Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Residual Generator-Based Controller Design via Process Measurements

This paper deals with designing the controller of LTI system based on data-driven techniques. We propose a scheme embedding a residual generator into control loop based on realization of the Youla parameterization for advanced controller design. Basic idea of the proposed scheme is constructing the residual generator by using the solution of the Luenberger equations as well as the well-established relationship between diagnosis observer (DO) and the parity vector. Besides, the core of the above idea is straightly using the process measurements to obtain the parity space based on the Subspace Identification Method (SIM), rather than establishing the system model. At last, a simulation based on the numerical model demonstrates the performance and effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Performance of 18F-FDG, 11C-Methionine, and 18F-FET PET for Glioma Grading: A Meta-analysis.

PURPOSE Gliomas constitute the most frequent primary brain tumors. Glioblastoma, the most common and malignant glioma in adults, has dismal prognosis with any current therapy. On the other hand, low-grade gliomas, the second most common type of gliomas, are potentially curative with appropriate treatment. METHODS We conducted a meta-analysis to assess the performance of PET tracers with the best available evidence, namely, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), C-methionine (MET), and F-fluoroethyltyrosine (FET), in differentiating low- from high-grade gliomas. RESULTS Twenty-three studies with a total of 994 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled sensitivities of both MET PET and FET PET were found to be significantly higher than of FDG PET (94%, 88%, and 63% respectively, P < 0.001). The pooled specificity of FDG PET was found to be significantly greater compared with both MET PET and FET PET (89%, 55%, and 57%, respectively; P = 0.002). Fluorodeoxyglucose PET was superior in terms of higher positive likelihood ratio values compared with both FET PET and MET PET. CONCLUSIONS This meta-analysis indicated that both MET and FET were superior to FDG in terms of sensitivity for identifying glioma grade.
Variation in dietary cation-anion differences (DCAD) of feed ingredients in relation to milk fever disease in dairy cattle

Milk fever is an important disease that affect lactating cow due to the shortage of calcium circulation after parturition. Incidence of milk fever can be minimized by changing diet acidity/alkalinity before parturition to enhance Ca release of bone, and minimizing it excretion through several regulatory mechanisms. However, cow’s regulatory mechanisms are inadequate in its ability to satisfy the increased metabolic requirement of calcium. Many formulas have been suggested in literature for calculating Dietary Cation-Anion Differences (DCAD) in attempts to acidify diets to minimize the incidence of milk fever. Thus, selection of feed ingredients, and used formula (DCAD below 0 mEq/kg) are important when formulating diet to reach appropriate acidification of the cows’ blood. The aim of current study is to characterize and to measure DCAD of different feed ingredients (Listed in: National Research Council (NRC, 2001)) using the most used equations reported in the literature which are highly correlated with the incidence of milk fever. Tabulated DCAD values showed that the ability of most forages to cause acidification of the cow is not possible and few feed ingredients possessed mild-strong acidic effect. However, using ingredients with acidic effect have nutritional and economic limitations especially in dairy diets. This screening study showed that mostly used feed ingredients in Jordan possess alkaline effect. The magnitude of DCAD 1 ((Na + + K + ) + (Cl - )), DCAD 2 ((Na + + K + ) + (Cl - + S -2 )) and DCAD 3 ((Na + + K + ) + (Cl - + 0.6S -2 )) of different feed ingredients mainly used in Jordan ranged from 93.5 - 592.7 mEq/kg, 31.2 - 349.5 mEq/kg, and 56.1 - 446.8 mEq/kg, respectively. Thus, incorporation of acidifying ingredients is necessary when feeding dry cows without compromising feed intake when cows fed under Jordanian conditions. Several nutritional strategies have been suggested to acidify complete diet, and positively enhance Ca releasing from bones to decrease the possibility occurring milk fever in dairy cows.
Stock assessment of Metapenaeus monoceros (Fabricius) from Cochin waters, Kerala

Based on the catch and effort, and length distribution data of Metapenaeus monoceros landed by shrimp trawlers at Cochin Fisheries Harbour during 1991 - 93, an attempt has been made to assess the stock of this species in the Cochin waters. The average annual instantaneous rate of total mortality was estimated 7.06 and 7.75 for females and males respectively. The estimated value of annual natural mortality (M) was 2.35 and it was assumed to be the same for both sexes. The estimate of fishing mortality rate (F) was 4.71 for females and 5.40 for males of M. monoceros. The average rate of exploitation (E) was 0.70 and 0.67 respectively for males and females. The average standing stock size of M. monoceros for the period under study was 10.55 t for males and 28.65 t for females. The Thomson and Bell and the Beverton and Holt yield per recruit routines in the LFSA are used to explain the present status of fishery which shows that there is no adverse effect of fishing on the exploited stock of M. monoceros from the southwest coast off Cochin.
Fabrication And Characterization Of Thiol-Acrylate Based Polymer for Bone Tissue Engineering Application

v INTRODUCTION . 1 1. LITERATURE REVIEW . 3 1.1 Stem cells in bone regeneration . 3 1.2 Tissue engineering . 4 1.3 Biocompatibility . 6 1.4 Current biomaterials used in hASC bone tissue engineering strategies . 7 1.4. 1 Bioactive inorganic materials . 7 1.4. 2 Polymers . 8 1.4. 3 Hydrogels . 10 1.4. 4 Composite materials. 11 1.5 Thio-Acrylate based polymers . 11 1.6 Cell-material interaction . 13 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS . 16 2.1 Preparation of thiol-acrylate composites . 16 2.2 Mechanical testing . 16 2.3 Contact angle measurement . 16 2.4 hASC isolation and culture . 17 2.5 Cell seeding on solid constructs . 17 2.6 Live/Dead staining . 17 2.7 Picogreen test . 18 2.8 Mass loss . 18 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION . 19 3.1 Material characterization . 19 3.2 Live/Dead staining . 19 3.3 Picogreen test . 20 3.4 Mechanical properties . 23 3.5 Contact angle measurment . 24 3.6 Mass loss . 26
The effects of manufacturing tolerances and assembly force on the volumetric wear at the taper junction in modular total hip arthroplasty

Abstract Fretting and corrosion at the taper-head interface in total hip arthroplasty has been reported as a potential cause of early failure of the implant system. The finite element (FE) method can be used to study the mechanics at the taper junction that are difficult to assess experimentally. Taper mismatch is one of the factors that can influence the performance of the taper junction. In this study we have assessed the effect of taper mismatch, in combination with assembly force on the volumetric wear. The study showed that higher assembly forces and smaller mismatches result in the least volumetric wear.
Palm community transitions along a topographic gradient from floodplain to terra firme in the eastern Amazon

Palms show clear niche segregation patterns along topographic gradients in tropical forests, with some species associated to terra firme and others to seasonally flooded areas. The aim of this study was to quantitatively describe the fine-scale spatial variation within a palm community, tracking the changes in species' abundance along environmental gradients associated with a perennial stream the eastern Amazon. The study of palm communities was based on 60 forest plots in which all adult palms were counted. We found a total of 566 palms in a community containing 11 species. Furthermore, we found a significant separation in the palm community between seasonally-flooded and terra firme forests. We found a gradient with various densities of the three most abundant palm species within the first 100 m away from the flooded area. Other species were located exclusively in the terra firme forest. The abundance of the six most common species were distributed in relation to humidity gradients from floodplains to terra firme, with palm distribution from the most flood-tolerant to the least flood-tolerant palm species as follows: Euterpe oleracea, Attalea phalerata and Socratea exorrhiza (species with floodplain affinity), Astrocaryum gynacanthum, Astrocaryum aculeatum, Attalea maripa (species with terra firme affinity)
Rate-based modelling and simulation of large-scale co2 capture using a piperazine-promoted aqueous ammonia solution

Due to the fast reaction rate of piperazine (PZ) with CO2, it has the potential to act as a promoter in aqueous ammonia (NH3)-based CO2 capture processes. A rigorous, rate-based model for the NH3–PZ–CO2–H2O system was developed using Aspen Plus, and validated against experimental results. Absorption and desorption processes were simulated under real flue gas conditions to gain a practical understanding of the behaviour and characteristics of interactions between PZ-promoted NH3 solution and CO2. Adding PZ significantly increased the CO2 absorption rate in the NH3-based CO2 capture process via a fast reaction between PZ carbamate and CO2. The temperature along the column was higher than in the absence of PZ, and additional NH3 was released into the solution, which led to higher NH3 loss. Adding PZ also reduced the stripping heat, resulting in a smaller energy requirement for solvent regeneration.
Long non-coding RNA IQCJ-SCHIP1 antisense RNA 1 is downregulated in colorectal cancer and inhibits cell proliferation.

Background IQCJ-SCHIP1 antisense RNA 1 (IQCJ-SCHIP1-AS1) was a functional novel long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) revealed by our previous expression profile. In this study, we aim to investigate its clinical relevance and biological significance in colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods We measured the expression levels of IQCJ-SCHIP1-AS1 in 86 paired CRC tissues using quantitative RT-PCR assay, and then analyzed its association with patient prognoses. Moreover, gain-of-function and loss-of-function studies were performed to examine the biological functions of IQCJ-SCHIP1-AS1. Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) were used to elucidate potential mechanisms of IQCJ-SCHIP1-AS1 in CRC. Results More than 2-fold decreased expression of IQCJ-SCHIP1-AS1 was found in half of CRC tissues (53.5%, 46/86). IQCJ-SCHIP1-AS1 down-regulation was correlated with poor differentiation (P=0.025), advanced depth of tumor (P=0.022), lymphatic invasion (P=0.010), advanced tumor stage (P=0.006), and poor prognosis (P=0.0027) in CRC patients. The Cox proportional hazards model demonstrated that IQCJ-SCHIP1-AS1 expression was an independent prognostic factor for CRC (HR =0.247, 95% CI: 0.081-0.752, P=0.014). Moreover, knockdown of IQCJ-SCHIP1-AS1 promoted CRC cell proliferation through increasing cell cycle progression and impairing cell apoptosis. Additionally, bioinformatics analysis showed that differential expression genes in IQCJ-SCHIP1-AS1-depleted CRC cells were enriched in the pathways of cell cycle, DNA replication, and p53. Conclusions Our results demonstrate that IQCJ-SCHIP1-AS1 has an indicative tumor suppressor role and appears to be a potential prognostic factor in CRC for the ﬁrst time.
Novel method for heuristic modelling of flexible manufacturing systems

Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) play an important role in industrial automation. They belong to a class of systems known as discrete event systems (DES) representing varying events with time. The modeling and control of such systems poses a challenge of handling uncertainties in resources and sequences for optimization. Presently the tools used for modeling such systems including Petri nets are constrained in the face of uncertainties in the system. A modified approach using new fuzzy logic formalism in Petri nets is proposed in this paper as a solution to overcome the problem. The utility of this formulation is that apart from the validity, it is adaptable to practical implementation in sequence controllers normally employed in FMS.
The Implication on Earnings Quality of Swiss Companies after changing from Swiss GAAP to IFRS

There is extensive literature about the impact of the adoption of IFRS as accounting standard on earnings quality. Though, there are conflicting views about the relationship. Since 2005 most of Swiss companies are required to prepare their financial statements according to the IFRS. This paper investigates the implication on earnings quality for Swiss companies after changing from the domestic accounting standard, Swiss GAAP, to IFRS. The Modified Jones Model is applied to calculate the amount of discretionary accruals as measure for earnings quality, and likewise for earnings management. Moreover, the degree of earnings smoothing of companies prior to and after changing to IFRS is examined and compared. The findings suggest that IFRS adoption does not lead to increased earnings quality in terms of discretionary accruals. The study even shows that companies employing IFRS as accounting standard exhibit more income decreasing discretionary accruals than companies using the domestic standard. However, the study also confirms that companies that comply with the IFRS commit less earnings smoothing. The paper indicates that the objective of European policymakers to improve the quality of financial statements could not be reached. Moreover, standard-setters and investors need to be aware of the impact of IFRS adoption on the quality of financial statements.
Nanosuspension Technology: Recent Patents on Drug Delivery and their Characterizations

Background: Nanosuspension has arisen as a remunerative, lucrative as well as a potent approach to improve the solubility and bioavailability of poorly aqueous soluble drug entities. Several challenges are still present in this approach which need more research. The prime aim of this review is to identify such challenges that can be rectified in the future. Methods: Through this review, we enlighten the recent patents and advancement in nanosuspension technology that utilize the different drug moieties, instruments and characterization parameters. Results: Nanosuspension has been found to possess great potential to rectify the several issues related to poor bioavailability, site-specific drug delivery, dosing frequency, etc. In the past decade, nanosuspension approach has been complementarily utilized to solve the developed grievances, arisen from poorly soluble drugs. But this field still needs more attention to new discoveries. Conclusion: Nanosuspension contributes a crucial role in administering the different drug entities through a variety of routes involving oral, transdermal, ocular, parenteral, pulmonary, etc. with solving the different issues. This review also confirms the significance of nanosuspension in safety, efficacy, and communal as well as the economic expense associated with healthcare.
Autoantibodies spectrum in HCV and HBV infected patients

Hepatitis B and C viruses have the potential for generating autoimmune processes with dysregulation of the cytokines, Th1 chemokines and molecular or epitope mimicry between self-antigens and viral proteins. These phenomena include the production of autoantibodies, but their clinical significance is still unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the presence of autoantibodies in HCV compared to HBV infected patients, and to find the association of their presence with the age, sex and microscopical changes in the liver. The incidence of autoantibodies presence parallel to the liver biopsy was assessed in 363 consecutive patients with hepatitis C, and 71 patients with hepatitis B. It was found that 66 (18%) HCV and 8 (11%) HBV infected patients had positive results. Pathomorphological changes typical for autoimmune hepatitis were not found in this group of patients with viral infection. The HCV infected patients with autoantibodies were significantly older than patients without autoantibodies. This correlation could be connected with the worsening of the self-mechanisms protecting against autoimmune reactions and the longer duration especially of HCV infection. No such similar correlation was observed in the group of HBV infected patients.
Discovering of System’s Invariants by Temporal Reasoning

We present a technique to handle invariants in the branching-time setting, for the specifications written in the formalism called Branching Normal Form (BNF). The language of BNF was previously used as part of the deductive clausal resolution method for a variety of branching-time logics. We show how this framework can tackle useful periodic properties, or invariants. We emphasise the potential power of this approach to the process of reconfiguration of an adaptive system where preserving invariant properties is essential.
Protective effect of caffeic acid against Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis via modulating cerebral insulin signaling, β amyloid accumulation and synaptic plasticity in hyperinsulinemic rats.

This study investigated the alleviative effect of caffeic acid (CA) on Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis and associated mechanisms in high-fat (HF) diet-induced hyperinsulinemic rats. The results of Morris water maze indicated that, by administrating CA (30 mg/kg b.w./day) for 30 weeks, the memory and learning impairments in HF-induced hyperinsulinemic rats were significantly ameliorated. CA also enhanced superoxide dismutase and glutathione free radical scavenger activity in hyperinsulinemic rats. The western blot data further confirmed that protein expressions of phosphorylated-glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) were significantly increased, whereas the expression of phosphorylated-tau protein decreased in hippocampus of rats administered with CA in comparison with the HF group. Moreover, the expression of amyloid precursor protein (APP) and β-site APP cleaving enzyme were attenuated, subsequently lowering the level of β-amyloid 1-42 (Aβ 1-42) in the hippocampus of CA treated hyperinsulinemic rats. CA also significantly increased the expression of synaptic proteins in HF rats.
Bright light effects on mental fatigue

During workdays, we use and deplete mental resources. Accumulation of effort spent throughout the workday might result in increased feelings of sleepiness, lack of energy, psychological stress and decrements in performance. Bright light, on the other hand, has been shown to positively impact alertness, vitality and performance and may thus counteract fatigue by helping recover decreased mental resources. In the present study, we investigate whether lighting (i.e., illuminance) particularly benefits office employees who suffer from resource depletion. Research has shown that light is important for our wellbeing, health and performance. Light can, for instance, have both direct and phase shifting effects on people’s circadian rhythm (see e.g. Dijk & Archer, 2009). In addition, studies have shown that exposure to higher illuminance levels can result in increased feelings of alertness and better performance at night (Cajochen, Zeitzer, Czeisler & Dijk, 2000; Campbell & Dawson, 1990). Moreover, light shows similar beneficial effects during daytime if individuals have first experienced substantial light or sleep deprivation (Phipps-Nelson, Redman, Dijk & Rajaratman, 2003; Ruger, Gordijn, de Vries & Beersma, 2006). A recent study by Smolders, de Kort and Cluitmans (2012a, 2012b) revealed beneficial effects of bright light exposure also during daytime under regular circumstances. This study showed that even in the absence of sleep or light-deprivation, higher illuminance at eye level can improve employees’ alertness, vitality and objective cognitive task performance, and influence physiological arousal measured with heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) and EEG. In the latter study, effects on subjective alertness and vitality, and physiological arousal were immediate and consistent during the hour of bright light exposure. In contrast, the effects on performance and HRV were dependent on duration of exposure: These effects were most pronounced towards the end of the light exposure. A potential explanation for the delayed effect of bright light on cognitive performance is that more intense light improves cognitive performance mainly when participants suffer from mental fatigue. This is consistent with research showing that light exposure at night or among sleepdeprived participants can improve reaction times immediately (Phipps-Nelson et al., 2003; Lockley, et al., 2006). Furthermore, a lab study showed that participants who did not respond to exposure to a higher illuminance already had faster response times than participants who did, suggesting that they did not benefit from bright light because they already were very alert (Vandewalle et al., 2006). In the current study, we investigate whether daytime exposure to a higher illuminance level has an alerting and vitalizing effect mainly when a person is suffering from mental fatigue and resource depletion.
Working memory profiles of patients with multiple sclerosis: Where does the impairment lie?

ABSTRACT Introduction: Previous studies have mostly provided general estimations regarding Working Memory impairment in patients with Multiple Sclerosis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relative degree of impairment in the four Working Memory components in Multiple Sclerosis. Method: Thirty-eight patients diagnosed with MS and 27 matched controls were assessed using 12 different cognitive tasks of the four components, i.e. phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, central executive and episodic buffer. More precisely, Greek translated and adapted versions of the following tasks were administered: Digit recall, Word recall, Non-word recall, Block recall, Mazes recall, Visual Patterns recall, Backward Digit recall, Backward Block recall, Listening recall, Logical Memory I-Immediate Story recall and Greek Verbal Learning Test, which is based on the California Verbal Learning Test. Results: The phonological loop, the central executive and the spatial subcomponent of the visuospatial sketchpad were found to be equally disrupted in MS patients. The episodic buffer was found to be more heavily affected. On the other hand, the visual subcomponent of the visuospatial sketchpad proved to be preserved. Conclusions: WM subcomponents are differentially affected in patients with MS. This novel finding is discussed within the framework of existing knowledge regarding WM impairment in MS.