Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Host-Parasite Relationships in Porcine Ascariosis: Anticoagulant Potential of the Third Larval Stage of Ascaris suum as a Possible Survival Mechanism

Simple Summary Ascaris suum parasitises pigs all over the world causing a disease responsible for producing reductions in weight gains and damages to several organs of the infected animals that incur huge economic losses for the swine industry. While adult worms of this parasite are located in the small intestine of the host, their larval stages migrate through the bloodstream as an evolutionary advantageous strategy within a hostile environment that confronts host responses such as blood clots formation. The aim of this work is to study the ability of A. suum larvae to inhibit blood coagulation as a possible mechanism to control blood clots formation and facilitate their migration. The results showed that these larvae inhibited host blood coagulation and possessed molecules similar to those responsible for inhibiting blood coagulation in pigs. The anticoagulant effect of A. suum larvae could constitute a potential survival mechanism for the parasite. Therefore, developing new control strategies directed at this and similar processes could avoid A. suum larval migration and the establishment of adult worms in their definitive location, which is necessary to confront the damages and economic losses produced by this parasitosis. Abstract In order to evade the response of their hosts, helminth parasites have evolved precise and highly regulated mechanisms, including migration strategies of the larval stages. In regard to porcine ascariosis caused by Ascaris suum, its infective third-stage larvae (AsL3) undergo a complex migratory route through the bloodstream of their host before establishing in the small intestine to reach maturation. Despite the benefits attributed to this migration, blood clots formation could compromise larvae survival. The aim of this work was to study the interaction between the cuticle and excretory/secretory antigens of AsL3 and the host coagulation cascade. Larvae were obtained after incubating and hatching A. suum eggs, after which the antigenic extracts were produced. Their ability to disrupt the coagulation cascade was studied using anticoagulation and chromogenic assays, and techniques based on electrophoresis. The obtained results showed that both antigenic extracts possessed anticoagulant potential, being able to inhibit the intrinsic, extrinsic and/or common pathways of the blood coagulation cascade as well as the activated factor X. Moreover, three A. suum serpin proteins were identified as candidates to inhibit this host coagulation factor. To the best of our knowledge, this study shows, for the first time, the anticoagulant potential of the infective larvae of A. suum, which could be used by the parasite as a mechanism to facilitate its invasion and survival in the host.
A Control Strategy for a Tethered Follower Robot for Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Patients that suffer Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) undergo a procedure called Pulmonary Rehabilitation that helps them to improve disease prognosis. Pulmonary Rehabilitation consists of different physical exercises and walking activities conducted at medical facilities under supervision of a physical therapist. In order to perform these procedures, patients require oxygen assistance, but the oxygen tank cannot be carried by the patient due to the musculoskeletal atrophy that characterize this pathology and external assistance is required. The assistance to transport the bulky oxygen tank can be provided by a robotic device that follows the patient while performing the physical activities. This work provides an initial study on the controlling mechanism of a differential tethered robot that implements a leader-follower configuration to carry the oxygen tank for these procedures. Two alternative control strategies are proposed. Results on a simulated and on a real prototype confirms the feasibility of the proposed solution.
Polarization Analysis of Microscopic Faraday Rotation of Thin Solid Ferrocene Aggregates

The Faraday rotation angles of ferrocene aggregates formed on a glass plate and a water surface were measured by a pulsed magnetic field Faraday-effect measurement system. The observed Faraday rotation of the aggregates showed a dependency on the incident polarization angle with a period of π/2, in contrast to the case of polarized absorption in the absence of a magnetic field, which gave a period of π. The polarization dependency of the Faraday rotation was analyzed in terms of the products of trigonometric functions with the angle of the transition moment of the ferrocene aggregate, inspired by the equations for the Faraday A and B terms. From the polarization angle dependencies in the presence and absence of pulsed magnetic fields, the differences in angles between the optical transition moment and the magneto-optical transition moment were evaluated, and they suggested that the ferrocene molecules in the aggregate formed on a glass plate were oriented more parallel to the horizontal glass surface than.
Positive and negative patterning on a palmitic acid Langmuir–Blodgett monolayer on Si surface using bias-dependent atomic force microscopy lithography

It is well known that the anodization lithography using an atomic force microscope (AFM) can produce only a positive pattern under a tip negative bias. This study revealed that a negative pattern was generated due to the degradation of a resist under the positive bias. In order to maximize this polarity effect, a Langmuir–Blodgett monolayer of palmitic acid was used as a resist since the degraded molecules would be removed from the negatively biased substrate. This study enables the AFM lithography on a designed resist to generate a negative or positive pattern clearly by changing only one parameter, polarity of the bias. The complete degradation process was confirmed by lateral force microscopy.
Two‐Phase Newsvendor with Optimally Timed Additional Replenishment: Model, Algorithm, Case Study

Recent advancements in Information Technology have provided an opportunity to significantly improve the effectiveness of inventory systems. The use of in‐cycle demand information enables faster reaction to demand fluctuations. In particular, for the newsvendor (NV) system, we exploit the newly available data to perform an additional review (AR) of inventory at an endogenously determined, a priori set time during the sales period, and perform an additional replenishment if necessary. We implemented our innovative model at a market‐leading media group. The results of the initial pilot were dramatic, indicating that the proposed model achieves an increase of 4%–24% in profits compared to the policy before implementation. As a result, the company started following the proposed model for all their printed magazines and observed a significant reduction in operational costs. In a generalized setting, we provide a tractable search‐based optimization algorithm, based on the problem's structural properties, for determining the optimal initial quantity, AR timing, and quantity to restock at that time. Based on these theoretical results, we propose a simple heuristic that can be used for many practical situations including our implementation at Yedioth. Through a computational experiment, we show that our algorithm finds the optimal solution quickly and that the proposed heuristic performs well. We also provide additional insights into the problem—for instance, that our system exhibits properties similar to inventory pooling, provided that the demand rate is large enough.
Rare and unusual tracheobronchial foreign bodies

Background: Foreign body aspirations are rare in adults but are common in children between the ages of 0-3. Clinically, cough is the most common complaint. Delays in diagnosis can cause complications in the lower respiratory tract and lung parenchyma. This study aimed to offer a reminder that rare and unusual foreign bodies may be the cause of tracheobronchial aspiration and to present the surgical approach. Materials and Methods: Patients who were admitted to our outpatient clinic or who were referred by other clinics for foreign body aspiration between January 2012 and January 2017 were retrospectively analyzed. Foreign objects such as coins, food pieces, toy pieces, and needles, which were routinely encountered, were excluded from the study. Gender, age, complaints, radiological findings, and surgical interventions were recorded. Results: There were five cases (four males, one female) under the age of 18 and three male cases above the age of 18. The average age was 21.18 ± 28.93. There was one case with laryngectomy. In six cases, the foreign body was removed by rigid bronchoscopy. Lung resection was performed in three cases (one lobectomy and one wedge resection). The foreign bodies were a pen tip, a piece of stone, a rivet from jeans, the LED of a remote control, a latch spring, a piece of a spoon, a wood piece, and a piece of a dental filling. Conclusions: Foreign body aspirations are among the most significant causes of morbidity and mortality, especially in the child age group. Diagnosis is possible through anamnesis, physical examination, and evaluation of radiological findings together. In the event of clinical suspicion, foreign body aspirations should be kept in mind regardless of age group.
Influence of Temperature and Sulfate Concentration on the Sulfate/Sulfite Reduction Prokaryotic Communities in the Tibetan Hot Springs

The distribution and diversity of sulfate/sulfite reduction prokaryotic (SRP) communities in hot springs from the Quzhuomu and Daggyai Geothermal Zone of Tibetan, China, was reported for the first time. In hot springs that are naturally hyperthermal and anoxic, the sulfur cycle is one of the most active cycles of the elements. The distribution of SRP in response to temperature is of great importance to the understanding of biogeochemical cycling of sulfur in geothermal features. Little is known about the SRP in geothermal zone. In this study, the diversity of SRP was investigated in the sediments from the Daggyai and Quzhuomu geothermal zone using PCR amplification, cloning and sequencing of the dissimilatory sulfite reductase beta subunit gene (dsrB). The abundance of dsrB and 16S rRNA genes, were determined by quantitative polymerase chain reactions. In addition, correlations of the SRP assemblages with environmental factors were analyzed by the aggregated boosted tree (ABT) statistical analysis. The results showed that SRP populations were diverse, but were mainly composed of Desulfobacterales, Desulfovibrionales, Syntrophobacterales, Clostridia and Nitrospirales, and large fraction (25%) of novel sequences have branched groups in the dsrB phylogenetic tree. In Quzhuomu geothermal zone, sulfate-rich hot springs are characterized by thick bacterial mats that are green or red and the SRP populations mainly appear at mid-temperature (50 °C to 70 °C). In low-sulfate hot springs in the Daggyai geothermal zone, although gray or pink streamers are widely formed at 60 °C to 80 °C, they prefer to inhabit in green mat at lower temperature (30 °C to 50 °C). With increasing temperature, the diversity of the dsrB gene at the OTU level (cutoff 97%) decreased, while its relative abundance increased. This result suggests that temperature played an important role in affecting dsrB gene distribution.
A 0.166 pJ/b/pF, 3.5–5 Gb/s TSV I/O Interface With VOH Drift Control

A voltage-mode transmitter (TX) with a predriver and a receiver (RX) with an energy-efficient level shifter (LS) is proposed to reduce power consumption in the heavy load of a through-silicon via (TSV) input–output (I/O) interface. An N-over-N (NN) driver with the proposed predriver reduces $\text{V}_{OH}$ drift to enhance jitter characteristics. In addition, the swing level of the transmitted signal can be lowered to 600 mV with a single supply voltage at the TX. To recover the swing level, the RX is designed with the proposed LS that can operate with a data rate of 5 Gb/s. An 8-stacked TSV is emulated in the 65 nm CMOS process, and the emulated capacitance of each stack is 100 fF. The energy efficiency is 0.166 pJ/b/pF with a pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS)-7 at 5 Gb/s and 0.205 pJ/b/pF with a PRBS-31 at 3.5 Gb/s.
A Survey of Physical-Layer Authentication in Wireless Communications

Authentication is an important issue in wireless communications because the open nature of the wireless medium provides more security vulnerabilities. Recently, Physical-Layer Authentication (PLA) attracts many research interests because it provides information-theory security and low complexity. Although many researchers focus on the PLA and exploit its potential in enhancing wireless security, the literature is surprisingly sparse with no comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art PLA and the key fundamentals involved. Thus, this article provides a detailed survey of features and techniques that can be used in the PLA. We categorize the existing PLA schemes into two categories: passive and active schemes. In the passive schemes, a receiver authenticates the transmitter based on the physical-layer features of the received signals. We further divide the passive schemes into two sub-categories: device-based features and channel-based features. In the active schemes, a transmitter generates a tag based on a secret key and embeds it into a source message. Then, a receiver authenticates the transmitter based on the tag whether it exists in the received signal. We further divide active schemes into two sub-categories: non-covert schemes and covert schemes. Moreover, we also provide some future research directions.
Raman spectroscopic study of the heterogeneity of microcolonies of a pigmented bacterium

Small colonies (90 – 350 μm in diameter) of the pigmented halophilic bacterium Halobacterium salinarium have been studied by Raman microspectroscopy using excitation at 632.8 nm. The Raman spectra were dominated by bands due to carotene compounds. The intensity of the pigment bands varied across the diameter of the colonies in a way that suggested the presence of concentric rings of higher pigment concentration. Although the colonies were grown in a transparent incubator in an open laboratory, it was demonstrated that the rings were not a result of the diurnal variation of light and dark. These results support a proposed model relating cell motility and cell concentration.
Optimal Generator Start-Up Sequence for Bulk System Restoration With Active Distribution Networks

This paper proposes a new scheme for bulk system restoration considering the available black-start resources (BSRs) in the distribution system (DS). The DS assisted generator start-up sequence (D-GSS) scheme is realized in a decentralized way, so that it does not only benefit the bulk system GSS by utilizing available BSRs in the DS, but also respects the independent operation of the transmission system operator (TSO) and distribution system operators (DSOs). First, the decentralized D-GSS scheme is presented including the interaction of the TSO and DSOs and the corresponding compact models. The models of the decentralized D-GSS scheme are built with the bulk system GSS modeled as a mixed-integer quadratic program (MIQP), the DS multi-step operation modeled as mixed-integer second-order conic programs (MISOCPs) and reliable power supply assessments of renewable energy sources as linear programs (LPs). Finally, a projection function based analytical target cascading (P-ATC) method is developed to iteratively solve the decentralized models with model complexity reduction. The P-ATC algorithm can handle integer variables and improve the computational efficiency of the iterative calculation process. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated using the small-scale T6D2 system and large-scale T118D5 system, showing good GSS performance and computation efficiency.
Facile microwave-assisted synthesis and magnetic and gas sensing properties of Fe3O4 nanoroses

In this study, we developed a facile microwave-assisted ethylene glycol approach to synthesize Fe3O4 nanoroses in the presence of the PEO-PPO-PEO block copolymer (P123). The resulting products were systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy (FT-IR). The characterization results revealed that the Fe3O4 nanoroses were formed by P123 directed assembly of nanoparticles under microwave irradiation. Besides size and morphology-dependent magnetic properties, the as-prepared nanocrystalline Fe3O4 nanoroses exhibited high sensitivity and good reversibility for gas-sensing of ethanol vapor at room temperature. Our results suggest these Fe3O4 nanoroses are promising materials for magnetic and sensing applications.
The Effects of Frequency-Selective RF Pulses on J-Coupled Spin- {1}/{2} Systems

The effects of solvent-suppression, sinc-Gauss, self-refocussed, and 2D selective RF pulses on J-coupled spin systems have been investigated by means of computer simulations. Depending on the pulse time, coupling constants, and chemical shifts, nonnegligible amounts of unwanted coherence may be generated, resulting in signal loss and deteriorated slice profiles. A time-inverted self-refocused frequency-selective pulse is useful for frequency-selective multiple-quantum generation and spectral editing. Volume-selective pulses with bandwidths in the order of the chemical-shift range may lead for the PRESS experiment to severe signal cancellation. The SADLOVE localization sequence does not have this effect. It is shown that except for multiple-pulse localization sequences, with RF bandwidths on the order of the chemical-shift range, the effects of J coupling can be neglected for in vivo use.
Investigation on the Mitigation of Suicidal Thoughts in the Elderly Depending on Mobile Media Technology and Living Arrangement

In the super-aged societies, an increased elderly population living in solitude has been causing many problems. Since the elderly may incur a sense of loss and interest in suicide when living alone, this study investigated the effects of smartphones as well as types of living arrangements on elderly peoples’ sense of loss and suicidal thoughts. This study found social roles and relationships were lower for older individuals using smartphones than those using 2G phones. Not surprisingly, those living with family members or a partner had significantly fewer suicidal thoughts than those living in solitude. However, our results indicate subjects’ loss of role and relationships was affected more significantly by their smartphone usage (2G phone vs. smartphone) rather than their living arrangements (i.e., living with family or a partner vs. living in solitude). Moreover, smartphone users showed a lower sense of loss in terms of social roles and relationships. Among the elderly, loss of health, social role, and relationships were identified as precedents for increased suicidal thoughts; yet, economic capacity was surprisingly not an indicator of suicidal thoughts. ■ keyword :∣Mobile Media∣Mitigation∣Suicidal Thoughts∣The Elderly∣ 접수일자 : 2020년 08월 10일 수정일자 : 2020년 09월 15일 심사완료일 : 2020년 09월 17일 교신저자 : 최철환, e-mail : chulhwan.choi@khu.ac. kr 모바일 미디어 기술과 주거형태에 따른 노인 자살생각 완화 연구 535
Qualitative Study of General Public Views towards Adverse Drug Reactions in Lithuania

Direct patient reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is available in many countries, as patients are often knowledgeable about their health conditions and medicines. This study aimed to assess whether patients can recognize ADRs and whether they know how to proceed with ADR reporting. The study also assesses ADR information sources and the main barriers to reporting. Through the purposive and snowball sampling techniques, 42 consumers participated in focus group discussions. All discussions were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed for thematic content analysis. The thematic content analysis yielded four major themes: knowledge about medication safety, ADRs, and pharmacovigilance; information sources about medicines and ADRs; knowledge about ADR reporting; attitudes towards ADR reporting; benefits of ADR reporting; barriers to ADR reporting. Participants were able to identify ADRs and used different information sources about medicines and ADRs to confirm their beliefs. However, the poor communication between consumers, pharmacists, and physicians is the main barrier to ADR reporting. This study identified the challenges in relation to pharmacovigilance in Lithuania from patients’ perspectives. Our study indicated a lack of clearly set standards and communication guidelines between patients, physicians, and pharmacists. Active pharmacovigilance might help develop consumer habits regarding the reporting of ADRs in the presence of spontaneous pharmacovigilance.
Insights into the s-process and r-process as revealed by globular clusters

Abstract We present abundance measurements for a large number of neutron-capture elements in giant stars of the globular clusters M4, M5, and M13. The relative abundance ratios differ between all three clusters. For all clusters, we find that the mean abundances for the elements from Ba to Hf can be well explained by scaled versions of the solar s- and r-process abundances, albeit with different mixtures of s- and r-process material for each clusters.
Capillary Condensation of N2 on Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes

The crystalline carbon nanotubes having mesopores that are open at one end, with pore width of 4 ± 0.8 nm, were characterized by XRD, XPS, and HRTEM. The N2 adsorption isotherm of multiwall carbon nanotubes was measured at 77 K. A hump was observed near P/P0 = 0.4 in the adsorption isotherm. The adsorption isotherm was deconvoluted into those on the inner and external surfaces using the separately determined total, inner, and external surface areas. The adsorption isotherm on the inner surface was without adsorption hysteresis and had a sharp uptake at the P/P0 region corresponding to the mesopore width, which was ascribed to capillary condensation in the mesopores of carbon nanotubes.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF A NONUNIFORM WIGGLY LINES BIDIRECTIONAL COUPLER IN COMBINATION WITH THE REFLECTED POWER CANCELLER METHOD

This paper presents a bidirectional coupler which is designed by combining nonuniform wiggly lines and the reflected power canceller (RPC) method. The combination not only brings about a high directivity but also makes a wideband structure with a compact size. Although, in the RPC method, an idle port is used to produce a reflected signal in order to achieve a high directivity, there are not any idle ports in the proposed coupler. The coupler was built on an FR4 substrate. The measurement results show that this structure is suitable to monitor forward and reflected signals in high power applications. The fabricated coupler has the directivity of more than 22 dB and the coupling flatness of ±0.12 dB in the forward and backward signals in a wide frequency range of 140 MHz–190 MHz.