Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oxidative capacity and radical chemistry in the polluted atmosphere of HongKong and Pearl River Delta region: analysis of a severe photochemical smogepisode

Abstract. We analyze a photochemical smog episode to understand the oxidative capacity and radical chemistry of the polluted atmosphere in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. A photochemical box model based on the Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM v3.2) is constrained by an intensive set of field observations to elucidate the budgets of ROx (ROx = OH+HO2+RO2) and NO3 radicals. Highly abundant radical precursors (i.e. O3, HONO and carbonyls), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) facilitate strong production and efficient recycling of ROx radicals. The OH reactivity is dominated by oxygenated VOCs (OVOCs), followed by aromatics, alkenes and alkanes. Photolysis of OVOCs (except for formaldehyde) is the dominant primary source of ROx with average daytime contributions of 34–47 %. HONO photolysis is the largest contributor to OH and the second-most significant source (19–22 %) of ROx. Other considerable ROx sources include O3 photolysis (11–20 %), formaldehyde photolysis (10–16 %), and ozonolysis reactions of unsaturated VOCs (3.9–6.2 %). In one case when solar irradiation was attenuated, possibly by the high aerosol loadings, NO3 became an important oxidant and the NO3-initiated VOC oxidation presented another significant ROx source (6.2 %) even during daytime. This study suggests the possible impacts of daytime NO3 chemistry in the polluted atmospheres under conditions with the co-existence of abundant O3, NO2, VOCs and aerosols, and also provides new insights into the radical chemistry that essentially drives the formation of photochemical smog in the high-NOx environment of Hong Kong and the PRD region.
Device-Free Wireless Localization and Activity Recognition: A Deep Learning Approach

Device-free wireless localization and activity recognition (DFLAR) is a new technique, which could estimate the location and activity of a target by analyzing its shadowing effect on surrounding wireless links. This technique neither requires the target to be equipped with any device nor involves privacy concerns, which makes it an attractive and promising technique for many emerging smart applications. The key question of DFLAR is how to characterize the influence of the target on wireless signals. Existing work generally utilizes statistical features extracted from wireless signals, such as mean and variance in the time domain and energy as well as entropy in the frequency domain, to characterize the influence of the target. However, a feature suitable for distinguishing some activities or gestures may perform poorly when it is used to recognize other activities or gestures. Therefore, one has to manually design handcraft features for a specific application. Inspired by its excellent performance in extracting universal and discriminative features, in this paper, we propose a deep learning approach for realizing DFLAR. Specifically, we design a sparse autoencoder network to automatically learn discriminative features from the wireless signals and merge the learned features into a softmax-regression-based machine learning framework to realize location, activity, and gesture recognition simultaneously. Extensive experiments performed in a clutter indoor laboratory and an apartment with eight wireless nodes demonstrate that the DFLAR system using the learned features could achieve 0.85 or higher accuracy, which is better than the systems utilizing traditional handcraft features.
Establishing the effects of treatment for aphasia using single-subject-controlled experimental designs

Establishing the effects of treatment for aphasia using single-subjectcontrolled experimental designs Cynthia K. Thompson a Aphasia and Neurolinguistics Research Laboratory, Center for the Neurobiology of Language Recovery, Evanston, IL, USA b Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA c Department of Neurology, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA Published online: 24 Dec 2014.
Humidity affects populations of Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in blueberry

Temperature and humidity affect insect physiology, survival, fecundity, reproductive status and behaviour. Complementing previous work investigating the effects of temperature on adult survival and fecundity of the invasive frugivorous pest, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura), this study was conducted to determine the effect of humidity on D. suzukii larval development, adult survival, fecundity and reproductive status using blueberry as a host substrate. The five constant humidity levels in laboratory bioassays were 20, 33, 71, 82 and 94% RH at 20.6 ± 0.2°C. As RH increased, fecundity and longevity increased. At the higher humidity levels, RH had limited impact on mean generation times (T), larval development and eclosion times. The highest net reproductive rate (Ro = 68) and highest intrinsic rate of population increase (rm = 0.17) were both recorded at 94% RH. The reproductive status of females, as indicated by the number of mature oocytes per female, was significantly greater at 82 and 94% RH, compared to 71% RH. In addition to the laboratory procedures, we correlated field trap captures over an 81‐day summer period to relative humidity (RH) levels in close proximity to those traps. In the field, low ambient humidity levels resulted in decreased trap captures. A humidity‐dependent population model predicted lower densities of D. suzukii relative to populations at higher humidity. This study supports the hypothesis that cultural practices that minimize lower humidity levels in crops can contribute to the management of D. suzukii. Such methods may include open pruning, drip irrigation and field floor management.
Epidemiology of osteoarthritis: literature update

Purpose of review The purpose of this review is to highlight recent studies of osteoarthritis epidemiology, including research on prevalence, disease impact, and potential risk factors. Recent findings Osteoarthritis is highly prevalent in the United States and around the globe. It is a leading cause of disability and can negatively impact people's physical and mental well being. Healthcare resources and costs associated with managing the disease can be substantial. There is increasing evidence that there are different osteoarthritis phenotypes that reflect different mechanisms of the disease. Various person-level risk factors are recognized, including sociodemographic characteristics (e.g. female sex, African-American race), genetic predispositions, obesity, diet-related factors, and high bone density/mass. Joint-level risk factors include specific bone/joint shapes, thigh flexor muscle weakness, joint malalignment, participation in certain occupational/sports activities, and joint injury. Recent studies have enhanced our understanding of preradiographic lesions associated with osteoarthritis. Summary Application of these new findings may allow us to develop innovative strategies and novel therapies with the purpose of preventing new disease onset and minimizing disease progression.
COMPLICATIONS IN TRANSFUSION-DEPENDENT PATIENTS OF ß-THALASSEMIA MAJOR: A REVIEW

SUMMARY s- thalassemia is an inherited disorder of hemoglobin synthesis characterized by deficient synthesis of the s-globin chain that causes severe anemia. Over the years, the combination of hypertransfusion and chelation therapy has significantly increased the survival of patients of s-thalassemia. At the same time, there has been an increase in the frequency of complications, mainly caused by iron overload. These include cardiac disorders which are the main determinants of survival. Endocrine complications include hypogonadism, diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, hypoparathyroidism and hypoadrenalism. Low bone mineral density and trace element deficiencies are among the metabolic complications seen in chronically transfused patients of s- thalassemia whereas hepatic problems and neuropsychologic disorders are also common.
Gold nanorods induce early embryonic developmental delay and lethality in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

ABSTRACT Due to their unique electronic and optical features, gold nanoparticles (AuNP) have received a great deal of attention for application in different fields such as catalysis, electronics, and biomedicine. The large-volume manufacturing predicted for future decades and the inevitable release of these substances into the environment necessitated an assessment of potential adverse human and ecological risks due to exposure to AuNP. Accordingly, this study aimed to examine the acute and developmental toxicity attributed to a commercial suspension of Au nanorods stabilized with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB-AuNR) using early embryonic stages of zebrafish (Danio rerio), a well-established model in ecotoxicology. Zebrafish embryos were exposed to CTAB-AuNR (0–150 µg/L) to determine for developmental assessment until 96 hr post fertilization (hpf) and lethality. Uptake of CTAB-AuNR by embryos and nanoparticles potential to induce DNA damage was also measured at 48 and 96 hpf. Analysis of the concentration-response curves with cumulative mortality at 96 hpf revealed a median lethal concentration (LC50,96h) of 110.2 μg/L. At sublethal concentrations, CTAB-AuNR suspensions were found to produce developmental abnormalities such as tail deformities, pericardial edema, decreased body length, and delayed eye, head, and tail elongation development. Further, less than 1% of the initial concentration of CTAB-AuNR present in the exposure media was internalized by zebrafish embryos prior to (48 hpf) and after hatching (96 hpf). In addition, no marked DNA damage was detected in embryos after exposure to CTAB-AuNR. Overall, CTAB-AuNR suspensions produced lethal and sublethal effects on zebrafish embryos with possible repercussions in fitness of adult stages. However, these results foresee a low risk for fish since the observed effects occurred at concentrations above the levels expected to find in the aquatic environment.
Peroxynitrite dominates sodium nitroprusside-induced apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

This study aims to explore which radicals dominate sodium nitroprusside (SNP)-induced cytotoxicity in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells (HepG2 and Hep3B). Exposure of SNP to cell medium produced abundant nitric oxide (NO), superoxide anion (O2·−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and iron ions. SNP potently induced caspases activation, mitochondrial membrane permeabilization and apoptosis in HCC cells. In Hep3B cells, pretreatment with NO scavenger (PTIO) did not prevent SNP-induced cytotoxicity. However, in HepG2 cells, SNP-induced cytotoxicity was prevented significantly by pretreatment with PTIO and O2·− scavenger, and especially was almost completely blocked by pretreatment with FeTPPS (peroxynitrite scavenger). In contrast, although H2O2 scavenger potently scavenged SNP-induced H2O2 production, it did not prevent SNP-induced cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells. In addition, pretreatment with DFO (iron ions chelator) and iron-saturated DFO respectively completely prevented SNP-induced cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells. Collectively, peroxynitrite from the reaction between NO and O2·− elicited from SNP dominates the SNP-induced apoptosis of HepG2 cells, in which both iron ions and H2O2 are not involved.
Haptic User Interfaces for the Visually Impaired: Implications for Haptically Enhanced Science Learning Systems

The overall quality of haptic user interfaces designed to support visually impaired students' science learning through sensorial feedback was systematically studied to investigate task performance and user behavior. Fourteen 6th- to 11th-grade students with visual impairments recruited from a state-funded blind school were asked to perform three main tasks (i.e., menu selection, structure exploration, and force recognition) using haptic user interfaces and a haptic device. This study used several dependent measures that are categorized into three types of variables: (a) task performance including success rate, workload, and task completion time; (b) user behavior defined as cursor movements proportionately represented from the user's cursor positional data; and (c) user preference. Results showed that interface type has significant effects on task performance, user behavior, and user preference, with varying degree of impact to participants with severe visual impairments performing the tasks. The results of this study as well as a set of refined design guidelines and principles should provide insights to the future research of haptic user interfaces that can be used when developing haptically enhanced science learning systems for the visually impaired.
The shape of the transmembrane domain is a novel endocytosis signal for single-spanning membrane proteins

ABSTRACT Endocytosis is crucial for all cells as it allows them to incorporate material from the extracellular space and control the availability of transmembrane proteins at the plasma membrane. In yeast, endocytosis followed by recycling to the plasma membrane results in a polarised distribution of membrane proteins by a kinetic mechanism. Here, we report that increasing the volume of residues that constitute the exoplasmic half of the transmembrane domain (TMD) in the yeast SNARE Sso1, a type II membrane protein, results in its polarised distribution at the plasma membrane. Expression of this chimera in strains affected in either endocytosis or recycling revealed that this polarisation is achieved by endocytic cycling. A bioinformatics search of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae proteome identified several proteins with high-volume exoplasmic hemi-TMDs. Our experiments indicate that TMDs from these proteins can confer a polarised distribution to the Sso1 cytoplasmic domain, indicating that the shape of the TMD can act as a novel endocytosis and polarity signal in yeast. Additionally, a high-volume exoplasmic hemi-TMD can act as an endocytosis signal in a mammalian cell line. Summary: A novel type of endocytosis signal for type II membrane proteins is encoded in the shape of their transmembrane domains.
Optimising topical query decomposition

Topical query decomposition (TQD) is a paradigm recently introduced in [1], which, given a query, returns to the user a set of queries that cover the answer set of the original query. The TQD problem was studied as a variant of the set-cover problem and solved by means of a greedy algorithm. This paper aims to strengthen the original formulation by introducing a new global objective function, and thus formalising the problem as a combinatorial optimisation one. Such a reformulation defines a common framework allowing a formal evaluation and comparison of different approaches to TQD. We apply simulated annealing, a sub-optimal meta-heuristic, to the problem of topical query decomposition and we show, through a large experimentation on a data sample extracted from an actual query log, that such meta-heuristic achieves better results than the greedy algorithm.
Moderate carotid artery stenosis: MR imaging-depicted intraplaque hemorrhage predicts risk of cerebrovascular ischemic events in asymptomatic men.

PURPOSE To investigate the association between magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-depicted intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) in the carotid artery wall and the risk of future ipsilateral cerebrovascular events in men with asymptomatic moderate carotid stenosis by using a rapid three-dimensional T1-weighted fat-suppressed spoiled gradient-echo sequence. MATERIALS AND METHODS The institutional ethics review board approved this retrospective chart review and waived the requirement for written informed consent. All patients gave informed verbal consent at follow-up telephone interviews. Ninety-one men (mean age, 74.8 years; range, 47-88 years) who attended a vascular clinic between 2003 and 2006, who had asymptomatic carotid stenosis (50%-70% at Doppler ultrasonography), and who had undergone MR imaging for IPH detection were retrospectively identified. Seventy-five men with 98 eligible carotid arteries were included in the study. Patients were followed for a minimum of 1 year (mean follow-up, 24.92 months; range, 12-43 months). Kaplan-Meier survival and univariate Cox regression analyses were conducted to compare future ipsilateral cerebrovascular event rates between carotid arteries with and those without MR-depicted IPH. RESULTS Of the 98 carotid arteries included, 36 (36.7%) had MR-depicted IPH. Six cerebrovascular events (two strokes and four transient ischemic attacks) occurred in the carotid arteries with IPH, as compared with no clinical events in the carotid arteries without IPH. Univariate Cox regression analysis confirmed that MR-depicted IPH was associated with an increased risk of cerebrovascular events (hazard ratio, 3.59; 95% confidence interval: 2.48, 4.71; P < .001). MR-depicted IPH negatively predicted outcomes (negative predictive value = 100%). CONCLUSION In this cohort with asymptomatic moderate carotid stenosis, MR-depicted IPH was associated with future ipsilateral cerebrovascular events. Conversely, patients without MR-depicted IPH remained asymptomatic during follow-up. The absence of IPH at MR imaging, therefore, may be a reassuring marker of plaque stability and of a lower risk of thromboembolism.
Securing the mobile environment: firewall anti-leak of sensitive data on smartphone

The growth of the smartphone 1 market broke the record in recent years, smartphones have become more robust tools in terms of storage capacity and computing power, effective tools for business to improve productivity, and daily tools for many people due to the various services they offer and allow to end users to perform multiple tasks and be always updated on the move. This has made it a favorite target for malicious applications that specifically attack their personal and professional data. To overcome this problem, mobile platforms have set up a security system based on the permissions model; the user decides whether to validate the permissions requested by an application before installation, or to abort the installation. In case the user needs to install an application, and that application requests unjustified permissions, this represents a particularly troublesome weakness. In this study, we are going to handle the case of the Open Source Android platform, currently managed by Google. Despite the efforts to create a scalable and secure operating system, Google is not able to process the information of user privacy. Any Android application can discreetly retrieve sensitive data from the smartphone without notifying the user. In this paper, we propose a firewall Anti-Leak of Sensitive Data on Smartphone (ALSDS), allowing reliable protection against leakage of sensitive personal and professional data, and it allows providing notifications to the user. This integrated solution to the mobile operating system is based on automated analysis of markets; it allows blocking applications query on the sensitive data while ensuring their proper functioning.
Evaluation of the effect of calcium hydroxide and propolis intracanal medicaments on the push-out bond strength of a resin-based endodontic sealer to the root canal dentin: An in vitro study

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2] and propolis intracanal medicaments on the push-out bond strength of a resin-based sealer (AH Plus) to root dentin. Materials and Methods: After chemomechanical instrumentation using ProTaper rotary system, three groups of root canal specimens were prepared: 10 root canals were left untreated as controls (G1), 10 received Ca(OH)2intracanal medicament (G2), and another 10 received propolis intracanal medicament (G3). Canals were obturated with AH Plus and gutta-percha. After bond strength evaluation using push-out test, data was analyzed using 2- way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests (P = 0.05). Results: At coronal and middle thirds, there were no significant differences in bond strength among the three groups (P > 0.05). At apical third, G3 was significantly superior to G2 and G1 (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between G2 and G1 (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The use of propolis as an intracanal dressing material, with AH Plus used as the sealer in endodontic therapy was shown to have better sealer-dentin interfacial bond strength.
Immunohistochemical evaluation of the goat forestomach during prenatal development

Here we report the detection and distribution of synaptophysin (SPY), non-neuronal enolase (NNE), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), vimentin (VIM), neuropeptide Y (NPY), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) expression in the goat forestomach during prenatal development. A total of 140 embryos and fetuses were examined to evaluate protein expression from the first stage of prenatal life until birth. In all cases, SPY immunoreactivity was detected at 53 days gestation in the lamina propria-submucosa, tunica muscularis, serosa, and myenteric plexuses. Immunoreactivity to NNE was observed at 64 days gestation in the same locations as well as the epithelial layer. Glial cells were found at 64 days as indicated by signals corresponding to GFAP and VIM at 39 days. Positive staining for NPY and VIP was observed at 113, 75, and 95 days in the rumen, reticulum, and omasum, respectively, in the lamina propria-submucosa, tunica muscularis, and myenteric plexuses of each of these gastric compartments. These findings indicate possible preparation of the fetal goat forestomach for postnatal function. Compared to other ruminant species, neuroendocrine cells, glial cells and peptidergic innervations markers were detected earlier compared to sheep but at around the same stage as in deer.
Authors’ Reply to: VanderWeele et al., Chiolero, and Schooling et al.

inference is of course appealing. However, pragmatism cannot be really considered as a scientific method; it is essentially a practice. Further, this approach remains relatively vague, which is problematic as there is no point in estimating a causal effect that is not well defined, especially for ‘policy makers who will be unable to translate [this vague causal effect] into effective interventions’. The counterfactual and interventionist approach is better defined, and fundamentally pragmatic, by making explicit the link with interventions rather than statistical association, will help us move from risk factor toward ‘consequentialist’ epidemiology.
Metamaterials design and challenges for THz radiation

THz (Terahertz) radiation sources are an important research topic in THz science and technology. Novel THz radiation using double negative metamaterials (DNMs) and electron beam bunches is a promising candidate. In this review paper, we first introduce THz metamaterials, especially DNMs, including the design, fabrication and testing. Then we present our research progress on the enhanced THz radiation based on DNMs using single and multiple charged particles. Finally, we discuss the challenges in metamaterials and associated radiations. The research presented here offers theoretical and experimental foundations for developing new THz radiation sources.