Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design of dynamic positioning systems using hybrid CMAC-based PID controller for a ship

The ship motion is a type of complicated nonlinear motion. It is very difficult to measure the precise hydrodynamic parameters when the ship is at sea. Moreover, the external disturbance forces coming from wind, waves and water current are changing at any moment. So, it is necessary to study new control techniques, with robust and adaptive properties, to implement precise position for dynamic positioning vessels. PID control law is a good robust and adaptive control law for a type of definite systems that precise modeling can be gotten in mathematics. But PID control results are not satisfactory for complex nonlinear systems such as ship motion. The neural network has self-learning and adapting ability, so we can combine the PID with neural network to build the strong robust and adaptive controller. In this paper, CMAC-based PID controller is studied. The simulation results show that the new control method is effective with strong robust and adaptive capability, and it can be applied to marine dynamic positioning systems.
Hormone replacement therapy can augment vascular relaxation in post-menopausal women with type 2 diabetes.

BACKGROUND Diabetes is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease in women and event rates increase substantially after the menopause. Observational studies have suggested that estrogens may provide cardioprotection by regulating endothelial nitric oxide synthase. METHODS In order to examine the effect of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on endothelium-dependent and -independent vascular relaxation in post-menopausal women with type 2 diabetes, an open study was conducted in which gluteal biopsies were collected from 17 women before and after 6 months of transdermal 17 beta-estradiol (80 microg twice weekly) in combination with oral norethisterone (1 mg daily). Small arteries (<550 microm) were dissected from fat and mounted on a wire myograph for assessment of relaxation in response to acetylcholine (ACh), bradykinin (BK) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP). RESULTS Maximal relaxation responses to ACh, BK and SNP in women with diabetes and non-diabetic control subjects were 52 +/- 8 versus 96 +/- 2% (P < 0.05), 76 +/- 7 versus 97 +/- 1%, (P < 0.05) and 91 +/- 2 versus 98 +/- 1% (P < 0.05) respectively. After 6 months of HRT, maximal relaxation responses to ACh, BK and SNP in women with diabetes (compared with pre-HRT) were: 88 +/- 4 (P < 0.05), 93 +/- 3 (P < 0.05) and 98 +/- 1% (P < 0.05) respectively. At baseline and after HRT, EC50 (concentration required to obtain 50% of maximum response) data exhibited similar changes. CONCLUSIONS HRT had potentially beneficial effects on vascular relaxation. Data were consistent with improvements in endothelial function, vascular smooth muscle function, or both. Controlled studies are required to confirm and extend these findings.
Approximation of real impulse response using IIR structures

In this paper, we propose a new approach to the approximation and simulation of a real impulse response. Starting from a preliminary analysis of the mixing time, the impulse response is decomposed in the time domain considering the early and late reflections. Therefore, an IIR structure composed of a cascade of second-order sections and four all-pass filters is employed to synthesize the first part of the impulse response, using a parametric optimization process in the frequency domain. Then, a recursive structure composed of comb and all-pass filters is used to synthesize the late reflections, exploiting a minimization criterion in the cepstral domain. Several results are reported taking into consideration a real impulse response, confirming the validity of the proposed approach.
Photodegradation of Eumelanin and Pheomelanin and Its Pathophysiological Implications

Eumelanin is photoprotective for pigmented tissues while pheomelanin is phototoxic. In this review, we summarize current understanding of how eumelanin and pheomelanin structures are modified by ultraviolet A (UVA) and also by visible light and how reactive oxygen species participate in those processes. Alkaline hydrogen peroxide oxidation was employed to characterize eumelanin and benzothiazole‐type pheomelanin, giving pyrrole‐2,3,5‐tricarboxylic acid (PTCA) and thiazole‐2,4,5‐tricarboxylic acid (TTCA), respectively. Reductive hydrolysis with hydroiodic acid gives 4‐amino‐3‐hydroxyphenylalanine (4‐AHP) from the benzothiazine moiety of pheomelanin. The results show that the photoaging of eumelanin gives rise to free PTCA (produced by peroxidation in situ) and pyrrole‐2,3,4,5‐tetracarboxylic acid (PTeCA, produced by cross‐linking). The TTCA/4‐AHP ratio increases with photoaging, indicating the conversion of benzothiazine to the benzothiazole moiety. Analysis of those markers and their ratios show that both eumelanin and pheomelanin in human retinal pigment epithelium melanosomes undergo extensive structural modifications due to their lifelong exposure to blue light. Using synthetic melanins, we also found that singlet oxygen, in addition to superoxide anions, is photogenerated and quenched upon UVA irradiation. The (patho)physiological significance of those findings is discussed in relation to the tanning process, to melanomagenesis in the skin and to age‐related macular degeneration in the eyes.
Visualizing the Role of Cbl-b in Control of Islet-Reactive CD4 T Cells and Susceptibility to Type 1 Diabetes

The E3 ubiquitin ligase Cbl-b regulates T cell activation thresholds and has been associated with protecting against type 1 diabetes, but its in vivo role in the process of self-tolerance has not been examined at the level of potentially autoaggressive CD4+ T cells. In this study, we visualize the consequences of Cbl-b deficiency on self-tolerance to lysozyme Ag expressed in transgenic mice under control of the insulin promoter (insHEL). By tracing the fate of pancreatic islet-reactive CD4+ T cells in prediabetic 3A9-TCR × insHEL double-transgenic mice, we find that Cbl-b deficiency contrasts with AIRE or IL-2 deficiency, because it does not affect thymic negative selection of islet-reactive CD4+ cells or the numbers of islet-specific CD4+ or CD4+Foxp3+ T cells in the periphery, although it decreased differentiation of inducible regulatory T cells from TGF-β–treated 3A9-TCR cells in vitro. When removed from regulatory T cells and placed in culture, Cblb-deficient islet-reactive CD4+ cells reveal a capacity to proliferate to HEL Ag that is repressed in wild-type cells. This latent failure of T cell anergy is, nevertheless, controlled in vivo in prediabetic mice so that islet-reactive CD4+ cells in the spleen and the pancreatic lymph node of Cblb-deficient mice show no evidence of increased activation or proliferation in situ. Cblb deficiency subsequently precipitated diabetes in most TCR:insHEL animals by 15 wk of age. These results reveal a role for peripheral T cell anergy in organ-specific self-tolerance and illuminate the interplay between Cblb-dependent anergy and other mechanisms for preventing organ-specific autoimmunity.
The δ13C of cellulose from modern plants and its responses to the atmosphere – From the peatland records of Dajiuhu, China

In this study, the values of δ13C in modern plants of the Dajiuhu Basin were determined, and correlation analysis was performed on various climatic factors influencing the values of δ13C in plants of this area on a seasonal scale. Results showed that carbon isotopes were fractionated from the collected plants through C3 pathways. Carex argyi and Sphagnum palustre L. are more sensitive to changes in air humidity. As a typical case, the values of δ13C in Carex argyi and Sphagnum palustre L. are positively and negatively associated with humidity, respectively, indicating that humidity was an important factor influencing the values of δ13C in plants of this area. Thus, while remodelling the palaeoclimate of the Dajiuhu Basin using the value of δ13C in the sedimentary peat plant residue, the plant residues of dominant species in this area (i.e. Sphagnum palustre L. and Carex argyi) that were sensitive to air humidity could be used. This is very important to understand deeply the mechanism of influence of climate change on plant carbon isotope fractionation and to predict the effects possibly caused by future global climate change.
How OSGi Changed My Life

In the early 1980s I discovered OOP (object-oriented programming) and fell in love with it, head over heels. As usual, this kind of love meant convincing management to invest in this new technology, and most important of all, send me to cool conferences. So I pitched the technology to my manager. I sketched him the rosy future, how one day we would create applications from ready-made classes. We would get those classes from a repository, put them together, and voila, a new application would be born. Today we take objects more or less for granted, but if I am honest, the pitch I gave to my manager in 1985 never really materialized. The reuse of objects never achieved the levels foreseen by people such as Brad Cox with his software-IC model, and many others, including myself. Still, this Lego hypothesis remains a grail worth pursuing.
On the Lagrangian biduality of sparsity minimization problems

We present a novel primal-dual analysis on a class of NP-hard sparsity minimization problems to provide new interpretations for their well known convex relaxations. We show that the Lagrangian bidual (i.e., the Lagrangian dual of the Lagrangian dual) of the sparsity minimization problems can be used to derive interesting convex relaxations: the bidual of the ℓ<sub>0</sub>-minimization problem is ℓ<sub>1</sub>-minimization; and the bidual of ℓ<sub>0,1</sub>-minimization for enforcing group sparsity on structured data is ℓ<sub>1,∞</sub>-minimization problem. Intuitions from the bidual-based relaxation are used to introduce a new family of relaxations for the group sparsity minimization problem.
A method for determining the environmental footprint of industrial products using simulation

Effective assessment and communication of the environmental footprint is increasingly important to process development and marketing purposes. Traditionally, static methods have been applied to analyze the environmental impact during a product's life cycle; however, they are unable to incorporate dynamic aspects of real world operations. This paper discusses a method using Discrete Event Simulation (DES) to analyze production systems and simultaneously enable labeling of products' environmental footprint. The method steps include data management, determination of environmental footprint, and communication of the results. The method is developed during a case study of a job-shop-production facility. To evaluate the DES method, the DES results were compared with the results of a Simplified Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) conducted on the same production system. The case study demonstrates the possibility for the DES method to determine the variation between products in terms of the environmental footprint and highlights some of the difficulties involved.
Estimating Reliability of Contextual Evidences in Decision-List Classifiers under Bayesian Learning

Classifiers are often required to output not only a classification result but also the probability of the classification. We focus on the decision list classifier which has successfully been applied to a wide variety of NLP tasks. We propose methods based on Bayesian learning to calculate the reliability of contextual evidences in decision lists, which enables decision lists to output theoretically well-founded probabilities. Experimental results obtained using Senseval-1 data set show that our methods enable decision lists to output probabilities appropriately reflecting their reliabilities and improve the classification performance of the decision list algorithm.
Multi-Agent Based Hierarchical Hybrid Control for Smart Microgrid

This paper studies the smart control issue for an autonomous microgrid in order to maintain the secure voltages as well as maximize economic and environmental benefits. A control scheme called as multi-agent based hierarchical hybrid control is proposed versus the hierarchical control requirements and hybrid dynamic behaviors of the microgrid. The control scheme is composed of an upper level energy management agent, several middle level coordinated control agents and many lower level unit control agents. The goals of smart control are achieved by designed control strategies. The simulations are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed smart control for an autonomous microgrid.
Towards a Video Corpus for Signer-Independent Continuous Sign Language Recognition

Research in the ﬁeld of continuous sign language recognition has not yet addressed the problem of interpersonal variance in signing. Applied to signer-independent tasks, current recognition systems show poor performance as their training bases upon corpora with an insufﬁcient number of signers. In contrast to speech recognition, there is actually no benchmark which meets the requirements for signer-independent recognition. Because of this absence we currently record a video corpus based on a vocabulary of 450 basic signs in German Sign Language. The corpus comprises 780 sentences each articulated by 20 different signers. The whole database will be made available for interested researchers.
Adaptive sliding mode based controller design for spacecraft attitude stabilization

An adaptive sliding mode controller that take the advantage of adaptive control method and sliding mode control method is designed for rigid spacecraft with external bounded disturbances. By using adaptive control law, the external disturbances can be estimated which can thus improve the robustness of the control system. System vibration is eliminated by substituting the signal function with hyperbolic tangent function. The designed controller is applied in spacecraft attitude stabilization system, and we analysis the asymptotic stability of the close loop system by employing Lyapunov stability theory. The simulation results show that this method has a good robustness to external disturbances. High precision attitude stabilization control is achieved.
Age-Related White Matter Changes

Age-related white matter changes (WMC) are considered manifestation of arteriolosclerotic small vessel disease and are related to age and vascular risk factors. Most recent studies have shown that WMC are associated with a host of poor outcomes, including cognitive impairment, dementia, urinary incontinence, gait disturbances, depression, and increased risk of stroke and death. Although the clinical relevance of WMC has been extensively studied, to date, only very few clinical trials have evaluated potential symptomatic or preventive treatments for WMC. In this paper, we reviewed the current understanding in the pathophysiology, epidemiology, clinical importance, chemical biomarkers, and treatments of age-related WMC.
Awareness of diabetic retinopathy among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in Jordan

Background Increasing the level of awareness of diabetic retinopathy among individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus is considered an important factor for early diagnosis and management of diabetic retinopathy. The aim of this study was to evaluate awareness of diabetic retinopathy among a sample of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients in Jordan. Patients and methods The study period was from August to December 2015. The sample was selected randomly from patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from the general population in three main cities of Jordan (Amman, Irbid, and Zarqa). A questionnaire was distributed to 237 participants with diabetes to assess their awareness and knowledge of diabetes and diabetic retinopathy. The questionnaire included questions to assess awareness about diabetic retinopathy, sources of knowledge about the disease, and patients’ knowledge and compliance with available treatments and routine eye examinations. Patients were also questioned about the barriers that may interfere with early eye examination. Results A total of 237 participants (107 [45.1%] females and 130 [54.9%] males) with type 2 diabetes were interviewed. Mean age±SD for the study population was 54.51±10.28 years. Of the study population, 88.2% were aware that diabetes can affect the eyes and 81% reported that diabetic retinopathy can lead to blindness. Higher level of patients’ awareness of diabetic retinopathy was related to higher level of formal education (p<0.05). The main source of information about diabetic retinopathy as reported by 47.3% patients was general practitioners. Patients’ compliance with diabetes management was relatively high; however, their compliance with routine retinal assessment was poor, with only a total of 29.5% of participants having had an eye examination in the previous year. Conclusion Awareness of the nature and consequences of diabetic retinopathy among patients with diabetes in Jordan is relatively high. However, patients’ motivation to undergo retinal assessment was poor in the sample, thus hindering early diagnosis and management.
Intestinal tumorigenesis in multiple intestinal neoplasia mice induced by the food mutagen 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine: perinatal susceptibility, regional variation, and correlation with DNA adducts.

In our previous experiments, multiple injections with the food mutagen 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) were used to induce intestinal tumors in C57BL/6J-multiple intestinal neoplasia (Min)/+ mice. To define the period of highest susceptibility to PhIP perinatally, we first determined the effect of a single s.c. injection. Ten or 50 mg/kg PhIP increased the number and diameter of small intestinal tumors dose-dependently in 3-day-old Min/+ mice. In the colon, only 50 mg/kg PhIP increased the incidence and number of tumors. The number of dysplastic aberrant crypt foci decreased from weeks 7 to 11. In the same period, an increase in the number of tumors was seen, indicating that over time the dysplastic aberrant crypt foci develop into tumors. Min/+ mice were then exposed in utero through their dams being given one s.c. injection of 50 mg/kg PhIP 3 days before giving birth or were exposed directly to the same dose on day 3, 12, or 36 after birth. Remarkably, the most susceptible period for tumorigenesis in the small intestine was between days 3-12 after birth, whereas in the colon it was from day 3 before to day 3 after birth. Furthermore, we examined whether the formation of DNA adducts determined after 24 h could explain the observed time-dependent and regional susceptibility to PhIP. A higher level of PhIP-DNA adducts was found after exposure on day 12 after birth, compared with day 36 after birth, in all parts of the small intestine but not in the colon, which was in close accordance with the numbers of tumors present. The levels of PhIP-DNA adducts along the intestines were highest in the middle and distal parts of the small intestine, where tumor numbers were also the highest. In conclusion, Min/+ mice are most susceptible to intestinal tumor induction by PhIP from day 3 before to day 12 after birth, and this susceptibility could at least partly be explained by the formation of PhIP-DNA adducts.
Frequency dependence of magnetic flux profile in the presence of metamaterials for wireless power transfer

We discuss the change in the magnetic flux profile by introducing a negative refractive index material (metamaterial) in between the source and receiver. The environment parameters, e and μ, has a significant effect on the propagation of electromagnetic wave. The behavior of Transverse Magnetic (TM) wave when the medium in the path of propagation is changed to negative permittivity and permeability is simulated and discussed. The effect of size, shape and anisotrophy of the metamaterials, for near-field regions, on the magnetic flux density has been studied using finite element analysis. An enhancement in the magnetic flux density when a metamaterial is introduced in between the source and receiver was observed. The results show that the static and quasi-static behavior of the system is same.
The Metabolic Risk in Patients Newly Diagnosed with Acromegaly Is Related to Fat Distribution and Circulating Adipokines and Improves after Treatment

Background/Aims: Adipose tissue (AT) distribution is closely related to metabolic disease risk. Growth hormone (GH) reduces visceral and total body fat mass and induces whole-body insulin resistance. Our aim was to assess the effects of total and visceral AT (VAT) distribution and derived adipokines on systemic insulin resistance and lipid metabolism in acromegaly. Methods: Seventy adult patients with active acromegaly (43 males, age 49 ± 14 years) were evaluated before treatment, and a subset (n = 30, 20 males) was evaluated after treatment for acromegaly. Body composition and VAT, glucose metabolism parameters, lipids, C-reactive protein, and selected adipokines (vaspin, omentin, adiponectin, and leptin) were measured. Results: At baseline, VAT was positively associated with glucose metabolism parameters and with lipids. GH, but not IGF-I, was negatively associated with all AT depots (visceral, trunk, limbs, and total; 0.41 ≤ r ≤ 0.61, p < 0.001 for all) and positively associated with vaspin (r = 0.31, p = 0.013). The fat deposition after treatment was predominantly located on trunk and visceral depots. The lipid profile partially improved, with increases in HDL and apolipoprotein A-I and a decrease in lipoprotein(a). Vaspin decreased and omentin increased. Adiponectin and leptin did not change significantly. The improvement in homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was best predicted by the decreases in IGF-I and vaspin and the lack of an increase in trunk fat (R2 = 0.59, p = 0.001). Conclusions: (1) VAT is a metabolic risk factor for patients with active acromegaly; (2) vaspin and omentin levels are influenced by the disease activity but are not associated with VAT mass; (3) fat deposition after treatment occurs predominantly on the trunk and in visceral depots, and (4) insulin resistance decreases and the lipid profile partially improves with treatment.
Studies on Interaction of Buffalo Brain Cystatin with Donepezil: An Alzheimer's Drug

When drugs bind to a protein, the intramolecular structures can be altered, resulting in conformational change of the protein. Donepezil, an Acetyl Cholinesterase inhibitor (AChE), is commonly prescribed to patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) to enhance cholinergic neurotransmission. It is the “first-line” agents in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease used to improve cognitive function in the disease. In the present study, a cysteine protease inhibitor (cystatin) has been isolated from buffalo brain using alkaline treatment, 40 to 60% ammonium sulphate fractionation and gel filtration chromatography on Sephadex G-75 with % yield of 64.13 and fold purification of 384.7. The purified inhibitor (Buffalo Brain Cystatin, (BBC)) was eluted as a single papain inhibitory peak which migrated as single band on native PAGE; however, on SDS-PAGE with and without beta mercaptoethanol (βME) BBC gave two bands of M W 31.6 and 12.4 KDa, respectively. The molecular weight determined by gel filtration came out to be 43.6 KDa. The UV spectra of cystatin on interaction with donepezil suggested a conformational change in the protein. The fluorescence spectra of BC-donepezil composite show structural changes indicating 40 nm red shift with significant increase in fluorescence intensity of cystatin in the presence of donepezil representing an unfolding of cystatin on interaction, which is an indication of side effect of donepezil during the use of this drug.