Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Active scaffolds for on-demand drug and cell delivery

Porous biomaterials have been widely used as scaffolds in tissue engineering and cell-based therapies. The release of biological agents from conventional porous scaffolds is typically governed by molecular diffusion, material degradation, and cell migration, which do not allow for dynamic external regulation. We present a new active porous scaffold that can be remotely controlled by a magnetic field to deliver various biological agents on demand. The active porous scaffold, in the form of a macroporous ferrogel, gives a large deformation and volume change of over 70% under a moderate magnetic field. The deformation and volume variation allows a new mechanism to trigger and enhance the release of various drugs including mitoxantrone, plasmid DNA, and a chemokine from the scaffold. The porous scaffold can also act as a depot of various cells, whose release can be controlled by external magnetic fields.
A dynamic bandwidth allocator for virtual machines in a cloud environment

Cloud computing is an emergent paradigm that allows to customers to rent infrastructure, platforms and software as a service. With resource sharing and reuse through virtualization technology, cloud environments become even more effective and flexible. Nevertheless, networking within virtualized cloud still presents some challenges in performance and resource allocation. In this paper, we propose to integrate an SLA-based Dynamic Bandwidth Allocator (DBA) in a virtualized cloud environment. DBA manages bandwidth allocation efficiently through allocating bandwidth according to the application requirements and the established agreement. It also adjusts the allocated bandwidth dynamically upon change and reduces physical resources usage by dropping packets in the virtual machines rather than the driver domain. Through experimental evaluation we showed the efficacy of the proposed algorithm and the agreements respect.
A study of electrical properties when low-loss, self-biased channel diodes are used as bypass diodes for photovoltaic panels

The author previously proposed three types of low-loss diodes that are inexpensive and capable of operating at high temperatures. We confirmed that in the proposed devices, that on-state voltage is lower than in standard Schottky Barrier Diodes (SBD) and thermal runaway does not occur at high temperatures. Based on this outcome, we conducted another study, described here, in which we used the proposed devices as bypass diodes in photovoltaic panels, and carried out device simulations that we then analyzed. We found that when a cell was partially shaded, the current flowing to the load side of the photovoltaic panel was significantly improved compared to standard SBDs.
High mortality among children with sickle cell anemia and overt stroke who discontinue blood transfusion after transition to an adult program

Chronic blood transfusion is the standard of care in the management of overt stroke due to sickle cell anemia (SS) to prevent recurrence of stroke. The problem arises when children are transitioned to adult care where blood transfusion may be discontinued. The purpose of this study was to report the outcome of 22 patients with SS and overt stroke who were transitioned to our adult program between 1993 and 2009.
Oncogenic Ras modulates p38 MAPK-mediated inflammatory cytokine production in glioblastoma cells

ABSTRACT Inflammation is an important factor promoting the progression of glioblastoma. In the present study we examined the contribution of Ras signaling and TNFα/IL-1β cytokines to the development of the glioblastoma inflammatory microenvironment. Enhanced activation of Ras through de-regulated activation of receptor tyrosine kinases, such as EGFR, PDGFR and cMet, is a hallmark of the majority of glioblastomas. Glioblastoma microenvironment contains high levels of TNFα and IL-1β, which mediate inflammation through induction of a local network of cytokines and chemokines. While many studies have focused on Ras- and TNFα/IL-1β-driven inflammation in isolation, little is known about the co-operation between these oncogenic and microenvironment-derived stimuli. Using constitutively active HRasG12V that mimics enhanced Ras activation, we demonstrate that elevated Ras activity in glioblastoma cells leads to up-regulation of IL-6 and IL-8. Furthermore, Ras synergizes with the microenvironment-derived TNFα and IL-1β resulting in amplified IL-6/IL-8 secretion. IL-8 secretion induced by Ras and TNFα/IL-1β is attenuated by inhibitors targeting Erk, JNK and p38 MAPK pathways. IL-6 secretion significantly decreased upon inhibition of JNK and p38 MAPK pathways. Interestingly, although constitutively active HRasG12V does not increase basal or TNFα/IL-1β stimulated p38 MAPK activity, HRasG12V increased the efficacy of the p38 MAPK inhibitor SB203580 to inhibit IL-1β-induced IL-6 secretion. In summary, oncogenic Ras co-operates with the microenvironment-derived TNFα/IL-1β to sustain inflammatory microenvironment, which was effectively attenuated via inhibition of p38 MAPK signaling.
High-frequency oscillations in awake patients undergoing brain tumor-related epilepsy surgery

Objective To examine the relationship between high-frequency oscillations (HFOs) and the presence of preoperative seizures, World Health Organization tumor grade, and isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) mutational status in gliomas. Methods We retrospectively studied intraoperative electrocorticography recorded in 16 patients with brain tumor (12 presenting with seizures) who underwent awake craniotomy and surgical resection between September 2016 and June 2017. The number and distribution of HFOs were determined and quantified visually and with an automated HFO detector. Results Five patients had low-grade (1 with grade I and 4 with grade II) and 11 had high-grade (6 with grade III and 5 with grade IV) brain tumors. An IDH1 mutation was found in 6 patients. Patients with a history of preoperative seizures were more likely to have HFOs than those without preoperative seizures (9 of 12 vs 0 of 4, p = 0.02). The rate of HFOs was higher in patients with IDH1 mutant (mean 7.2 per minute) than IDH wild-type (mean 2.3 per minute) genotype (p = 0.03). Conclusions HFOs are common in brain tumor-related epilepsy, and HFO rate may be a useful measure of epileptogenicity in gliomas. Our findings further support the notion that IDH1 mutant genotype is more epileptogenic than IDH1 wild-type genotype gliomas.
The effect of different dietary protein levels in the rearing and laying periods on performance of white Leghorn chickens.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of three rearing and four laying protein regimens on growth and subsequent performance of a commercial strain of White Leghorn chickens. In the rearing period, the pullets of the control group received a sequence of 18, 15, and 12% protein for 0 to 6, 6 to 14, and 14 to 20 weeks of age, respectively. The pullets of the low-protein rearing regimens received either 18 and 12% protein for 0 to 6 and 6 to 20 weeks of age, respectively, or 18, 12, and 15% protein for 0 to 6, 6 to 18, and 18 to 20 weeks of age, respectively. Birds of each rearing group received four laying regimens from 20 to 72 weeks of age. These consisted of a diet containing 16.5% protein, a diet containing 14.5% protein, a moderate step-down protein regimen (MSP) of 18, 16.5, and 15.5% protein for 20 to 36, 36 to 60, and 60 to 72 weeks of age, respectively, and a low step-down protein regimen (LSP) of 16.5, 15.5, 14.5, and 13.5% protein for 20 to 36, 36 to 48, 48 to 60, and 60 to 72 weeks of age, respectively. The level of total sulfur amino acids were maintained at . 59% and the minimum level of lysine was . 68% in the laying rations. Birds fed the low-protein rearing regimens were significantly lighter at 20 weeks of age, consumed significantly less feed, energy, and protein in the rearing period, and their age at 50% production was delayed by 2 to 3 days compared to control fed birds. Birds fed the low-protein rearing regimens produced fewer eggs and slightly lighter weight eggs during the first laying phase. However, overall egg production, egg size, and feed consumption were not influenced by the protein levels in the rearing period. Pullets receiving the 14.5% protein diet in the laying period produced significantly fewer and lighter weight eggs and consumed significantly less protein and lysine than those fed the 16.5% protein diet. Overall egg production, egg weight, and nutrient intake of birds of the MSP groups were not significantly different from those fed the 16.5% protein diet. Egg production was similar for the birds of the LSP groups compared to those receiving the 16.5% protein diet, whereas egg weight, protein, and lysine intake were significantly lower for the birds of the LSP group. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Multi-hop cooperative relaying for energy efficient in vivo communications

This paper investigates cooperative relaying to support energy efficient in vivo communications. In such a network, the in vivo source nodes transmit their sensing information to an on-body destination node either via direct communications or by employing on-body cooperative relay nodes in order to promote energy efficiency. Two relay modes are investigated, namely single-hop and multi-hop (two-hop) relaying. In this context, the paper objective is to select the optimal transmission mode (direct, single-hop, or two-hop relaying) and relay assignment (if cooperative relaying is adopted) for each source node that results in the minimum per bit average energy consumption for the in vivo network. The problem is formulated as a binary program that can be efficiently solved using commercial optimization solvers. Numerical results demonstrate the significant improvement in energy consumption and quality-of-service (QoS) support when multi-hop communication is adopted.
Explorer Advances in the management of uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids are extremely common, with major surgery the current main management option; uterine artery embolisation is an alternative, but risks to fertility are unclear. Minimally invasive procedures are becoming more commonly performed via both the hysteroscope and laparoscope, minimising recovery time for patients. Recently, small doses of progesterone receptor modulators (mifepristone and asoprisnil) have been shown to be effective in reducing menstrual blood loss and fibroid size. Progress from here should include the development of a well-tolerated oral preparation that will maintain fertility. Introduction and context Fibroids are present in up to 70% of women of reproductive age [1]. Although many women with fibroids are asymptomatic, others find they cause a major disruption to daily life. There is evidence to implicate a genetic predisposition; monozygotic female twins are twice as likely to be concordant for hysterectomy and/or hospitalization for fibroids as dizygotic twins [2]. In a recent genetic study with sister-pairs with fibroids, the embryonic proliferation modulatorHMGA2 gene was identified as a potential gene associated with a predisposition for fibroids [3]. The mechanism(s) for fibroid growth is an area of much research interest. Matsuo et al. [4] reported greater cellular levels of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 in leiomyoma cells than in normal myometrium. The sex steroids oestrogen and progesterone have a role in fibroid growth during the reproductive years, with fibroids regressing after menopause. There is biochemical, clinical, and pharmacological evidence to support a role for progesterone in the pathogenesis of fibroids. Fibroids have increased concentrations of both isoforms of the progesterone receptor (PR-A and PR-B) [5]. The main associated symptoms are often problematic; heavy menstrual bleeding [5,6] may result in severe anaemia and social embarrassment and the presence of a pelvic mass may lead to marked discomfort, abdominal distension, and pressure-related bladder symptoms [7]. Additionally, distortion of the uterine cavity may result in subfertility. Submucosal fibroids have been shown to decrease pregnancy rates and so removal of such fibroids where subfertility is an issue may be considered [8], however, subserosal fibroids do not appear to be related to fertility. Intramural fibroids are thought to decrease fertility: although there is a lack of randomised trials, it has been shown that, with in vitro fertilisation, there is a reduced delivery rate in patients with untreated fibroids but no change to delivery rate in those having had a myomectomy [9]. The mainstay of present management for large symptomatic fibroids is surgery – hysterectomy or myomectomy. These are both major abdominal operations with associated risks and prolonged recovery time. Uterine artery embolisation (UAE) carries a risk of pelvic infection and there is limited evidence regarding the risks for future pregnancies [10-12].
Oral carnitine supplementation influences mental health parameters and biomarkers of oxidative stress in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

Abstract Introduction: Limited data are available assessing the effects of oral carnitine supplementation on mental health parameters and biomarkers of oxidative stress of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This study was designed to determine the effects of oral carnitine supplementation on mental health parameters and biomarkers of oxidative stress in women with PCOS. Methods: In the current randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 60 patients diagnosed with PCOS were randomized to take either 250 mg carnitine supplements (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) for 12 weeks. Results: After 12 weeks’ intervention, compared with the placebo, carnitine supplementation resulted in a significant improvement in Beck Depression Inventory total score (−2.7 ± 2.3 versus −0.2 ± 0.7, p < 0.001), General Health Questionnaire scores (−6.9 ± 4.9 versus −0.9 ± 1.5, p < 0.001) and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale scores (−8.7 ± 5.9 versus −1.2 ± 2.9, p = 0.001). In addition, changes in plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) (+84.1 ± 151.8 versus +4.6 ± 64.5 mmol/L, p = 0.01), malondialdehyde (MDA) (−0.4 ± 1.0 versus +0.5 ± 1.5 μmol/L, p = 0.01) and MDA/TAC ratio (−0.0005 ± 0.0010 versus +0.0006 ± 0.0019, p = 0.003) in the supplemented group were significantly different from the changes in these indicators in the placebo group. Conclusions: Overall, our study demonstrated that carnitine supplementation for 12 weeks among patients with PCOS had favorable effects on parameters of mental health and biomarkers of oxidative stress.
Elevated nonlinearity as an indicator of shifts in the dynamics of populations under stress

Populations occasionally experience abrupt changes, such as local extinctions, strong declines in abundance or transitions from stable dynamics to strongly irregular fluctuations. Although most of these changes have important ecological and at times economic implications, they remain notoriously difficult to detect in advance. Here, we study changes in the stability of populations under stress across a variety of transitions. Using a Ricker-type model, we simulate shifts from stable point equilibrium dynamics to cyclic and irregular boom–bust oscillations as well as abrupt shifts between alternative attractors. Our aim is to infer the loss of population stability before such shifts based on changes in nonlinearity of population dynamics. We measure nonlinearity by comparing forecast performance between linear and nonlinear models fitted on reconstructed attractors directly from observed time series. We compare nonlinearity to other suggested leading indicators of instability (variance and autocorrelation). We find that nonlinearity and variance increase in a similar way prior to the shifts. By contrast, autocorrelation is strongly affected by oscillations. Finally, we test these theoretical patterns in datasets of fisheries populations. Our results suggest that elevated nonlinearity could be used as an additional indicator to infer changes in the dynamics of populations under stress.
Practical Issues of Action-Conditioned Next Image Prediction

The problem of action-conditioned image prediction in robotics is to predict the expected next frame given the current camera frame the robot observes and the action it selects. We provide the first comparison of two recent popular models, Convolutional Dynamic Neural Advection (CDNA) (6) and a feedforward model (15), especially for image prediction on cars. Our major finding is that action tiling encoding is the most important factor leading to the remarkable performance of the CDNA model. We present a light-weight model by action tiling encoding which has a single-decoder feedforward architecture same as (15). On a real driving dataset, the CDNA model achieves $0.3986 \times 10^{-3}$ MSE and 0.9836 Structure SIMilarity (SSIM) with a network size of about 12.6 million parameters. With a small network of fewer than 1 million parameters, our new model achieves a comparable performance to CDNA at $0.3613\times 10^{-3}$ MSE and 0.9633 SSIM. Our model requires less memory, is more computationally efficient and more advantageous to be used inside self-driving vehicles.
Racial/ethnic disparities in delayed HIV diagnosis among men who have sex with men, Florida, 2000–2014

ABSTRACT Only about 85% of men who have sex with men (MSM) with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have been tested for and diagnosed with HIV. Racial/ethnic disparities in HIV risk and HIV care outcomes exist within MSM. We examined racial/ethnic disparities in delayed HIV diagnosis among MSM. Males aged ≥13 reported to the Florida Enhanced HIV/AIDS Reporting System 2000–2014 with a reported HIV transmission mode of MSM were analyzed. We defined delayed HIV diagnosis as an AIDS diagnosis within three months of the HIV diagnosis. Multilevel logistic regressions were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aOR). Of 39,301 MSM, 27% were diagnosed late. After controlling for individual factors, neighborhood socioeconomic status, and rural–urban residence, non-Latino Black MSM had higher odds of delayed diagnosis compared with non-Latino White MSM (aOR 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08–1.23). Foreign birth compared with US birth was a risk factor for Black MSM (aOR 1.27, 95% CI 1.12–1.44), but a protective factor for White MSM (aOR 0.77, 95% CI 0.68–0.87). Rural residence was a risk for Black MSM (aOR 1.79, 95% CI 1.36–2.35) and Latino MSM (aOR 1.87, 95% CI 1.24–2.84), but not for White MSM (aOR 1.26, 95% CI 0.99–1.60). HIV testing barriers particularly affect non-Latino Black MSM. Social and/or structural barriers to testing in rural communities may be significantly contributing to delayed HIV diagnosis among minority MSM.
Context-Restricted Indifferentiability: Generalizing UCE and Implications on the Soundness of Hash-Function Constructions

Understanding how hash functions can be used in a sound manner within cryptographic protocols, as well as how they can be constructed in a sound manner from compression functions, are two important problems in cryptography with a long history. Two approaches towards solving the first problem are the random oracle model (ROM) methodology and the UCE framework, and an approach to solving the second problem is the indifferentiability framework. This paper revisits the two problems and the above approaches and makes three contributions. First, indifferentiability, which comes with a composition theorem, is generalized to context-restricted indifferentiability (CRI) to capture settings that compose only in a restricted context. Second, we introduce a new composable notion based on CRI, called RO-CRI, to capture the security of hash functions. We then prove that a non-interactive version of RO-CRI is equivalent to the UCE framework, and therefore RO-CRI leads to natural interactive generalizations of existing UCE families. Two generalizations of split UCE-security, called strong-split CRI-security and repeated-split CRI-security, are introduced. Third, new, more fine-grained soundness properties for hash function constructions are proposed which go beyond collision-resistance and indifferentiability guarantees. As a concrete result, a new soundness property of the Merkle–Damgård construction is shown: If the compression function is strong-split CRI-secure, then the overall hash function is split secure. The proof makes use of a new lemma on min-entropy splitting which may be of independent interest.
Prion-like proteins and their computational identification in proteomes

ABSTRACT Introduction: The aberrant or misfolded forms of the prion protein have been described as the causative agents of rare transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. In addition, proteins associated with frequently occurring neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, are shown to share prion-like properties and to spread the disease in the brain. Areas covered: Interest in the prion phenomenon has crystallized in a series of computational methods aimed at uncovering prion-like proteins at the proteome level. These programs rely on the identification of sequence signatures similar to those of yeast prions, whose structural conversion is driven by specific domains enriched in glutamine/asparagine residues. A myriad of prion-like candidates, similar to those in yeast, are predicted to exist in organisms across all kingdoms of life. We review here the role of prions, prionoids and prion-like proteins in health and disease, with a special focus on the algorithms and databases developed for their prediction and classification. Expert commentary: Computational approaches provide novel insights into prion-like protein functions, their regulation and their role in disease.
Tensile strength characterization of low-temperature fusion-bonded silicon wafers

Silicon fusion bonding was investigated with emphasis on the low temperature regime. For (100) p-type wafers with and without thermally oxidized surfaces the optimum process conditions with respect to surface preparation and gas ambient were established. H2SO4/H2O2 and hot HNO3 were found to be best suited for bonding blank/blank (without thermal oxide) and oxidized wafers, respectively. Direct measurements of bond tensile strength were made on a computer-controlled test machine. The temperature and time dependence of the bond tensile strength was determined. If the best possible clean-room conditions during processing are observed, wafers without thermal oxide, i.e. with only a chemical oxide of 25 AA thickness due to surface preparation, exhibit a measured bond tensile strength in excess of 240 kp cm-2 at a bonding temperature of only 200 degrees C and a bonding time of 4 h. This value cannot be improved by increasing the bonding temperature. If one or both surfaces are thermally oxidized the bond tensile strength is only 20% of this value. Bond tensile strength for oxidized surfaces, however, can be improved at higher temperatures to reach the high values as found for blank wafers.
Preparation and properties of nano-TiO2 modified interior wall paint

传统的内部墙油漆的修正借助于作为功能的颜料增加 nano-TiO2 被执行。 由调整分散剂的剂量， nano 粒子能同类地在油漆被驱散。 与实验的二个方面：nano-TiO2 和颜料体积集中(PVC ) 的剂量，油漆明确的表达能被优化，它的性质例如坚硬，擦洗抵抗，存储稳定性，对比比率和注释能被改进。 最后，有高效和空气纯化的内部墙油漆被准备。 它甲醛降级的特性将在下一篇文章被讨论。