Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On-Line Solid-Phase Extraction Based on Poly (NIPAAm-MAA-co-EDMA) Monolith Coupled with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography for Determination of Nitrendipine and Nisoldipine in Human Urine

A solid-phase extraction absorbent material based on poly (N-isopropylacrylamide-co- methacrylic acidco-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) [poly (NIPAAm-MAA-co-EDMA)] monolithic column was developed for the simultaneous determination of nitrendipine and nisoldipine from human urine. The morphology of monolithic column and pressure drop across the columns were characterized. The results showed excellent permeability and high selectivity. Urine samples (0.05 mL) were injected directly onto the prepared Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) monolithic column. Most biological matrix compounds in urine were removed by on-line SPE technology, while nitrendipine and nisoldipine retained on the SPE column were effectively separated on a C18 analytical column. For all analytes, linear calibration curves were obtained over a range of 50-500 ng/mL with coefficient of correlation > 0.9996. Accuracy and precision for inter- and intra-day assay showed acceptable results for quantitative assay with Relative Standard Deviation (RSD) less than 10%. The recovery was found to be in the range of 89-102%. The results indicated that the prepared monolith was feasible to be use as an on-line SPE sorbent material and the method was especially appropriate for multi-analytes monitoring in urine samples.
Comparison of Quality of Life and Functionality in Patients with Traumatic Unilateral below Knee Amputation and Salvage Surgery

The aim of this study was to compare the functionality during daily activities and quality of life of patients with transtibial amputation vs. salvage surgery after severe lower limb trauma. Ten patients with unilateral below knee amputation and nine patients with salvage surgery after severe lower limb trauma were enrolled. Functional Ambulation Scale (FAS), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Short Form 36 (SF-36) Energy Expenditure Index (EEI), 6-Minute Walking Test (6MWT) and 10-Meter Walking Test (10MWT) were used for the evaluation of subjects. Patients in the salvage group were also evaluated radiologically with Graves' radiological assessment method and Freiburg ankle scoring system. All patients were classified as grade 5 according to FAS. All SF-36 subgroup values were higher in the amputation group whereas only those of general health and vitality reached statistical significance (p < 0.05). The visual analogue scale (VAS) has been used to assess the efficacy of pain management. Mean VAS scores were found to be statistically higher in the salvage group (p < 0.005). Reoperation rates were one in 10 amputee and six in nine salvage patients. Mean Freiburg ankle scores of the patients in the salvage group were 55.33 ± 15.51 which was consistent with moderate functionality. According to Graves' radiological assessment; four patients had grade 3 degeneration, four had grade 2 and one had grade 1 degeneration in the ankle joints. Mean EEI values, 6-MWT and 10-MWT results were not significantly different between the groups (p values > 0.05). Although amputation still remains as the last resort both for patients and the physicians, our results demonstrated that reoperation rates, quality of life (general health and vitality) and pain scores were better in amputee patients.
Variety of Search and Innovation: A Comparative Study of US Manufacturing and Knowledge Intensive Business Services Sectors

Whilst the variety of search activities promotes innovation, there is a central tension between a firm's potential benefits from wide and diverse search activities and its ability to reap these potential benefits. In this paper, we argue that the potential and realised benefits from a firm' search activities are influenced not only by its resources and capabilities, but also by the nature of innovation activities at sector level. Drawing upon a statistical analysis of a large scale survey conducted in the US, we examine the impact of a firm's external search strategy along two dimensions (search intensity and direction) on its innovative performance. Our findings suggest that manufacturing firms tend to benefit from wide and diversified search activities whereas knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) firms tend to benefit from narrow and specialised search activities. Furthermore, when taking account of firm size and absorptive capacity, a more nuanced picture emerges. Implications and contributions to the innovation search literature are discussed.
Content-Addressable Network for Distributed Simulations

The development of distributed systems, parallel computation technology, and Peer-to-Peer systems facilitates the realization of a distributed interactive world model. Thereby, we can implement a worldwide distributed simulation and virtual community, e.g., city traffic simulation and Massively Multiuser Virtual Environments (MMVE). In this thesis, we present Content-Addressable Network for Simulations (CANS), which is based on CAN. Thus, it incorporates all the advantages of CAN, such as self-organization, scalability, and fault-tolerance. The peers in CANS carry out the simulation for the zone assigned to them, and the zones are allocated in such a way that there is as little communication between the peers as possible. We propose two approaches for reorganizing zone-assignments after peers churn. These approaches are based on the distributed tree structure and prefix code. In comparison to existing approaches, our proposed approaches are more efficient and reliable. Since CANS is used to simulate “city traffic” and MMVE, it requires a low-dimensional key space, i.e., a two-dimensional or three-dimensional key space. Thus, we propose CAN tree routing and zone code routing, both of which adopt long links. CAN tree routing has a hierarchical design that is based on the CAN tree. Each peer equips two long links on average. Zone code routing is based on B*-tree. Each peer equips long links and shares the load evenly. Both of these routing solutions achieve routing hops on average. Consequently, the existing CAN can be optimized to perform simulations efficiently and reliably.
TOPIC DETECTION OF UNRESTRICTED TEXTS: APPROACHES AND EVALUATIONS

ABSTRACT Topic detection and tracking refers to automatic techniques for locating topically related cohesive paragraphs in a stream of text. Most documents are about more than one subject, but many Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Information Retrieval (IR) techniques implicitly assume documents have just one topic. Even in the presence of a single topic within a document, the document may address multiple subtopics and various aspects of the primary topic. Hence, dividing documents into topically coherent units and discovering their topic might have many uses. We describe new clues that account for the topic of grouping of contiguous portions of the text. Those clues are based on general lexical resources, which make them applicable to unrestricted texts, and can have many uses such as helping users find answers to general questions in an information search task, or in question/answering systems, or in text summarization. We devise an algorithm for identifying these clues, and we report on the performance of these clues, as well as the improvements suggested by our experiments.
Gold nanoclusters confined in a supercage of Y zeolite for aerobic oxidation of HMF under mild conditions.

Au nanoclusters with an average size of approximately 1 nm size supported on HY zeolite exhibit a superior catalytic performance for the selective oxidation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furfural (HMF) into 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). It achieved >99 % yield of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid in water under mild conditions (60 °C, 0.3 MPa oxygen), which is much higher than that of Au supported on metal oxides/hydroxide (TiO2 , CeO2 , and Mg(OH)2 ) and channel-type zeolites (ZSM-5 and H-MOR). Detailed characterizations, such as X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, N2 -physisorption, and H2 -temperature-programmed reduction (TPR), revealed that the Au nanoclusters are well encapsulated in the HY zeolite supercage, which is considered to restrict and avoid further growing of the Au nanoclusters into large particles. The acidic hydroxyl groups of the supercage were proven to be responsible for the formation and stabilization of the gold nanoclusters. Moreover, the interaction between the hydroxyl groups in the supercage and the Au nanoclusters leads to electronic modification of the Au nanoparticles, which is supposed to contribute to the high efficiency in the catalytic oxidation of HMF to FDCA.
Ambiguous problem investigation in off-line mathematical expression understanding

As the Internet has been widely applied and digital libraries have been developed, the recognition and understanding of mathematical expressions that are included in scientific papers have become a significant research area. Because understanding mathematical expression ambiguity is connected with a person's sense and experience, we introduce mathematical rules, and a sense-based and experience-based dictionary into the rule base for our off-line mathematical expression understanding system. In order to set up these rules, we have to investigate ambiguity existing in mathematical textbooks and formulae collections. We investigate mathematics textbooks in Japanese high schools and formula collections, and enumerate many examples of ambiguous problems existing in mathematical expressions. Based on these samples, we discuss the trend of expressions with ambiguity, and summarize the classification of ambiguous problems. At the same time, we also obtain quantities of information about expressions, constants and variables in different subjects of mathematics.
Fitting population dynamic models to time-series data by gradient matching

We describe and test a method for fitting noisy differential equation models to a time series of population counts, motivated by stage-structured models of insect and zooplankton populations. We consider semimechanistic models, in which the model struc- ture is derived from knowledge of the life cycle, but the rate equations are estimated nonparametrically from the time-series data. The method involves smoothing the population time series x(t) in order to estimate the gradient dx/dt, and then fitting rate equations using penalized regression splines. Computer-intensive methods are used to estimate and remove the biases that result from the data being discrete time samples with sampling errors from a continuous time process. Semimechanistic modeling makes it possible to test assumptions about the mechanisms behind population fluctuations without the results being confounded by possibly arbitrary choices of parametric forms for process-rate equations. To illustrate this application, we analyze time-series data on laboratory populations of blowflies Lucilia cuprina and Lucilia sericata. The models assume that the populations are limited by com- petition among adults affecting their current birth and death rates. The results correspond to the actual experimental conditions. For L. cuprina (where the model's structure is ap- propriate) a good fit can be obtained, while for L. sericata (where the model is inappropriate), the fitted model does not reproduce some major features of the observed cycles. A docu- mented set of R functions for all steps in the model-fitting process is provided as a sup- plement to this article.
A Wideband and Reconfigurable Filtering Slot Antenna

Synthesis and design of a wideband and reconfigurable filtering slot antenna (FSA) is presented in this letter. This is achieved by using an open/short-ended interdigital E-shaped resonator through two integrated PIN diodes within its structure. A rectangular slot antenna with M-shaped radiating stub is excited by the resonator via an inset coupling structure. The slot antenna also performs the filter last stage, and the inset structure can be acted in the filter as the admittance inverter. The circuit model of the structure is analyzed, and the synthesis process is discussed using design curves and formulation. The reconfigurable FSA is designed at center frequencies of 5.2/5.5 GHz with 6%/17% fractional bandwidth and Butterworth broadside antenna gain response when both diodes are on/off, respectively. Compared to the conventional antenna, the filtering antenna obtains good frequency skirt selectivity, flatter passband responses, and wider bandwidth.
Comparative study of voice conversion framework with line spectral frequency and Mel-Frequency Cepstral Coefficients as features using artficial neural networks

This paper is intended to formulate the mapping function using Feed-forward Neural Networks on Line Spectral Frequency and Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient and to compare their outcomes to decipher the better solution to the spectral mapping impediment. The experimentation is confined to the augmentation of spectral and excitation (glottal) domains of speech. LSF and MFCC are used to represent the spectrum and as input predictor variables to the above mentioned neural networks. It contains the use of neural network in the voice conversion framework. The function of artificial neural network is to map the spectral characteristics of a source speaker to the target speaker so as to obtain an authenticated voice conversion model. The temporal alignment of the speech uttered by source and the target is attained using Dynamic Time Warping (Dynamic Programming). The excitation mapping is accomplished using Residual Selection method. The performances of these Voice Conversion systems are assessed using subjective and objective measures which assure the genuineness of the conversion system design.
Efficacy of Strength Training on Fatigue and Performance in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review

Background: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic debilitating condition, which can cause muscle weakness and fatigue. Exercise has often been thought of as contraindicated in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) sufferers. It is only recently been documented that there may actually be benefits to partaking in physical exercise. Objective: To determine the effect strength training has on fatigue and performance in patients with MS. Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted. Results: The review found positive evidence for the implementation of strength training to improve function and fatigue in patients with MS. Conclusion: Strong evidence exists for the use of exercise to treat MS symptoms, specific protocols and additional research looking at more disabling forms of MS are necessary to ensure the patient receives the best management.
Two isomeric compounds from Streptomyces species and their antimicrobial activity

The chloroform extract of the culture filtrate of an isolated Streptomyces species upon chromatographic analysis had lead to the isolation of two isomeric compounds (I and II). The structure of the compounds was considered to be Stretomysone A (I) and Streptomysone B (II) by its spectral data. Both the compounds showed significant antimicrobial activity against tested pathogenic bacteria and fungus. The compounds seem to be first report of isomeric compound from Streptomyces species having antimicrobial activity.
Drug Labeling and its Impact on Patient Safety

Adverse drug events (ADE) are defined as any medication errors with significant potential to harm a patient. ADE frequently occur due to inadequate or ineffective systems of medication labeling. These ADE often result from mistakes in adherence (compliance) with the prescription instructions. Potential problems with drug labeling can occur in both in-patient and out-patient environments. This paper discusses some of the key issues to consider in drug labeling and its impact on patient safety.
Robust Automatic Speech Recognition with Missing and Unreliable Data

Automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems have made dramatic performance leaps in the recent past. Yet, the notion that the key to making recognition more robust is to reduce the difference between training and test conditions is still commonly held. As ASR applications move from tightly controlled to more natural environments with a varying number of unpredictable sound sources, this assumption is becoming less and less viable. Decoding the speech source of interest while listening to several sound sources at the same time seems a more accurate description of the ASR process that suits these challenging environments. This thesis discusses the theoretical and practical issues which arise from this viewpoint. The aim is to explore the division of the problem of robust ASR into two subproblems: (a) identification/separation of the speech and noise using speech properties alone; and (b) recognition based on the resulting partial evidence. The basic assumption is that some regions of the speech time-frequency representation remain relatively unaffected by the noise, that they can be identified and that they alone are sufficient for ASR. In contrast to conventional techniques which require models of all sources in the auditory scene and their subsequent decoding even when only one of the sources is of interest, the techniques described in this thesis make no such requirement. However, they are flexible enough to use this information if it is available. Two techniques are used to adapt a conventional Hidden Markov model (HMM) based ASR system to use partial evidence: (i) marginalisation of the state distributions, so that only the likelihood of the reliable regions is assessed; and (ii) imputation of the unreliable regions by replacing the unreliable features with a single point from the state conditional distributions. In both cases, the ”counterevidence” assessing which states are unlikely to have generated the speech underlying the unreliable regions dominated by noise further constrains the decoding. The techniques are evaluated on the Aurora 2 connected digit recognition task, and seem to perform competitively. In the experiments, the reliable features are identified via local SNR estimates derived through stationary and adaptive on-line noise estimates. The potential of the techniques is indicated by using the clean speech to identify the reliable regions in the noisy speech, where the accuracy is maintained even at -5 dB. The simple all-or-nothing assumption (the feature is either reliable or unreliable) gives rise to a model linking the recognition and the separation as two interdependent sides of the search for the most likely explanation of the noisy data.
Recycling of End of Life Concrete Fines into Hardened Cement and Clean Sand

One of the massive by-products of concrete to concrete recycling is the crushed concrete fines, that is often 0 - 4mm. Although the construction sector is to some extent familiar with the utilization of the recycled coarse fraction (>4 mm), at present there is no high-quality application for fines due to its moisturized and contaminated nature. Here we present an effective recycling process on lab scale to separate the cementitious powder from the sandy part in the crushed concrete fines and deliver attractive products with the minimum amount of contaminants. For this study, a lab scale Heating-Air classification system was designed and constructed. A combination of heat and air classification, resulted in a proper separation of finer fraction (0 - 0.250 mm), from coarser fractions. Heating of the materials was followed by ball milling to enhance the liberation of the cementitious fraction. Experiments were carried out at different heating temperatures and milling durations. Experimental results show that by heating the materials to 500℃ for 30 seconds, the required time of ball milling is diminished by a factor of three and the quality of the recycling products satisfies well the market demand. In addition, the removal of contaminants is complete at 500℃. The amount of CaO in the recovered finer fraction from the recycling process is comparable with the amount of CaO in low-quality limestone. By using this fraction in the cement kiln as the replacement of limestone, the release of the chemically bound CO2 could be reduced by a factor of three.
Differential renormalization-group approach to the layered sine-Gordon model

A new qualitative view of vortex length–scale dependence has been found in recent electrical transport measurements performed on strongly anisotropic Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 single crystals in zero magnetic field. This indicates the need for a better description of the 3D/2D crossover in vortex dimensionality. The vortex-dominated properties of high transition temperature superconductors with extremely high anisotropy (layered systems) are reasonably well described in the framework of the layered XY model which can be mapped onto the layered sine-Gordon model. For the latter we derive an exact renormalization group (RG) equation using Wegner's and Houghton's approach in the local potential approximation. The agreement of the UV scaling laws found by us by linearizing the RG equations with those obtained previously in the literature in the dilute gas approximation makes apparent the improvement which can be achieved by solving our RG equations numerically.
Acetaminophen toxicity in an urban county hospital.

BACKGROUND The prevalence and characteristics of acetaminophen-associated liver injury in hospitalized patients are not well defined. METHODS We identified patients hospitalized for excessive acetaminophen ingestion at an urban county hospital over a 40-month period (1992 to 1995) and reviewed their medical records to determine the incidence and clinical features of the ingestions and their outcomes. RESULTS Of the 71 patients studied, 50 were classified as having taken acetaminophen during suicide attempts and 21 as having accidentally poisoned themselves while attempting to relieve pain. The suicidal patients had ingested almost twice as much acetaminophen as those in the accidental-overdose group (median, 20 vs. 12 g; P=0.009). Among the patients for whom data were available, 63 percent of those in the accidental-overdose group and 25 percent of those in the suicidal group had chronic alcohol abuse (P=0.009). The patients in the accidental-overdose group more often had severe liver necrosis (aminotransferase levels, >3500 IU per liter; 52 percent vs. 14 percent; P=0.002), and were more likely to have hepatic coma (33 percent vs. 6 percent, P=0.006). There were four deaths (19 percent) in the accidental-overdose group and one (2 percent) in the suicidal group (P=0.04). Five patients -- three in the accidental-overdose group and two in the suicidal group -- had ingested 4 g of acetaminophen or less. Acetaminophen ingestion accounted for 12 percent of all patients hospitalized with overdoses (71 of 589) and 40 percent of patients with acute liver failure (10 of 25) during the study period. CONCLUSIONS In an urban county hospital, patients hospitalized with acetaminophen toxicity related to accidental misuse had higher rates of morbidity and mortality than those who attempted suicide, even though the latter had taken more acetaminophen. A higher frequency of chronic alcohol abuse among the patients with accidental overdoses may be one explanation.