Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison between the Lateral and Medial Femur in Low-Mineral-Diet-Fed Ovariectomized Rats Using Raman Spectral Analysis

Differences in structural and crystallinity between the lateral and medial regions of the central femoral diaphysis in low-mineral-diet-fed ovariectomized rats were investigated using polarization microscopy and Raman spectral analysis. Eighteen 19-week-old female Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups (Group 1: sham ovariectomy + normal diet group, Group 2: ovariectomy + normal diet group, Group 3: ovariectomy + low-mineral-diet group). Measurements were performed in the lateral and medial regions of the femoral sagittal cross-section at 24 weeks of feeding. On polarization microscopy, tubular structures of haversian and Volkmanns canals and osteocytes were observed in the femur in Groups 1 and 2. In Group 3, the number of these tubular structures in the femur was decreased compared to those in Groups 1 and 2. Moreover, the bone width of the femur decreased in Group 3 compared to those in Groups 1 and 2. On Raman spectral analysis, the peaks of organic and inorganic components were observed in the lateral and medial regions of the femur in all groups. In magnified views of the peak of ν1PO43-spectrum, the peaks in the lateral and medial regions overlapped in Group 1, but the peak of the medial region was about 0.3 and 0.8 cm-1 shifted toward the low wavenumber side compared to those of the lateral region in Groups 2 and 3, respectively. Based on these findings, the influences of reduced estrogen secretion and the low-mineral diet were clarified as differences in the femoral structural and crystallinity on polarization microscopy and Raman spectral analysis. Since highly sensitive detailed point analysis can be performed within a short time using Raman spectral analysis, it may be useful for high-dimensional structural analysis.
The HST survey of the B2 sample of radio-galaxies: Optical nuclei and the FR I/BL Lac unified scheme

We examine the optical properties of the nuclei of low luminosity radio-galaxies using snapshot HST images of the B2 sample. In agreement with the results obtained from the analysis of the brighter 3C/FR I sample, we finda correlation between fluxes (and luminosities) of the optical and radio cores. This provides further support for the interpretation that the optical nuclear emission in FR I is dominated by synchrotron emission and that accretion in these sources takes place in a low efficiency radiative regime. In the framework of the FR I/BL Lacs unified scheme, we find that the luminosity difference between FR I and BL Lac nuclei can be reproduced with a common beaming factor in both the radio and the optical band, independent of the extended radio luminosity, thus supporting such a scenario. The corresponding bulk Lorentz factor is significantly smaller than is expected from observational and theoretical considerations in BL Lacs: this can be interpreted as due to a velocity structure in the jet, with a fast spine surrounded by a slower layer.
Use of nanocrystal seeding chemical admixture in improving Portland cement strength development: Application for precast concrete industry

This paper summarises an investigation into the potential advantages to the precast concrete industry of using a new ‘seeding’ type of chemical admixture in Portland cement (PC) based concrete mixes. Results indicated that the addition of 2–4% nanocrystal seeding chemical (NCS) admixture by weight of PC can provide a doubling of early strength, particularly at 6 and 12 h. This strength gain could lead to the turnover of moulds in precast concrete plants being completed twice in 24 h, thus increasing production capacity. Isothermal conduction calorimetry, X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis techniques were used to investigate the reasons for the improvement in compressive strength development. Results indicated that the increase in early compressive strength is due to an acceleration of early hydration of PC in presence of the NCS. Indeed, after 6 h, the degree of hydration was more than 50% greater when NCS was used. This paper also highlights the possibility of the NCS chemical admixture being used in conjunction with supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in PC blended concrete mixes. 2% NCS was added to a blend containing 70% PC and 30% ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS). Results indicated that early strength values were greater compared to the blend without NCS and comparable to the 100% PC mix.
A Cosmological Model Describing the Early Inflation, the Intermediate Decelerating Expansion, and the Late Accelerating Expansion of the Universe by a Quadratic Equation of State

We develop a cosmological model based on a quadratic equation of state \mbox{\(p/c^2=-(\alpha+1){\rho^2}/{\rho_P}+\alpha\rho-(\alpha+1)\rho_ {\Lambda}\)}, where \(\rho_P\) is the Planck density and \(\rho_{\Lambda}\) the cosmological density, ``unifying'' vacuum energy and dark energy in the spirit of a generalized Chaplygin gas model. For \(\rho\rightarrow \rho_P\), it reduces to \(p=-\rho_P c^2\) leading to a phase of early accelerating expansion (early inflation) with a constant density equal to the Planck density \(\rho_P=5.16 \times 10^{99}\, {\rm g}/{\rm m}^3\) (vacuum energy). For \(\rho_{\Lambda}\ll\rho\ll \rho_P\), we recover the standard linear equation of state \(p=\alpha \rho c^2\) describing radiation (\(\alpha=1/3\)) or pressureless matter (\(\alpha=0\)) and leading to an intermediate phase of decelerating expansion. For \(\rho\rightarrow \rho_{\Lambda}\), we get \(p=-\rho_{\Lambda} c^2\) leading to a phase of late accelerating expansion (late inflation) with a constant density equal to the cosmological density \(\rho_{\Lambda}=7.02\times 10^{-24}\, {\rm g}/{\rm m}^3\) (dark energy). The pressure is successively negative (vacuum energy), positive (radiation and matter), and negative again (dark energy). We show a nice ``symmetry'' between the early universe (vacuum energy \(+\) \(\alpha\)-fluid) and the late universe (\(\alpha\)-fluid \(+\) dark energy). In our model, they are described by two polytropic equations of state with index \(n=+1\) and \(n=-1\) respectively. Furthermore, the Planck density \(\rho_P\) in the early universe plays a role similar to the cosmological density \(\rho_{\Lambda}\) in the late universe. They represent fundamental upper and lower density bounds differing by \(122\) orders of magnitude. The cosmological constant ``problem'' may be a false problem. We study the evolution of the scale factor, density, and pressure. Interestingly, our quadratic equation of state leads to a fully analytical model describing the evolution of the universe from the early inflation (Planck era) to the late accelerating expansion (de Sitter era). These two phases are bridged by a decelerating algebraic expansion (\(\alpha\)-era). Our model does not present any singularity at \(t=0\) and exists eternally in the past (although it may be incorrect to extrapolate the solution to the infinite past). On the other hand, it admits a scalar field interpretation based on an inflaton, quintessence, or tachyonic field. Our model generalizes the standard \(\Lambda\)CDM model by incorporating naturally a phase of early inflation that avoids the primordial singularity. Furthermore, it describes the early inflation, the intermediate decelerating expansion, and the late accelerating expansion of the universe simultaneously in terms of a single equation of state. We determine the corresponding scalar field potential that unifies the inflaton and quintessence potentials.
X-rays from accretion shocks in T Tauri stars: The case of BP Tau

We present an XMM-Newton observation of the classical T Tauri star BP Tau. In the XMM-Newton RGS spectrum the O  triplet is clearly detected with a very weak forbidden line indicating high plasma densities and/or a high UV flux environment. At the same time concurrent UV data point to a small hot spot filling factor suggesting an accretion funnel shock as the site of the X-ray and UV emission. Together with the X-ray data on TW Hya these new observations suggest such funnels to be a general feature in classical T Tauri stars.
Intravenous glycyrrhizin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C: A double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled phase I/II trial

Background : In Japan, glycyrrhizin therapy is widely used for chronic hepatitis C and reportedly reduces the progression of liver disease to hepatocellular carcinoma. The aims of this study were to evaluate the effect of glycyrrhizin on serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐RNA and its safety in European patients.
A Principled Massive-Graph Similarity Function with Attribution

Danai Koutra, Computer Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor1 Neil Shah, Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University. Joshua T. Vogelstein, Department of Biomedical Engineering & Institute of Computational Medicine, Johns Hopkins University Child Mind Institute. Brian Gallagher, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Christos Faloutsos, Computer Science Department, Carnegie Mellon University.
Prognostic value of the number and volume of liver tumours on portal vein embolization outcomes.

BACKGROUND/AIMS Portal vein embolization (PVE) extends the resecability of liver tumours.The issue of PVE is an insufficient growth of the liver parenchyma or a tumour progression in some patients. We evaluated the effect of the volume and the number of liver tumours on the effect of PVE. METHODOLOGY PVE was performed in 40 patients with liver tumours due to an insufficient future remnant liver volume. The number and the volume of the tumours were evaluated and compared with the final PVE effect. RESULTS In patients without any increase of the liver volume after PVE (n=3) the number and the volume of the tumours before PVE were 2.7±2.1 and 2205.1±2432.7mm3, respectively. In patients with sufficient growth of the liver (n=22) it was 3.8±2.2 (NS) and 1164.9±1392.1mm3 (NS), respectively. In patients with tumour progression (n=11) it was 5.6±2.2 and 6971.4±5189.5mm3, respectively (p<0.04 and p<0.005, respectively). Four patients were treated by radiofrequency ablation only due to worsening of their health state. Patients with >4 foci (OR 4.7) and a tumour volume >400mm3 (OR=13.0) had a higher probability of cancer progression or insufficient growth of the liver tissue. Patients with <6 foci and a tumour volume <3100mm3 had an 87.5% probability of a successful liver hypertrophy after PVE. CONCLUSIONS The tumour number and volume were crucial for progression of a malignant disease and growth of the liver parenchyma after PVE.
Consumer Participation in Mental Health in Australia: What Progress is Being Made?

Objective: Historically, people living with mental illness have had limited chance to participate in mental health services other than as patients. This has led to serious negative consequences for their health and wellbeing. Recent public policy has aimed at redressing this situation. This paper sets out to investigate the ‘state of play’ regarding consumer participation in mental health services. Conclusions: Consumer participation is not a common topic in the recent literature, despite the significant public policy push to promote it. Although the vision of public policy is for consumers to be at the centre of decision making, the changes are understandably slow in coming. The implications for the practice of psychiatry, and therefore mental health services, of the demands for meaningful participation are profound. They challenge some of the social covenants under which mental health services have historically been delivered. Traditionally, people living with a mental illness have not had their rights respected. In recent times, the College has developed policies that aim to ensure that the rights of people living with a mental disorder are respected. These policies also acknowledge that effective health care requires collaboration with consumers.
A Stable LMS Adaptive Channel Estimation Algorithm for MIMO-OFDM Systems Based on STBC

Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology is combined with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) to provide robustness and high spectral efficiency. Adaptive channel estimation is the most important and difficult task in MIMO-OFDM systems where the channel is rapidly time varying. RLS and LMS are commonly used adaptive algorithm for channel estimation in wireless systems. In this paper, a stable LMS adaptive algorithm is proposed for channel estimation in MIMO-OFDM systems based on space time block coding (STBC). Recursive least square (RLS) and Least mean square (LMS) adaptive channel estimators are discussed. The stability of proposed LMS and RLS algorithms is compared in term of μ. From the simulation results, it is observed that proposed LMS is more stable than RLS for a particular range of μ with less computational complexity. Moreover, the proposed LMS provides better performance with less training sequences compare to RLS.
Habitat conversion and global avian biodiversity loss

The magnitude of the impacts of human activities on global biodiversity has been documented at several organizational levels. However, although there have been numerous studies of the effects of local–scale changes in land use (e.g. logging) on the abundance of groups of organisms, broader continental or global–scale analyses addressing the same basic issues remain largely wanting. None the less, changing patterns of land use, associated with the appropriation of increasing proportions of net primary productivity by the human population, seem likely not simply to have reduced the diversity of life, but also to have reduced the carrying capacity of the environment in terms of the numbers of other organisms that it can sustain. Here, we estimate the size of the existing global breeding bird population, and then make a first approximation as to how much this has been modified as a consequence of land–use changes wrought by human activities. Summing numbers across different land–use classes gives a best current estimate of a global population of less than 100 billion breeding bird individuals. Applying the same methodology to estimates of original land–use distributions suggests that conservatively this may represent a loss of between a fifth and a quarter of pre–agricultural bird numbers. This loss is shared across a range of temperate and tropical land–use types.
Auditory Context Awareness via Wearable Computing

We describe a system for obtaining environmental context through audio for applications and user interfaces. We are interested in identifying specific auditory events such as speakers, cars, and shutting doors, and auditory scenes such as the office, supermarket, or busy street. Our goal is to construct a system that is real-time and robust to a variety of real-world environments. The current system detects and classifies events and scenes using a HMM framework. We design the system around an adaptive structure that relies on unsupervised training for segmentation of sound scenes.
An approach to securing an X application

Abstract: This paper describes an approach to deriving appropriate countermeasures for the security vulnerabilities of an information system. The approach is analogous to a hazard analysis to identify safety hazards for computing systems and similarly quite general. The main thrust of the paper is the description of a particular method of vulnerability analysis applied to a file transfer process with an X Window interface. Given the identified vulnerabilities, possible countermeasures using encapsulation within the X architecture are described. This approach to security differs from the usual approach in that it is related directly to potential threats and requires countermeasures with an appropriate level of assurance, instead of highly assured inflexible products which are intended for use in many systems.
Automated ontology framework for service robots

This paper presents an automated ontology framework for service robots. The framework is designed to automatically create an ontology and an instance of concept in dynamic environment. Ontology learning from text is applied to build a concept hierarchy using WordNet which provides a rich semantic processing for physical objects. The Automated Ontology is composed of four modules: Concept Creation, Property Creation, Relationship Creation and Instance of Concept Creation. The automated ontology algorithm was implemented in order to create the concept hierarchy in the Robot Ontology. The Semantic Knowledge Acquisition represents knowledge of physical objects in dynamic environments. In simulation experiments, the list of object names and property names was identified. The result shows the concept hierarchy which represents explicit terms and the semantic knowledge of physical objects for performing everyday manipulation tasks.
Efficacy of curcumin as an adjunct to scaling and root planning in chronic periodontitis patients: A clinical and microbiological study

Background and Objectives: Curcumin is a naturally occurring anti-inflammatory agent with various biologic and medicinal properties. Its therapeutic applications have been studied in a variety of conditions, but only few studies have evaluated the efficacy of curcumin as local drug delivery agent and in the treatment of periodontitis. The present study was to evaluate the efficacy of the adjunctive use of curcumin with scaling/root planing as compared with scaling/root planing alone in the treatment of the chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with two sites in the contralateral quadrants having probing pocket depths (PPDs) of ≥5 mm were selected. Full mouth scaling and root planing (SRP) was performed followed by application of curcumin gel on a single side. Assessment of plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), PPD, and clinical attachment levels (CALs) were done at baseline and at 4th week. Microbiologic assessment with polymerase chain reaction was done for Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tanerella forsythia, and Treponema denticola by collection of plaque samples. Results: The results revealed that there was a reduction in PI, GI, probing depth, CAL, and microbiologic parameters in test sites following SRP and curcumin gel application, when compared with SRP alone in control group. Conclusion: The local application of curcumin in conjunction with scaling and root planing have showed improvement in periodontal parameters and has a beneficial effect in patients with chronic periodontitis.
Age at Puberty and the Emerging Obesity Epidemic

Background Recent studies have shown that puberty starts at younger ages than previously. It has been hypothesized that the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity is contributing to this trend. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between prepubertal body mass index (BMI) and pubertal timing, as assessed by age at onset of pubertal growth spurt (OGS) and at peak height velocity (PHV), and the secular trend of pubertal timing given the prepubertal BMI. Methodology/Principal Findings Annual measurements of height and weight were available in all children born from 1930 to 1969 who attended primary school in the Copenhagen municipality; 156,835 children fulfilled the criteria for determining age at OGS and PHV. The effect of prepubertal BMI at age seven on these markers of pubertal development within and between birth cohorts was analyzed. BMI at seven years was significantly inversely associated with age at OGS and PHV. Dividing the children into five levels of prepubertal BMI, we found a similar secular trend toward earlier maturation in all BMI groups. Conclusion/Significance The heavier both boys and girls were at age seven, the earlier they entered puberty. Irrespective of level of BMI at age seven, there was a downward trend in the age at attaining puberty in both boys and girls, which suggests that the obesity epidemic is not solely responsible for the trend.
Processive Endoglucanases Mediate Degradation of Cellulose by Saccharophagus degradans

ABSTRACT Bacteria and fungi are thought to degrade cellulose through the activity of either a complexed or a noncomplexed cellulolytic system composed of endoglucanases and cellobiohydrolases. The marine bacterium Saccharophagus degradans 2-40 produces a multicomponent cellulolytic system that is unusual in its abundance of GH5-containing endoglucanases. Secreted enzymes of this bacterium release high levels of cellobiose from cellulosic materials. Through cloning and purification, the predicted biochemical activities of the one annotated cellobiohydrolase Cel6A and the GH5-containing endoglucanases were evaluated. Cel6A was shown to be a classic endoglucanase, but Cel5H showed significantly higher activity on several types of cellulose, was the highest expressed, and processively released cellobiose from cellulosic substrates. Cel5G, Cel5H, and Cel5J were found to be members of a separate phylogenetic clade and were all shown to be processive. The processive endoglucanases are functionally equivalent to the endoglucanases and cellobiohydrolases required for other cellulolytic systems, thus providing a cellobiohydrolase-independent mechanism for this bacterium to convert cellulose to glucose.
Valentine: an environment for home office worker providing informal communication and personal space

In this paper, we propose the virtual ofice environment which integrates the natural communication and the secure private space. The features of this system are described below. 1) This system has virtual shared room which is based on the idea of 9hared Room Metaphor”. 30 graphics on SGI workstation is used-for this system. It uses Ethemet(TCP/IP) for signal connection and FDDI(UDP/IP) for continuous media(i.e., realtimd audio/video streams). 2) This system realizes the field of view of human being to support natural communication between members by using OUT UAround View” technique. 3) Yound Effect” are also used to help users feel the presence of other members. For instance, members hear the opening-sound of the door when someone logs in OUT system and the sound of footsteps when someone is wall&g around OUT viutual room. 4) Sometimes this system avoids unlimited flow of awareness. A person concentrating his/her work may not want to perceive ezcessive awareness of others. To support such situation, we define uAwareness Space” which restn’cts the field where other member5 awareness is transmitted. Awareness Space changes in size with the degree of concentration which is measured through two factors; the movement of a chair and the frequency of keyboard typing. 5) Weadphone Metaphor”; a picture of headphone is attached above his/her image and changed it’s color depending on the degree of concentration. The view of this headphone enables other members to recognize his/her state and it can be a criterion he is available to communicate or not.