Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mechanical properties of orthodontic wires covered with a polyether ether ketone tube.

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the esthetics and frictional force of an orthodontic wire passed through a newly designed tube made of a polyether ether ketone (PEEK) resin. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two types of standard PEEK tubes were prepared at 0.5 × 0. 6ф and 0.8 × 0. 9ф, and different archwires were passed through the tubes. Color values were determined according to brightness and hues. Friction was assessed with different bracket-wire combinations, and surface roughness was determined by stereomicroscopy before and after the application of friction. RESULTS The PEEK tube showed a color difference that was almost identical to that of coated wires conventionally used in clinical practice, indicating a sufficient esthetic property. The result of the friction test showed that the frictional force was greatly reduced by passing the archwire through the PEEK tube in almost all of the archwires tested. CONCLUSIONS Use of the new PEEK tube demonstrated a good combination of esthetic and functional properties for use in orthodontic appliances.
Microbeam radiation therapy — grid therapy and beyond: a clinical perspective

Abstract Microbeam irradiation is spatially fractionated radiation on a micrometer scale. Microbeam irradiation with therapeutic intent has become known as microbeam radiation therapy (MRT). The basic concept of MRT was developed in the 1980s, but it has not yet been tested in any human clinical trial, even though there is now a large number of animal studies demonstrating its marked therapeutic potential with an exceptional normal tissue sparing effect. Furthermore, MRT is conceptually similar to macroscopic grid based radiation therapy which has been used in clinical practice for decades. In this review, the potential clinical applications of MRT are analysed for both malignant and non-malignant diseases.
Cardioprotective Properties of Omentin-1 in Type 2 Diabetes: Evidence from Clinical and In Vitro Studies

Context Adipokines are linked to the development of cardiovascular dysfunction in type 2 diabetes (DM2). In DM2-patients, circulating levels of omentin-1, an adipokine preferentially expressed in epicardial adipose tissue, are decreased. This study investigated whether omentin-1 has a cardioprotective function. Methods Omentin-1 levels in plasma and cardiac fat depots were determined in DM2-patients versus controls. Moreover, the relation between omentin-1 levels and cardiac function was examined in men with uncomplicated DM2. Finally, we determined whether omentin-1 could reverse the induction of cardiomyocyte dysfunction by conditioned media derived from epicardial adipose tissue from patients with DM2. Results Omentin-1 was highly expressed and secreted by epicardial adipose tissue, and reduced in DM2. Circulating omentin-1 levels were lower in DM2 versus controls, and positively correlated with the diastolic parameters early peak filling rate, early deceleration peak and early deceleration mean (all P<0.05). The improved diastolic function following pioglitazone treatment associated with increases in omentin-1 levels (P<0.05). In vitro, exposure of cardiomyocytes to conditioned media derived from epicardial adipose tissue from patients with DM2 induced contractile dysfunction and insulin resistance, which was prevented by the addition of recombinant omentin. Conclusion These data identify omentin-1 as a cardioprotective adipokine, and indicate that decreases in omentin-1 levels could contribute to the induction of cardiovascular dysfunction in DM2.
Efficacy of Exercise on Breast Cancer Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Preclinical Data

Abstract The use of preclinical models to investigate antitumor effects of exercise on breast tumor (BT) development and progression are critical. However, published results have not been quantitatively summarized or examined for potential exercise-moderating variables. We conducted this review to summarize and quantify the effect-size of exercise on BT outcomes in preclinical studies. A literature search was performed in MEDLINE, PubMed, Web of Science and System for Information on Grey Literature in Europe (SIGLE) databases. Risk of bias was assessed using SYRCLE’s RoB tool. A total of 116 correlations were performed to analyze 28 preclinical studies published through December 2016, which included 2,085 animals and 51 exercise programs. Positive effects of small, medium and large magnitude were observed in tumor incidence, growth and multiplicity, respectively. In the tumor microenvironment, positive effects of large magnitude were also observed in proliferation and apoptosis but not in angiogenesis. Moderator variables correlated with higher intervention effects were identified along with a considerable heterogeneity in exercise protocols that precluded us from clearly perceiving the benefits of exercise exposure. In conclusion, exercise performed under specific conditions benefits BT outcomes. Preclinical studies with exercise designs mimicking exercise exposure that can be used in clinical contexts are needed.
A study on reduction of DDoS amplification attacks in the UDP-based CLDAP protocol

DDoS attacks using the CLDAP protocol are increasing. CLDAP is an open-standard application that allows access to and maintenance of a wide range of network directory information. DDoS attacks using the CLDAP protocol exploit this, and can significantly increase the packet amplification rate as compared to existing UDP flooding attacks; this can immediately disable small and medium sized servers. Therefore, research is needed to reduce the packet amplification of UDP flooding attacks that exploit the CLDAP protocol. In this paper, we propose a method to reduce DDoS attacks that use the CLDAP protocol.
Oracle performance investigation of the ideal masks

Various ideal masks have been used as the training targets for supervised speech separation. While different choices often lead to different results, the reason remains unclear. In this paper, an oracle method is applied to investigate the properties of the ideal masks including the ideal binary mask (IBM), the ideal ratio mask (IRM), the phase sensitive mask (PSM) and the complex ideal ratio maks (cIRM). They are evaluated in terms of intelligibility and quality under a general speech separation scenario. The relative importance of phase is also taken into consideration. Moreover, we introduce a novel ideal gain mask (IGM) which performs generally better than IRM and one alternative of the cIRM. It is shown that the masks are not equally designed and the results provide a strong reference to the potential performance of supervised algorithms.
Seeking and managing hope: patients' experiences using the Internet for cancer care.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To describe the experiences of patients with cancer using the Internet for information and support to manage the self-care aspects of illness and treatment, including symptom management. RESEARCH APPROACH Heideggerian hermeneutics branch of phenomenology. SETTING The interviews took place in outpatient settings in the northeastern United States, including clinics, patients' homes, and the researchers' office. PARTICIPANTS 20 patients self-identified as users of the Internet for cancer care. METHODOLOGIC APPROACH Data were collected by informal interviews that provided the narrative stories for hermeneutic analysis. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Internet use for cancer care and patient-provider relationship. FINDINGS Five related themes and one constitutive pattern described patients' experiences. The themes were retrieving and filtering Internet information according to personal situation by Internet-savvy people in patients' support networks, seeking hope from the newest treatment options while coping with fear in manageable "bytes," self-care for personal illness situations with meaningful information regarding symptom management, empowering patients as partners when Internet information served as a second opinion in decision making and validating treatment decisions, and Internet as providing peer support. The constitutive pattern was Internet use as assisting patients in discovering ways to live with cancer as a chronic illness instead of a death sentence. CONCLUSIONS Patients with cancer are incorporating Internet use into their cancer care. They perceive changing provider-patient relationships when they participate in treatment decisions. INTERPRETATION Computer-savvy patients and their personal support networks will avail themselves of Internet information, creating the need for new interaction patterns and relationships with providers.
running head : Developmental plasticity Developmental plasticity : Re-conceiving the genotype

1 In recent decades, the phenotype of an organism (i.e, its traits and behavior) has been 2 studied as the outcome of a developmental ‘program’ coded in its genotype. This 3 deterministic view is implicit in the Modern Synthesis approach to adaptive evolution as a 4 sorting process among genetic variants. Studies of developmental pathways have revealed 5 that genotypes are in fact differently expressed depending on environmental conditions. 6 Accordingly, the genotype can be understood as a repertoire of potential developmental 7 outcomes or norm of reaction. 8 Re-conceiving the genotype as an environmental response repertoire rather than a 9 fixed developmental program leads to three critical evolutionary insights. First, plastic 10 responses to specific conditions often comprise functionally appropriate trait adjustments, 11 resulting in an individual-level, developmental mode of adaptive variation. Second, because 12 genotypes are differently expressed depending on the environment, the genetic diversity 13 available to natural selection is itself environmentally contingent. Finally, environmental 14 influences on development can extend across multiple generations via cytoplasmic and 15 epigenetic factors transmitted to progeny individuals, altering their responses to their own, 16 immediate environmental conditions, and in some cases leading to inherited but non-genetic 17 adaptations. Together, these insights suggest a more nuanced understanding of the genotype 18 and its evolutionary role, as well as a shift in research focus to investigating the complex 19 developmental interactions among genotypes, environments, and previous environments. 20 21 22 23
Linewidth‐Optimized Extraordinary Optical Transmission in Water with Template‐Stripped Metallic Nanohole Arrays

The experimental observation of unusually sharp plasmon resonance peaks in periodic Ag nanohole arrays made using template stripping is reported. The extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) peak associated with the surface plasmon polaritons at the smooth Ag‐water interface shows a well‐defined Fano‐type profile with a linewidth below 10 nm at a wavelength of around 700 nm. Notably, this sharp and intense radiant peak (Q factor of 71) is obtained at visible frequencies in water and at normally incident illumination. This is accomplished by obtaining high‐quality Ag surfaces with a roughness below 1 nm, which reduces the imaginary component of the Ag dielectric function that is associated with material damping, as well as shrinking the nanohole radius to decrease radiative damping of plasmons. The localized spectral response of the radiant plasmon peak is characterized using the nanohole array in water in a layer‐by‐layer fashion via sequential atomic layer deposition of Al2O3. Because the ultrasharp EOT peak is obtained with excellent uniformity over a centimeter‐sized area from the metallic nanohole array in water, these template‐stripped nanohole arrays will benefit many practical applications based on EOT.
BENEFIT OF CAROTID ENDARTERECTOMY IN PATIENTS WITH SYMPTOMATIC MODERATE OR SEVERE STENOSIS BENEFIT OF CAROTID ENDARTERECTOMY IN PATIENTS WITH SYMPTOMATIC MODERATE OR SEVERE STENOSIS

H ENRY J.M. B ARNETT , M.D., D. W AYNE T AYLOR , M.A., M ICHAEL E LIASZIW , P H . D. , A LLAN J. F OX , M.D., G ARY G. F ERGUSON , M.D., R. B RIAN H AYNES , M.D., R ICHARD N. R ANKIN , M.D., G. P ATRICK C LAGETT , M.D., V LADIMIR C. H ACHINSKI , M.D., D AVID L. S ACKETT , M.D., K EVIN E. T HORPE , M.M ATH . , AND H EATHER E. M ELDRUM , B.A., FOR THE N ORTH A MERICAN S YMPTOMATIC C AROTID E NDARTERECTOMY T RIAL C OLLABORATORS *
Design of four point Radix-2 FFT structure on Xilinx

FFT, IIFT algorithm is critically important in Digital Signal Processing (DSP). This paper consists of design of Four point Radix-2 structure that consists of complex multiplication and addition, efficient implementation of these units plays very critical role in design. Booth multiplier with Kogge Stone Adder (KS) is used to reduce delay in design as compared to design with corresponding Booth multiplier and Ripple Carry Adder (RCA). These days for VLSI systems chip area is often compromised for the delay. The Design is implemented on Xilinx ISE Design suite 14.7 (Family Spatan 3E and Device XC3S1200E) platform.
Interactive effects of apelin, renin–angiotensin system and nitric oxide in treatment of obesity-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus in male albino rats

Abstract Apelin and its receptor (APJ) are involved in the regulation of a variety of pathophysiological processes. We studied the effect of apelin treatment on obesity-induced type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and possible interaction between apelin/APJ system and renin–angiotensin system (RAS). Forty eight male albino rats were divided into two groups: control group and diabetic group. Diabetic group was subdivided into: control diabetic, apelin-treated, apelin + losartan-treated, apelin + l-NAME-treated and losartan-treated diabetic subgroup. Administration of apelin-13 yielded an improvement of IR, dyslipidaemia, inflammation, oxidative stress with significant decrease in AT1R gene expression and significant increase in ACE2 gene expression in adipose tissues. Losartan + apelin yielded a further significant decrease in ATR1 gene expression, glycaemic indices, serum TGs and TPA versus Apelin only. Adding l-NAME in subgroup (2D) reversed the effect of apelin. We suggested that the beneficial effect of Apelin is mainly mediated by NO-activated pathway and/or ACE2/Ang (1–7) dependent pathway.
Deep Net Triage: Analyzing the Importance of Network Layers via Structural Compression

Despite their prevalence, deep networks are poorly understood. This is due, at least in part, to their highly parameterized nature. As such, while certain structures have been found to work better than others, the significance of a model's unique structure, or the importance of a given layer, and how these translate to overall accuracy, remains unclear. In this paper, we analyze these properties of deep neural networks via a process we term deep net triage. Like medical triage---the assessment of the importance of various wounds---we assess the importance of layers in a neural network, or as we call it, their criticality. We do this by applying structural compression, whereby we reduce a block of layers to a single layer. After compressing a set of layers, we apply a combination of initialization and training schemes, and look at network accuracy, convergence, and the layer's learned filters to assess the criticality of the layer. We apply this analysis across four data sets of varying complexity. We find that the accuracy of the model does not depend on which layer was compressed; that accuracy can be recovered or exceeded after compression by fine-tuning across the entire model; and, lastly, that Knowledge Distillation can be used to hasten convergence of a compressed network, but constrains the accuracy attainable to that of the base model.
Recording Real Worlds for Playback in a Virtual Exercise Environment ; CU-CS-1013-06

Adhering to an exercise program is a challenge. Augmenting stationary exercise equipment with an immersive Virtual Exercise Environment may make adherence more fun. We describe a system for capturing real bicycle trails for playback in such a VEE. In particular we discuss instrumentation of an adult trike to record distance and tilt angle. Simultaneously we capture image sequences from a cylindrical 5 camera cluster which are merged oﬄine into extended panoramic video sequences. These combined terrain and surround video recording techniques allow us to capture both physical aspects of the terrain and immersive visual information. This information can then be used to “play back” the trail both physically on the exercise equipment and visually on a tracked Head Mounted Display (HMD)
Composites as TRIBO Materials in Engineering Systems: Significance and Applications

This chapter starts with the importance of composite materials over single-phase materials and further explores the importance of natural fiber reinforced composites over synthetic fiber reinforced composites followed by chemical and physical modifications of the fiber surface to enhance the adhesion between the fiber and the matrix. The chapter also focuses on the different types of wear mechanisms that lead to shutting down the industries and types of different wear test rings to measure the wear rate of a material. Current work also represents a comprehensive literature study on tribological characterisation of composite materials. In addition, it focuses composites as TRIBO material in engineering systems. The effect of tribological operating parameters like load, sliding velocity, sliding distance, temperature, and other influential parameters like fiber length, fiber volume fraction, fiber orientation, and surface treatment on friction and wear rate of composites are also described. Over the past few years composites have been dominant in the emerging materials. The applications areas of composite materials have grown steadily in the various systems of Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Medical Engineering, and Automobile Engineering. In engineering systems, failure of parts may occur due to different types of wear mechanisms. The availability of a range of fiber reinforcements, fillers, matrices, and processing techniques offers ample scope for tailoring properties in composites as required for specific applications. Hiral H. Parikh Charotar University of Science and Technology, India & Navrachana University, India Piyush P. Gohil The M. S. University of Baroda, India
History of Science and Technology of Polymeric Foams

Abstract The history of the science and technology of polymeric foams is traced from its early beginnings starting in the late 1920s with latex foam. Two major methods evolved for producing the latter, the Dunlop and Talalay processes, both reaching industrial stages in the 1930s. Both natural and synthetic latices, notably SBR, as well as blends were extensively used. With the development of many other synthetic elastomers during the last three decades, many flexible and semiflexible foams were produced from them including polyvinyl chloride, polyolefin, and urethane foams among the major flexible foam categories but which also included specialty foams such as silicone and fluorocarbon-based foams. Among rigid foams, low density foams were first produced from special phenolic resins, and various foaming procedures evolved subsequently for the production of phenolic foams. Urea-formaldehyde foams were developed as early as 1933. The most widely used types of rigid foams today, polystyrene and polyurethane.
The value of the CHA 2 DS 2-VASc score for refining stroke risk stratification in patients with atrial fibrillation with a CHADS 2 score 0 – 1 : A nationwide cohort study

North American and European guidelines on atrial fibrillation (AF) are conflicting regarding the classification of patients at low/intermediate risk of stroke. We aimed to investigate if the CHA2DS2-VASc score improved risk stratification of AF patients with a CHADS2 score of 0–1. Using individual-level-linkage of nationwide Danish registries 1997–2008, we identified patients discharged with AF having a CHADS2 score of 0–1 and not treated with vitamin K antagonist or heparin. In patients with a CHADS2 score of 0, 1, and 0–1, rates of stroke/ thromboembolism were determined according to CHA2DS2-VASc score, and the risk associated with increasing CHA2DS2-VASc score was estimated in Cox regression models adjusted for year of inclusion and antiplatelet therapy. The value of adding the extra CHA2DS2-VASc risk factors to the CHADS2 score was evaluated by c-statistics, Net Reclassification Improvement (NRI) and Integrated Discrimination Improvement (IDI). We included 47,576 patients with a CHADS2 score of 0–1, from these 7,536 (15.8%) were CHA2DS2-VASc score=0, 10,062 (21.2%) were CHA2DS2-VASc score=1, 14,310 (30.1%) were CHA2DS2-VASc score=2, 14,188 (29.8%) were CHA2DS2-VASc score=3, and 1,480 (3.1%) were CHA2DS2-VASc score=4. Of the cohort with a CHADS2 score of 0–1, the stroke/thromboembolism rate per 100 person-years
Net Shape Nonwoven: a novel technique for porous three-dimensional nonwoven hybrid scaffolds

Textile structures made of biocompatible, osteoconductive and resorbable chitosan-filaments provide excellent preconditions as scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering applications. The novel Net Shape Nonwoven (NSN) technique that enables short fibers to be processed into three-dimensional net-shaped nonwoven structures with adjustable pore size distributions is described. NSN scaffolds made of pure chitosan fibers were fabricated. NSN hybrid scaffolds for improved initial cell adhesion were realized by combining the NSN technique with electrospinning and dip-coating with collagen, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy and liquid displacement porosimetry revealed an interconnecting open porous scaffold structure. The novel chitosan-hybrid scaffolds provide proper conditions for adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of the seeded human bone marrow stromal cells, proving that they are suitable for usage in hard-tissue regeneration.
Dyeing Behavior and Fastness Properties of Corn (PLA) Fiber

Corn fibre(PLA) were dyed with two disperse dyes. The corn fibres showed better dye uptake at 110 0 C.but at this temperature strength of corn fibre is decreased. In this paper Dyeing behavior of Corn fiber (PLA) was investigated. The corn fiber were evaluated for colour strength, tensile strength, elongation and fastness properties like colour fastness to washing, perspiration, hot pressing and light. Keywords: Colour strength, PLA fiber, tensile strength, elongation and fastness properties
Sub-Nyquist Sampling of Multiple Sinusoids

In this letter, we propose new sub-Nyquist sampling schemes for multiple sinusoids, which require fewer number of samples than previous works. Since it is impossible to resolve the frequency ambiguity using a single sub-Nyquist sample sequence, an additional sampling channel is used to determine the correct frequencies. First, a time-staggered sampling system, with the staggered time less than or equal to the Nyquist sampling interval, is proposed. This approach requires only <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{3}K$</tex-math></inline-formula> samples to estimate the <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$K$</tex-math></inline-formula> frequency components in the signal. However, aliasing can occur when the differences between some frequencies are integer multiples of the sampling rate. Then, another sampling strategy that makes use of feedback is proposed to prevent aliasing. We demonstrate that using two sampling channels and with feedback, <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\text{4}K$ </tex-math></inline-formula> samples suffice to resolve both frequency ambiguity and image frequency aliasing. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed systems.