role of IL-34 in the control of intestinal fibrogenesis.
Neural correlates of anxiety under interrogation in guilt or innocence contexts

Interrogation elicits anxiety in individuals under scrutiny regardless of their innocence, and thus, anxious responses to interrogation should be differentiated from deceptive behavior in practical lie detection settings. Despite its importance, not many empirical studies have yet been done to separate the effects of interrogation from the acts of lying or guilt state. The present fMRI study attempted to identify neural substrates of anxious responses under interrogation in either innocent or guilt contexts by developing a modified “Doubt” game. Participants in the guilt condition showed higher brain activations in the right central-executive network and bilateral basal ganglia. Regardless of the person’s innocence, we observed higher activation of the salience, theory of mind and sensory-motor networks–areas associated with anxiety-related responses in the interrogative condition, compared to the waived conditions. We further explored two different types of anxious responses under interrogation–true detection anxiety in the guilty (true positive) and false detection anxiety in the innocent (false positive). Differential neural responses across these two conditions were captured at the caudate, thalamus, ventral anterior cingulate and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. We conclude that anxiety is a common neural response to interrogation, regardless of an individual’s innocence, and that there are detectable differences in neural responses for true positive and false positive anxious responses under interrogation. The results of our study highlight a need to isolate complex cognitive processes involved in the deceptive acts from the emotional and regulatory responses to interrogation in lie detection schemes.
Temperature Down‐Shift Modifies Expression of UPR‐/ERAD‐Related Genes and Enhances Production of a Chimeric Fusion Protein in CHO Cells

Low culture temperature enhances the cell‐specific productivity of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing varied recombinant (r‐) proteins, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Regulation of unfolded protein response (UPR) pathway genes, such as transcriptional regulatory factors and endoplasmic reticulum (ER)‐resident proteins, appear to be involved in the improvements of r‐protein production under low temperature conditions. The transcriptional regulation of UPR‐specific targets is studied in response to decreased culture temperature in relation to production of a difficult‐to‐express protein. A clonally‐derived CHO cell line expressing a chimeric fusion protein (human erythropoietin [hEPO] linked to a murine Fc region, hEPO‐Fc) is evaluated in terms of growth, metabolism, r‐protein production and UPR‐/ER associated degradation (ERAD)‐specific gene expression at standard (37 °C) and low (32 °C) temperature in batch and fed‐batch systems. Low temperature decreased peak cell density, improved viability, generated cell cycle arrest in the G1 phase and enhanced hEPO‐Fc expression in both batch and fed‐batch cultures. A low culture temperature significantly upregulated genes encoding UPR‐specific transcriptional activators (xbp1s, ddit3, and atf5) and ER‐resident proteins (grp78, grp94, trib3, and ero1α), that are associated with folding and processing of proteins within the ER. Further, low culture temperature decreased expression of genes involved in ERAD (edem3, sels, herpud1, and syvn1) indicating a decreased potential for protein degradation.