Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Measurement of Convective Heat Transfer from a Vertical Flat Plate Using Mach-Zehnder Interferometer with Wedge Fringe Setting

— Laser interferometric methods have been utilized for the measurement of natural convection heat transfer from a heated vertical flat plate, in the investigation presented here. The study mainly aims at comparing two different fringe orientations in the wedge fringe setting of Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), used for the measurements. The interference fringes are set in horizontal and vertical orientations with respect to the heated surface, and two different fringe analysis methods, namely the stepping method and the method proposed by Naylor and Duarte, are used to obtain the heat transfer coefficients. The experimental system is benchmarked with theoretical results, thus validating its reliability in heat transfer measurements. The interference fringe patterns are analyzed digitally using MATLAB 7 and MOTIC Plus softwares, which ensure improved efficiency in fringe analysis, hence reducing the errors associated with conventional fringe tracing. The work also discuss the relative merits and limitations of the two methods used.
microRNAs in cancer cell response to ionizing radiation.

SIGNIFICANCE microRNAs (miRNA) have been characterized as master regulators of the genome. As such, miRNAs are responsible for regulating almost every cellular pathway, including the DNA damage response (DDR) after ionizing radiation (IR). IR is a therapeutic tool that is used for the treatment of several types of cancer, yet the mechanism behind radiation response is not fully understood. RECENT ADVANCES It has been demonstrated that IR can alter miRNA expression profiles, varying greatly from one cell type to the next. It is possible that this variation contributes to the range of tumor cell responsiveness that is observed after radiotherapy, especially considering the extensive role for miRNAs in regulating the DDR. In addition, individual miRNAs or miRNA families have been shown to play a multifaceted role in the DDR, regulating multiple members in a single pathway. CRITICAL ISSUES In this review, we will discuss the effects of radiation on miRNA expression as well as explore the function of miRNAs in regulating the cellular response to radiation-induced damage. We will discuss the importance of miRNA regulation at each stage of the DDR, including signal transduction, DNA damage sensing, cell cycle checkpoint activation, DNA double-strand break repair, and apoptosis. We will focus on emphasizing the importance of a single miRNA targeting several mediators within a pathway. FUTURE DIRECTIONS miRNAs will continue to emerge as critical regulators of the DDR. Understanding the role of miRNAs in the response to IR will provide insights for improving the current standard therapy.
Conditional Macrophage Ablation Demonstrates That Resident Macrophages Initiate Acute Peritoneal Inflammation1

The role played by resident macrophages (Mφ) in the initiation of peritoneal inflammation is currently unclear. We have used a conditional Mφ ablation strategy to determine the role of resident peritoneal Mφ in the regulation of neutrophil (PMN) recruitment in experimental peritonitis. We developed a novel conditional Mφ ablation transgenic mouse (designated CD11bDTR) based upon CD11b promoter-mediated expression of the human diphtheria toxin (DT) receptor. The murine DT receptor binds DT poorly such that expression of the human receptor confers toxin sensitivity. Intraperitoneal injection of minute (nanogram) doses of DT results in rapid and marked ablation of F4/80-positive Mφ populations in the peritoneum as well as the kidney, and ovary. In experimental peritonitis, resident Mφ ablation resulted in a dramatic attenuation of PMN infiltration that was rescued by the adoptive transfer of resident nontransgenic Mφ. Attenuation of PMN infiltration was associated with diminished CXC chemokine production at 1 h. These studies indicate a key role for resident peritoneal Mφ in sensing perturbation to the peritoneal microenvironment and regulating PMN infiltration.
Assessing contemporary intensive care unit outcome: An updated Mortality Probability Admission Model (MPM0-III)*

Objective:To update the Mortality Probability Model at intensive care unit (ICU) admission (MPM0-II) using contemporary data. Design:Retrospective analysis of data from 124,855 patients admitted to 135 ICUs at 98 hospitals participating in Project IMPACT between 2001 and 2004. Independent variables considered were 15 MPM0-II variables, time before ICU admission, and code status. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify risk factors associated with hospital mortality. Setting:One hundred thirty-five ICUs at 98 hospitals. Patients:Patients in the Project IMPACT database eligible for MPM0-II scoring. Interventions:None. Measurements and Main Results:Hospital mortality rate in the current data set was 13.8% vs. 20.8% in the MPM0-II cohort. All MPM0-II variables remained associated with mortality. Clinical conditions with high relative risks in MPM0-II also had high relative risks in MPM0-III. Gastrointestinal bleeding is now associated with lower mortality risk. Two factors have been added to MPM0-III: “full code” resuscitation status at ICU admission, and “zero factor” (absence of all MPM0-II risk factors except age). Seven two-way interactions between MPM0-II variables and age were included and reflect the declining marginal contribution of acute and chronic medical conditions to mortality risk with increasing age. Lead time before ICU admission and pre-ICU location influenced individual outcomes but did not improve model discrimination or calibration. MPM0-III calibrates well by graphic comparison of actual vs. expected mortality, overall standardized mortality ratio (1.018; 95% confidence interval, 0.996–1.040) and a low Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit statistic (11.62; p = .31). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.823. Conclusions:MPM0-II risk factors remain relevant in predicting ICU outcome, but the 1993 model significantly overpredicts mortality in contemporary practice. With the advantage of a much larger sample size and the addition of new variables and interaction effects, MPM0-III provides more accurate comparisons of actual vs. expected ICU outcomes.
Rank M-type radial basis functions network for medical image processing applications

In this paper we present the capability of the Rank M-Type Radial Basis Function (RMRBF) Neural Network in medical image processing applications. The proposed neural network uses the proposed RM-estimators in the scheme of radial basis function to train the neural network. The RMRBF-based training is less biased by the presence of outliers in the training set and was proved an accurate estimation of the implied probabilities. Other RBF based algorithms were compared with our approach in pdf estimation on the microcalcification detection in mammographic image analysis. From simulation results we observe that the RMRBF gives better estimation of the implied pdfs and has show better classification capabilities.
Aberrant Accumulation of the Diabetes Autoantigen GAD65 in Golgi Membranes in Conditions of ER Stress and Autoimmunity

Pancreatic islet β-cells are particularly susceptible to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which is implicated in β-cell dysfunction and loss during the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes (T1D). The peripheral membrane protein GAD65 is an autoantigen in human T1D. GAD65 synthesizes γ-aminobutyric acid, an important autocrine and paracrine signaling molecule and a survival factor in islets. We show that ER stress in primary β-cells perturbs the palmitoylation cycle controlling GAD65 endomembrane distribution, resulting in aberrant accumulation of the palmitoylated form in trans-Golgi membranes. The palmitoylated form has heightened immunogenicity, exhibiting increased uptake by antigen-presenting cells and T-cell stimulation compared with the nonpalmitoylated form. Similar accumulation of GAD65 in Golgi membranes is observed in human β-cells in pancreatic sections from GAD65 autoantibody-positive individuals who have not yet progressed to clinical onset of T1D and from patients with T1D with residual β-cell mass and ongoing T-cell infiltration of islets. We propose that aberrant accumulation of immunogenic GAD65 in Golgi membranes facilitates inappropriate presentation to the immune system after release from stressed and/or damaged β-cells, triggering autoimmunity.
Hydroxyethyl starch and granulocyte transfusions: considerations of utility and toxicity profile for patients and donors

Hydroxyethyl starch (hetastarch) is a synthetic glucose compound with extensive clinical use as a volume expander. Because of its red blood cell–sedimenting properties, hetastarch plays a major role in preparation of granulocyte products. Recent concerns have been raised about the use of hetastarch in critically ill patients for the development of renal injury and other severe adverse events. In contrast, granulocyte donors receive much less of this compound during collection procedures, and over many years, minimal toxicity has been documented in these individuals. Furthermore, granulocyte products contain very little hetastarch, and ill effects on renal function have not been associated with their administration. This review assesses available information about the toxicity profile of hetastarch in critically ill patients requiring a volume expander as well as granulocyte donors and recipients. Because of the lack of toxicity in these latter two groups, hetastarch should be available for preparation of granulocyte products and their administration.
Implementation of a stand-alone fuel cell system for domestic applications

This paper presents a stand-alone fuel cell system for distributed power applications. The adopted system is based on a DC/DC converter and a single-phase three-wire inverter for domestic applications. Full-bridge phase-shift converter with zero voltage switching is used as a front-end stage to convert a fuel cell's variable DC voltage (low voltage side) into a stable DC voltage (high voltage side). A single-phase three-wire inverter is used to convert the obtained DC voltage into two single-phase 110 V/sub rms//60 Hz and one 220 V/sub rms/ output voltages for household applications. The mathematical model of the adopted system was derived and the control scheme was provided in the paper. The validity and effectiveness of the control scheme was verified by some experimental results.
Design & development of microcontroller based programmable ramp generator for AC-DC converter for simulating decay power transient in experimental facility for nuclear power plants

In nuclear power plants, fuel is subjected to a wide range of power and temperature transients during normal and abnormal conditions. The reactor setback and step-back power pattern, fast temperature profile occurred during Loss of Coolant Accident and decay power followed by shutdown of power plant are the typical transients in nuclear power plant. For a variety of reactor engineering and reactor safety related study, one needs to simulate these transients in experimental facility. In experimental facilities, high response AC-DC converters are used to handle these power and temperature transients safely in a controlled manner for generating a database which is utilized for design of thermal hydraulic system, development of computer codes, study of reliability of reactor safety system, etc. for nuclear power plants. The paper presents the methodology developed for simulating the typical reactor decay power transient in an experimental facility. The design and simulation of AC-DC power electronic converter of 3 MW capacity is also presented. The microcontroller based programmable ramp generator is designed & hardware implemented for feeding reference voltage to the closed loop control system of AC-DC converter for obtaining the decay power profile at the converter output. The typical decay power transient of the nuclear power plant is divided into several small power ramps for simulating the transient. The signal corresponding to each power ramp is generated by programmable ramp generator and fed to the comparator for generating control signal for the converter. The actual decay power transient obtained from the converter is compared with the theoretical decay power transient.
Results of reinduction therapy with paclitaxel and carboplatin in recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of the study was to evaluate the treatment results and toxicity of a retreatment regimen of paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with ovarian cancer relapse. METHODS A retrospective analysis of 241 consecutive patients with primary epithelial ovarian cancer receiving paclitaxel and a platinum analogue as first-line treatment was performed. Relapse treatment of platinum-sensitive patients consisted of paclitaxel (175 mg/m(2)) over 3 h followed by carboplatin at an area under the concentration-time curve of 5, repeated every 3 weeks. RESULTS Forty-three patients with relapse were treated with paclitaxel and carboplatin after a median progression-free interval from the end of first-line chemotherapy of 15.8 months (range 6.0-41.7 months). In patients with evaluable disease the overall response rate was 84% (95% CI: 68.0-93.8%). The progression-free survival and overall survival from start of relapse treatment were a median of 9.7 months (range 1.4-26.9 months) and 13.1 months (range 4.5-35.5 months), respectively. In a multivariate Cox analysis independent prognostic factors for progression-free survival after first relapse were response to relapse treatment (P = 0.002, hazard ratio = 13.9) and time to first recurrence (P = 0.016, hazard ratio = 0.167). The planned treatment was accomplished by 67% of patients. Grade 4 neutrocytopenia over 1 week was observed in 9.3% of patients. Grade 1-2 peripheral neuropathy was reported in 30% of patients. Only 1 patient had her paclitaxel dose attenuated because of grade 4 neuropathy. CONCLUSION Retreatment with paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with platinum-sensitive epithelial ovarian cancer relapse yielded a high response rate and encouraging progression-free survival and overall survival. Paclitaxel-carboplatin reinduction therapy is generally well tolerated and the toxicity is manageable.
A New K-NN Query Algorithm Based on the Traversal and Search of the Dynamic Rectangle

The K-NN query algorithm is a widely used algorithm in the spatial database, effectively carrying on K-NN query algorithm has become the focus problem of the spatial database, the traditional query algorithm will adopt the measurement distance and pruning strategy to improve the query performance by using the tree index, it needs to carry on a large amount of distance calculation to exclude the unnecessary queried region when continue to find the next nearest neighbor object, the cost of the time spent on the frequent distance calculation is great in the large amount of data objects, so the query efficiency is dramatically decreased, if adopts the grid index to conduct K-NN query, the query scope is not flexible, there will appear many empty grid cells, resulting in the slow searching speed and the low storage utilization. Based on the analysis and research of the previous K-NN algorithm, a new K-NN query algorithm based on the traversal and search of the dynamic rectangle is proposed in this paper, use the clustering method to cluster the spatial data objects to the horizontal and vertical directions of the queried object, select the appropriate rectangle to carry on dynamic movement and obtain the next query range to be searched, the experiments show that the new algorithm uses the dynamic rectangle to effectively select the search range, it can take full advantage of the dynamic rectangular region by use of the clustering algorithm, the query efficiency can be significantly improved within the large space region.
Cross Domain Framework for Implementing Recommendation Systems Based on Context Based Implicit Negative Feedback

The last decade met a remarkable proliferation of P2P networks, PDMS, semantic web, communitarian websites, electronic stores, etc. resulting in an overload of available information. One of the solutions to this information overload problem is using efficient tools such as the recommender system which is a personalization system that helps users to find items of interest based on their preferences. Several such recommendation engines do exist under different domains. However these recommendation systems are not very effective due to several issues like lack of data, changing data, changing user preferences, and unpredictable items. This paper proposes a novel model of Recommendation systems in e-commerce domain which will address issues of cold start problem and change in user preference problem. This model is based on studying implicit negative feedback from users in cross domain collaborative environment to identify user preferences effectively. The authors have also identified a list of parameters for this study.
180 Gbps PAM4 VCSEL transmission over 300m wideband OM4 fibre

Successful 180 (4×45) Gbps transmission is demonstrated over OM4 fibres using a 45-Gbps-PAM4 chip. Real time BERs<;2e-4 were achieved for four SWDM grid channels in the 850-950nm wavelength range over 100m/200m/300m of wideband OM4 fibres.
Transcutaneous vagus and trigeminal nerve stimulation for neuropsychiatric disorders: a systematic review.

UNLABELLED We reviewed trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) and transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS). All techniques have shown preliminary promising results, although the results are mixed. METHOD We performed a systematic review of the Medline and Embase databases, with no constraint to dates, through June 2013. The keywords were [(1) trigeminal nerve stimulation OR (2) cranial nerve OR (3) trigemin* OR (4) transcutaneous VNS OR (5) transcutaneous cranial nerve stimulation] and (6) mental disorders. RESULTS We included four preclinical and clinical five studies on TNS. All clinical data were based on open-label studies with small samples, which diminished the external validity of the results, thus reflecting the modest impact of TNS in current clinical practice. Of the tVNS clinical trials, three assessed physiological features in healthy volunteers, and one examined patients with epilepsy. CONCLUSION TNS and tVNS improve treatment of particular neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression.
Animal protection algorithm and formal modeling using WSANs

Animals have a great importance in terms of beauty of landscape and are ingredient in medicines for humans. Destruction of habitat, increased pollution and illegal hunting have caused some species of animals to become endangered. Therefore, there is a need to protect such species of animals. This work uses Wireless Sensor and Actuator Networks (WSANs) to protect them from the hunters. Firstly, WSANs are modeled using graph theory and then flow chart of the problem is presented. Endangered Species Protection Algorithm (ESPA) is proposed which employs temperature and multimedia sensors for detecting hunters, predicting a safe location for animals and actuating them to move towards that location. The graph based model, flow chart and the proposed algorithm are transformed into an equivalent formal model. Formal specification of the algorithm is developed using Vienna Development Method-Specification Language (VDM-SL). VDM-SL is used because it is a detailed level formal specification language. Both static and dynamic models are developed using VDM-SL which includes invariants over the components to restrict behavior and pre/post-conditions for correct execution of functions and operations of the system. The developed formal specification has been analyzed through VDM-SL Toolbox for correctness of the system.
Effects of cotrimoxazole on hematologic parameters in HIV-infected adults in a community-based clinic in Entebbe, Uganda.

We and others have previously reported reduced mortality and malaria incidence with cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for HIV-1-infected adults in Uganda and elsewhere. This evidence has led to widespread implementation of cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for HIV-1-infected persons in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that implementation at the country level should be carefully monitored and that this monitoring should evaluate rates of toxicity including hematologic toxicity through the measurement of blood cell counts every 6 months. Cotrimoxazole interferes with folate metabolism and there have been several reports of hematologic abnormalities associated with its use. These abnormalities could potentially worsen if cotrimoxazole is used in conjunction with myelosuppressive or antifolate drugs such as zidovudine. There is scanty evidence of these abnormalities associated with cotrimoxazole use in Uganda however. Cotrimoxazole prophylaxis was introduced in August 2000 in an open cohort of HIV-1-infected participants in EntebbeUganda. Here we report hematologic changes in participants before and after the introduction of cotrimoxazole. (excerpt)
Pressure Ulcer Prevention: Where Practice and Education Meet

This article describes the processes used to implement a pressure ulcer management program in a Midwest academic medical center, which led to a decrease in reportable pressure ulcers. A learning needs assessment was completed, and a workgroup was formed to address the learning needs. Methods, materials, and processes included lectures, technology-enhanced learning, and interactive stations with mannequins and pressure ulcer moulages. The processes and outcome measures used to measure effectiveness of the program are discussed.
The Assessment of Juvenile Psychopathy: Strengths and Weaknesses of Currently Used Questionnaire Measures.

BACKGROUND There has been a significant increase in the research use of questionnaire measures of juvenile psychopathy. This paper aimed to critically review these questionnaires. METHOD Empirical studies on published measures of juvenile psychopathy were reviewed with two criteria in mind: (1) adequate scale psychometrics; (2) utility value in clinical, forensic, community or primary health care settings. RESULTS Despite significant strengths, the review highlights several psychometric shortcomings of currently used measures. CONCLUSIONS Psychometric shortcomings in questionnaire measures of juvenile psychopathy mitigate against their use in applied settings in the absence of full clinical assessments, especially where pre-adolescent children are concerned.
Implicit and Explicit Learning: Differential Effects of Affective States

Two experiments using a standard artificial grammar paradigm were conducted to examine the role of affective states, specifically anxiety and depression, on implicit learning. The main purpose was to broaden the range of human functioning explored through the application of the robustness principle in the evolutionary framework recently developed by Reber which predicts that cognitive processes which rely upon unconscious, implicit processes should be less affected by affective states than those which rely upon conscious, explicit processes. In Study 1 (N = 60), high test anxiety was associated with performance deficits in the explicit components of the task; no differences were found in the implicit phases of the task. In Study 2 (N = 160), varying levels of subclinical depression were unrelated to both implicit and explicit functioning. The contrasting findings of the two studies are discussed in terms of the differential cognitive effects and adaptive implications of these two affective states.