Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alcohol Consumption and Chronic Liver Disease Mortality in New Mexico and the United States, 1999-2013

Objective: Current chronic liver disease (CLD) mortality surveillance methods may not adequately capture data on all causes of CLD mortality. The objective of this study was to calculate and compare CLD death rates in New Mexico and the United States by using both an expanded definition of CLD and estimates of the fractional impact of alcohol on CLD deaths. Methods: We defined CLD mortality as deaths due to alcoholic liver disease, cirrhosis, viral hepatitis, and other liver conditions. We estimated alcohol-attributable CLD deaths by using national and state alcohol-attributable fractions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Alcohol-Related Disease Impact application. We classified causes of CLD death as being alcohol-attributable, non–alcohol-attributable, or hepatitis C. We calculated average annual age-adjusted CLD death rates during five 3-year periods from 1999 through 2013, and we stratified those rates by sex, age, and race/ethnicity. Results: By cause of death, CLD death rates were highest for alcohol-attributable CLD. By sex and race/ethnicity, CLD death rates per 100 000 population increased from 1999-2001 to 2011-2013 among American Indian men in New Mexico (67.4-90.6) and the United States (38.9-49.4), American Indian women in New Mexico (48.4-63.0) and the United States (27.5-39.5), Hispanic men in New Mexico (48.6-52.0), Hispanic women in New Mexico (16.9-24.0) and the United States (12.8-13.1), non-Hispanic white men in New Mexico (17.4-21.3) and the United States (15.9-18.4), and non-Hispanic white women in New Mexico (9.7-11.6) and the United States (7.6-9.7). CLD death rates decreased among Hispanic men in the United States (30.5-27.4). Conclusions: An expanded CLD definition and alcohol-attributable fractions can be used to create comprehensive data on CLD mortality. When stratified by CLD cause and demographic characteristics, these data may help states and jurisdictions improve CLD prevention programs.
Geographical Scheduling for Multicast Precoding in Multi-Beam Satellite Systems

Current State-of-the-Art High Throughput Satellite systems provide wide-area connectivity through multi-beam architectures. Due to the tremendous system throughput requirements that next generation Satellite Communications (SatCom) expect to achieve, traditional 4-colour frequency reuse schemes are not sufficient anymore and more aggressive solutions as full frequency reuse are being considered for multi-beam SatCom. These approaches require advanced interference management techniques to cope with the significantly increased inter-beam interference both at the transmitter, e.g., precoding, and at the receiver, e.g., Multi User Detection (MUD). With respect to the former, several peculiar challenges arise when designed for SatCom systems. In particular, multiple users are multiplexed in the same transmission radio frame, thus imposing to consider multiple channel matrices when computing the precoding coefficients. In previous works, the main focus has been on the users’ clustering and precoding design. However, even though achieving significant throughput gains, no analysis has been performed on the impact of the system scheduling algorithm on multicast precoding, which is typically assumed random. In this paper, we focus on this aspect by showing that, although the overall system performance is improved, a random scheduler does not properly tackle specific scenarios in which the precoding algorithm can poorly perform. Based on these considerations, we design a Geographical Scheduling Algorithm (GSA) aimed at improving the precoding performance in these critical scenarios and, consequently, the performance at system level as well. Through extensive numerical simulations, we show that the proposed GSA provides a significant performance improvement with respect to the legacy random scheduling.
Analysis of capacitive MEMS sensor for small accelerations

This paper deals with the theoretical basis for measurement of small accelerations using the miniature capacitive feedback sensor. The sensor itself is non-linear an unstable system. The aim of the paper is to design both stabilizing and feedback control systems to enable measurement of small accelerations. We propose the conversion of acceleration to an appropriate electrical quantity, feedback stabiliser and compensator. Analysis of the precision with its relationship to the controller is also analysed.
No negative effects of prophylactic ankle bracing after 6 months 1

Elastic adhesive bandages, tapes or ankle orthoses are very common for prevention of ankle sprains especially in team sports like handball, volleyball or basketball. In this study we used a controlled randomized trial design in order to investigate neuromuscular effects after 6 months of usage. For this biomechanical investigation a set of four functional test conditions has been studied and muscular activity patterns have been measured by surface electromyography (EMG) before and after about 6 months. No statistically significant differences have been found when comparing baseline and follow up values. It seems that there are no negative effects to the neuromuscular system after 6 months of using ankle stabilizers during training and competition.
EEG-based upper alpha neurofeedback training improves working memory performance

Neurofeedback (NF) training has revealed its therapeutical effects to treat a variety of neurological and psychological disorders, and has demonstrated its feasibility to improve certain cognitive aptitudes in healthy users. Although promising results of NF training exist in recent literature, the reliability of its effects remains questioned due to a lack of deep studies examining its impact on the human electrophysiology. This paper presents a NF training aimed at improving working memory performance in healthy users by the enhancement of upper alpha band. A user-specific training was used (upper alpha was determined for each user using the individual alpha frequency) to reduce the unspecific factors of training the entire classical alpha band as traditional NF usually does. EEG assessments in active and passive open-eyes state were conducted pre/post the NF training. The EEG analyses reveal the UA enhancement during the active tasks which is independent of other frequency bands. UA was also enhanced in the passive state but independence could not be obtained in lower alpha band. Finally, significant improvement in working memory was obtained with regard to a control group.
Effect of cryopreservation and lyophilization on viability and growth of strict anaerobic human gut microbes

Strict anaerobic gut microbes have been suggested as ‘next‐generation probiotics’ for treating several intestinal disorders. The development of preservation techniques is of major importance for therapeutic application. This study investigated cryopreservation (−80°C) and lyophilization survival and storage stability (4°C for 3 months) of the strict anaerobic gut microbes Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Roseburia intestinalis, Anaerostipes caccae, Eubacterium hallii and Blautia obeum. To improve preservation survival, protectants sucrose and inulin (both 5% w/v) were added for lyophilization and were also combined with glycerol (15% v/v) for cryopreservation. Bacterial fitness, evaluated by maximum growth rate and lag phase, viability and membrane integrity were determined using a standardized growth assay and by flow cytometry as markers for preservation resistance. Lyophilization was more detrimental to viability and fitness than cryopreservation, but led to better storage stability. Adding sucrose and inulin enhanced viability and the proportion of intact cells during lyophilization of all strains. Viability of protectant‐free B. thetaiotaomicron, A. caccae and F. prausnitzii was above 50% after cryopreservation and storage and increased to above 80% if protectants were present. The addition of glycerol, sucrose and inulin strongly enhanced the viability of B. obeum, E. hallii and R. intestinalis from 0.03–2% in protectant‐free cultures to 11–37%. This is the first study that quantitatively compared the effect of cryopreservation and lyophilization and the addition of selected protectants on viability and fitness of six strict anaerobic gut microbes. Our results suggest that efficiency of protectants is process‐ and species‐specific.
Random walks on the world input-output network

Modern production is increasingly fragmented across countries. To disentangle the world production system at sector level, we use the World Input–Output Database to construct the World Input–Output Network (WION) where the nodes are the individual sectors in different countries and the edges are the transactions between them. In order to explore the features and dynamics of the WION, in this article we detect the communities in the WION and evaluate their significance using a random walk Markov chain approach. Our results contribute to the recent stream of literature analysing the role of global value chains in economic integration across countries, by showing global value chains as endogenously emerging communities in the world production system, and discussing how different perspectives produce different results in terms of the pattern of integration.
Optimization of a cerium ( IV ) carbon paste electrode based on 2-hydroxy-1 , 4-naphthoquinon / MWCNTS by using experimental design

Box–Behnken designs were used as experimental design method to optimize the influence of ingredients of membrane on the electrode performance. A nanocomposite was designed by using 2-hydroxy-1, 4-naphthoquinon as ion carrier with multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), in order to determination of Ce(IV). Box–Behnken response surface was led to find a model for optimizing the response. The best performance was obtained with 5 % wt of lawsone, 10 % wt of MWCNTs, 20 % wt of paraffin oil and 65 % wt of graphite powder. The optimized membrane electrode shows a Nernstian response (15.08±0.2 mV decate) toward Ce(IV) ions in linear range from 1.0×10 to 1.0×10 mol L with a detection limit of 5.0×10 mol L. The proposed sensor was employed in pH range of 4 to 8 with a fast response time (10 s). The electrode revealed good selectivity with respect to many cations including alkali earth, transition and heavy metal ions. The designed sensor was used as an indicator electrode in potentiometric titration of Ce(IV) with EDTA and also applied for determination of cerium content in real samples.
FORMULATION OF TABLET CONTAINING CURCUMIN NANOEMULSION

Objective: The formula of curcumin nanoemulsion had been established in our previous research. Encapsulation of curcumin in this nanocarrier system is expected to increase the bioavailability of the curcumin after oral administration, hence giving better effects. The objective of this study is to formulate tablet containing curcumin nanoemulsion for oral delivery. Methods: The formulation of curcumin nanoemulsion was done by using oil phase: glycerylmonooleate, cremophor RH 40 as surfactant and polyethylene glycol 400 as co-surfactant in the ratio of 1:8:1, and was dispersed in water with mild stirring. Tablet was produced by wet granulation method, using 9% PEG 6000 as lubricant, polyvinylpyrrolidone 5% as binder, mannitol as filler, 1% sodium chloride as glidant and 2% sodium lauryl sulphate as lubricant. Tablet evaluation was performed according to standard quality of tablet. Results: Curcumin nanoemulsion with particle size of 125.7± 1.029 nm and percentage of drug encapsulated of 99.52% was formed. Tablet containing this nanoemulsion has good physical characteristics with hardness of 5.95 kg/cm2 and 99.79% of curcumin dissolved in 60 minutes. Curcumin nanoemulsion formulated into tablet dosage form still maintained the particle size of 134±1.45 nm when the tablet was dispersed in water. Conclusion: Taken together, curcumin nanoemulsion was able to be formulated into solid dosage form, resulting good physical characteristic of the tablet while maintaining the nanoemulsion form when the tablet was dispersed in water. The comparison of the dissolution profile between tablet curcumin and tablet containing curcumin nanoemulsion should be done to ensure that the tablet formulation using curcumin nanoemulsion is better.
Leveraging Facebook's Advertising Platform to Monitor Stocks of Migrants

G IVEN THE IMPORTANCE of demographic data for monitoring development, the lack of appropriate sources and indicators for measuring progress toward the achievement of targets—like the United Nations’ “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”—is a significant cause of uncertainty. As part of a larger effort to tackle the issue, in 2014 the United Nations asked an independent expert advisory group to make recommendations to bring about a data revolution in sustainable development. 1 Data innovation, like new digital traces from a variety of technologies, is seen as a significant opportunity to inform policy evaluation and to improve estimates and projections. In this article, we contribute to the development of tools and meth-ods that leverage new data sources for demographic research. We present an innovative approach to estimate stocks of migrants using a previously untapped data source: Facebook’s advertising platform. This freely available source allows advertisers and researchers to query information about socio-demographic characteristics of Facebook users, aggregated at various levels of geographic granularity. We have three main goals: i) to present a new data source that is relevant for demographers; ii) to discuss how de-mographers can avoid some of the problems related to the analysis of non-representative Web and social media data; and iii) to lay the foundations on which demographers and data scientists can build in the future. Our focus is on migration, but some of the broader issues that we address, like the need for small-area, timely, and disaggregated indicators, are key for other disciplines as well. In economics, for instance, quantities like the gross domestic product (GDP) are determined with a lag, and final estimates are produced only after a series of revisions. The need for timely estimates has led to the development of an area of research often referred to as nowcasting, or prediction of the present (Giannone, Reichlin, and
Event-Triggered Decision Propagation in Proximity Networks

This paper proposes a novel event-triggered formulation as an extension of the recently develo- ped generalized gossip algorithm for decision/awareness propagation in mobile sensor networks modeled as proximity networks. The key idea is to expend energy for communication (message transmission and reception) only when there is any event of interest in the region of surveillance. The idea is implemented by using an agent’s belief about presence of a hotspot as feedback to change its probability of (communication) activity. In the original formulation, the evolution of network topology and the dynamics of decision propagation were completely decoupled which is no longer the case as a consequence of this feedback policy. Analytical results and numeri- cal experiments are presented to show a significant gain in energy savings with no change in the first moment characteristics of decision propagation. However, numerical experiments show that the second moment characteristics may change and theoretical results are provided for upper and lower bounds for second moment characteristics. Effects of false alarms on network formation and communication activity are also investigated.
Minimum energy quantized neural networks

This work targets the automated minimum-energy optimization of Quantized Neural Networks (QNNs) — networks using low precision weights and activations. These networks are trained from scratch at an arbitrary fixed point precision. At iso-accuracy, QNNs using fewer bits require deeper and wider network architectures than networks using higher precision operators, while they require less complex arithmetic and less bits per weights. This fundamental trade-off is analyzed and quantified to find the minimum energy QNN for any benchmark and hence optimize energy-efficiency. To this end, the energy consumption of inference is modeled for a generic hardware platform. This allows drawing several conclusions across different benchmarks. First, energy consumption varies orders of magnitude at iso-accuracy depending on the number of bits used in the QNN. Second, in a typical system, BinaryNets or int4 implementations lead to the minimum energy solution, outperforming int8 networks up to 2–10× at iso-accuracy. All code used for QNN training is available from https://github.com/BertMoons/.
The Effects of Background Music on Primary School Pupils' Task Performance

Research on the effects of background music has a long history. Early work was not embedded within a theoretical framework, was often poorly conceptualised and produced equivocal findings. This paper reports two studies exploring the effects of music, perceived to be calming and relaxing, on performance in arithmetic and on a memory task in children aged 10-12. The calming music led to better performance on both tasks when compared with a no-music condition. Music perceived as arousing, aggressive and unpleasant disrupted performance on the memory task and led to a lower level of reported altruistic behaviour by the children. This suggests that the effects of music on task performance are mediated by arousal and mood rather than affecting cognition directly. The findings are discussed in relation to possible practical applications in the primary school and the home.
Microwave bolometers based on carbon nanotube thin films and CVD-grown graphene

We have investigated microwave power detection based from carbon nanotube (CNT) thin films and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown graphene. Our experiments indicate that power detection from the CNT devices is primarily due to bolometric mechanisms. While, power detection from the graphene devices is primarily due to signal rectification. Both enabling materials are relatively inexpensive and easily blanketed on a variety of substrates{enabling low-cost/disposable, surface-conformal power sensors for wideband spectrum sensing applications. However, it is significantly less challenging to pattern and integrate CNT thin films than it is to do the same with graphene. CNT thin film and graphene power detectors were realized by fabricating metallic Corbino disc test structures over these enabling materials. Such test structures are convenient for on-wafer characterization with ground-signal probes. The CNT devices were also evaluated with transient current-versus- voltage traces and microwave reflection spectroscopy to respectively measure thermal time constants and values of complex conductivity. The bolometer performance of these devices was gauged in terms of power detection sensitivity, noise equivalent power, and dynamic range. The measurements were performed with 915 MHz test signals and yielded sensitivities as high as 0.36 mV/mW at room temperature and 2.3 mV/mW when cooled with liquid nitrogen. Similarly, graphene Corbino disc test structures were characterized with 433.92 MHz test signals and yielded power detection sensitivities of 3.25 mV/mW (at room temperature) and 5.43 mV/mW (at 80 K). These devices feature gate control over the channel conductance, which contributed a frequency-limiting parasitic capacitance. Our investigations revealed that rectification, due to characteristic nonlinear current versus voltage behavior, was more prevalent in the graphene than bolometric detection, due to Joule heating.
CMS: Application Layer Cooperative Congestion Control for Safety Messages in Vehicular Networks

In this paper, I propose an application layer cooperative congestion control scheme for safety message broadcast in vehicular networks, called CMS, that adaptively controls a vehicle’s safety message rate and transmit timing based on the channel congestion state. Motivated by the fact that all vehicles should transmit and receive an application layer safety message in a periodic manner, I directly exploit the message itself as a means of estimating the channel congestion state. In particular, vehicles can determine wider network conditions by appending their local channel estimation result onto safety message transmissions and sharing them with each other. In result CMS realizes cooperative congestion control without any modification of the existing MAC protocol. I present extensive NS-3 simulation results which show that CMS outperforms conventional congestion control schemes in terms of the packet collision rate and throughput, especially in a high-density traffic environment.
Helping or Hurting? Predicting Changes in Users’ Risk of Self-Harm Through Online Community Interactions

In recent years, online communities have formed around suicide and self-harm prevention. While these communities offer support in moment of crisis, they can also normalize harmful behavior, discourage professional treatment, and instigate suicidal ideation. In this work, we focus on how interaction with others in such a community affects the mental state of users who are seeking support. We first build a dataset of conversation threads between users in a distressed state and community members offering support. We then show how to construct a classifier to predict whether distressed users are helped or harmed by the interactions in the thread, and we achieve a macro-F1 score of up to 0.69.
Optimising the visibility of graphene and graphene oxide on gold with multilayer heterostructures

Metals have been increasingly used as substrates in devices based on two-dimensional (2D) materials. However, the high reflectivity of bulk metals results in low optical contrast (<3%) and therefore poor visibility of transparent mono- and few-layer 2D materials on these surfaces. Here we demonstrate that by engineering the complex reflectivity of a purpose-designed multilayer heterostructure composed of thin Au films (2–8 nm) on SiO2/Si substrate, the optical contrast of graphene and graphene oxide (GO) can be significantly enhanced in comparison to bulk Au, up to about 3 and 5 times, respectively. In particular, we achieved ∼17% optical contrast for monolayer GO, which is even 2 times higher than that on bare SiO2/Si substrate. The experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical simulations. This concept is demonstrated for Au, but the methodology is applicable to other metals and can be adopted to design a variety of high-contrast metallic substrates. This will facilitate research and applications of 2D materials in areas such as plasmonics, photonics, catalysis and sensors.