Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface Composition and Corrosion Resistance of Co-Cr Alloys Containing High Chromium

Air-formed surface oxide lms on four types of Co-Cralloys were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ve types of Co-Cr alloys were anodically polarized, to identify the effects of the addition of N, Mo, and W to Co-Cr alloys containing high Cr on the surface composition and corrosion resistance. Co-20Cr-15W-10Ni (ASTM F90), Co-30Cr-6Mo, Co-33Cr-5Mo-0.3N, and Co-33Cr-9W0.3N were employed for XPS and the above four alloys and another Co-30Cr-6Mo (ASTM F75) were employed for anodic polarization. The surface oxide lm on the Co-Cr alloys consisted of oxide species of Co, Cr, Mo, W and/or Ni contains a large amount of OH− with a thickness of 2.6–3.2 nm. Cations existed in the oxide as Co2+, Cr3+, Mo4+, Mo5+, Mo6+, W6+ and Ni2+. Cr and Mo are enriched and Co and Ni are depleted in the surface oxide lm. W was enriched in the case of Co-20Cr-15W-10Ni but depleted in the case of Co-33Cr-9W-0.3N. On the other hand, Cr, Mo, W and Ni were enriched and Co was depleted in the substrate alloy just under the surface oxide lm in the polished alloy. During rapid formation of the surface oxide lm, Cr was preferentially oxidized and the oxidation of Co and Ni delayed, according to the oxidation and reduction potentials of these elements. The Co-Cr alloys essentially have high localized corrosion resistance that is not easily affected by a small change of composition. Co-33Cr-5Mo-0.3N shows higher corrosion resistance compare than conventional Co-Cr alloys. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.MI201514]
Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing: A Comparative Cost Analysis of Whole-Breast Radiotherapy Versus Balloon-Based Brachytherapy in the Management of Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

PURPOSE Value in health care is defined as outcomes achieved per dollar spent, and understanding cost is critical to delivering high-value care. Traditional costing methods reflect charges rather than fundamental costs to provide a service. The more rigorous method of time-driven activity-based costing was used to compare cost between whole-breast radiotherapy (WBRT) and accelerated partial-breast irradiation (APBI) using balloon-based brachytherapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS For WBRT (25 fractions with five-fraction boost) and APBI (10 fractions twice daily), process maps were created outlining each activity from consultation to post-treatment follow up. Through staff interviews, time estimates were obtained for each activity. The capacity cost rates (CCR), defined as cost per minute, were calculated for personnel, equipment, and physical space. Total cost was calculated by multiplying the time required of each resource by its CCR. This was then summed and combined with cost of consumable materials. RESULTS The total cost for WBRT was $5,333 and comprised 56% personnel costs and 44% space/equipment costs. For APBI, the total cost was $6,941 (30% higher than WBRT) and comprised 51% personnel costs, 6% space/equipment costs, and 43% consumable materials costs. The attending physician had the highest CCR of all personnel ($4.28/min), and APBI required 24% more attending time than WBRT. The most expensive activity for APBI was balloon placement and for WBRT was computed tomography simulation. CONCLUSION APBI cost more than WBRT when using the dose/fractionation schemes analyzed. Future research should use time-driven activity-based costing to better understand cost with the aim of reducing expenditure and defining bundled payments.
C-Quad: A miniature, foldable quadruped with C-shaped compliant legs

C-Quad is an origami-inspired, foldable, miniature robot whose legs and body are all machined from one PET sheet each. The already famous compliant legs are modified such that they can be manufactured from a flat PET sheet and folded into the C-shape wanted. The compliant legs enable the miniature robot to run fast and scale obstacles with ease due to the geometry of the legs. C-Quad has four legs that are manufactured separately from the main body frame, which is also manufactured from a single PET sheet. All of its legs are actuated individually with a total of four DC motors. Despite the thin PET film, the structural rigidity and robustness of the body frame is increased by using specialized folds and locks. The manufacturing and assembly of the robot takes approximately 2.5 hours. C-Quad carries a battery, an Arduino Pro Micro control board, a bluetooth communication module, custom made encoders and commercially available IR sensors for motor speed control and motor drivers, all of which weighs 38 grams. By using very simple control strategies, it can achieve the speed of 2.7 Bodylengths/sec, can perform in-place turns and can climb over obstacles more than half of its height.
Fasting glycemia and glycated hemoglobin categories: Relationship to serum lipoprotein(a) level and disparity in 2 geographic regional groups of Turkey

Objective: The goal of the present study was to determine covariates of serum lipoprotein (Lp) (a) within fasting glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) categories, and to detect features that were different among covariates based on residence in Marmara and Central Anatolia (Marm-CA) regions or remaining 5 geographic regions of Turkey. Methods: Data of randomly-selected group of 1167 men and women (mean age 61 years) who participated in biennial surveys of 2013 and 2015 were cross-sectionally analyzed in 6 categories. Results: In multiple linear regression analysis of nondiabetic women, homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) index score was inversely associated with Lp(a) (β coefficient 0.49; p=0.001); this was not true for men. In the whole sample, Lp(a) was significantly positively associated with female sex and with serum creatinine, and inversely in each sex with HOMA index (β coefficient 0.63; p<0.001). Linear models within separate categories showed significant associations of Lp(a) only in individuals with no evidence of diabetes other than HbA1c >6.5%: in women, positive association with total cholesterol and inverse relationship with creatinine were found, and in men, positive association with apolipoprotein (apo) B was determined. Similar age, diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, triglyceride, uric acid, and C-reactive protein values were obtained from participants of 2 regional groups. Residents of the Marm-CA region who were nondiabetic exhibited significantly (by 23%) lower serum Lp(a) among individuals with HbA1c ≥5.7%, significantly higher HOMA index score, concentrations of apoB, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Conclusion: Hallmark of prediabetic and diabetic glycemia/HbA1c categories seems to be an independent inverse association between Lp(a) protein (yet not of apoB) and HOMA score, this being primarily so in residents of Marm-CA region.
Gene expression programming with a local search operator

Gene expression programming (GEP) is one of the newest evolutionary algorithms, the linear model of genetic programming that have been much attention to it, in recent years. In this article this algorithm and memetic algorithms are discussed. Here we are tried to improve its efficiency by combining gene expression programming with a local search method. The proposed algorithm called GEP-LS and it is applicable for all problems in the field of evolutionary computation. Random Mutation Hill-Climbing (RMHC) and Simulated Annealing (SA) methods are separately used to implement local search and their results are compared with each other. Finally, a comparison with the conventional gene expression programming algorithm is performed. These comparisons is performed on problems of symbolic regression, sequence induction with constants creation and robotic planning. The results show that performance of the proposed algorithm with RMHC method is relatively better than other algorithms and is able to solve all problems used here with higher accuracy and lower error.
Quantitative Analysis of Ternary Alloy's Content By means of Laser Induced Plasma Emission Spectroscopy

A quantitative elemental analysis of ternary alloy's content was carried out with laser induced plasma emission spectroscopy. An energetic Nd: glass laser have been focused on a set of alloy targets at reduced pressure. The intensity of UV and visible emission produced from laser-induced plasma was measured using ultra-high sensitive photon detection and counting system of high signal-to-noise ratio. Ternary alloys of Sn-Bi-Pb were used with different composition and the observed photon emission intensity is found to be nonlinearly related to the concentration of the alloy's content. The results were tested and demonstrated that the present sensitive spectrometer can be employed for rapid online estimation of the fractional content of ternary alloys with high accuracy.
Influence of Altered Gut Microbiota Composition on Aging and Aging-Related Diseases

The gut microbiota forms a large community that coexists with all species, including humans and rodents. Genome projects have been conducted by many researchers in nearly every country to better understand and treat diseases that lead to death in humans. However, the gut microbiota is known as a “second genome” because it includes microbes, genomic DNA, proteins, and metabolites. A large number of studies have revealed the importance of the gut microbiota. In elderly people, the diversity of the gut microbiota is reduced and there is an increased incidence of degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and decreased cognitive and memory functions. However, the administration of pre/probiotics can help to improve the symptoms of these diseases. Therefore, we believe that the gut microbiota is important for maintaining homeostasis and diversity, as well as for avoiding gastrointestinal tract-derived diseases and improving health in the elderly population.
Rogue Signs: Deceiving Traffic Sign Recognition with Malicious Ads and Logos

We propose a new real-world attack against the computer vision based systems of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Our novel Sign Embedding attack exploits the concept of adversarial examples to modify innocuous signs and advertisements in the environment such that they are classified as the adversary's desired traffic sign with high confidence. Our attack greatly expands the scope of the threat posed to AVs since adversaries are no longer restricted to just modifying existing traffic signs as in previous work. Our attack pipeline generates adversarial samples which are robust to the environmental conditions and noisy image transformations present in the physical world. We ensure this by including a variety of possible image transformations in the optimization problem used to generate adversarial samples. We verify the robustness of the adversarial samples by printing them out and carrying out drive-by tests simulating the conditions under which image capture would occur in a real-world scenario. We experimented with physical attack samples for different distances, lighting conditions, and camera angles. In addition, extensive evaluations were carried out in the virtual setting for a variety of image transformations. The adversarial samples generated using our method have adversarial success rates in excess of 95% in the physical as well as virtual settings.
Hot‐Pressed Glass Matrix Composites Containing Pyrochlore Phase Particles for Nuclear Waste Encapsulation

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From rapalogs to anti-aging formula

Inhibitors of mTOR, including clinically available rapalogs such as rapamycin (Sirolimus) and Everolimus, are gerosuppressants, which suppress cellular senescence. Rapamycin slows aging and extends life span in a variety of species from worm to mammals. Rapalogs can prevent age-related diseases, including cancer, atherosclerosis, obesity, neurodegeneration and retinopathy and potentially rejuvenate stem cells, immunity and metabolism. Here, I further suggest how rapamycin can be combined with metformin, inhibitors of angiotensin II signaling (Losartan, Lisinopril), statins (simvastatin, atorvastatin), propranolol, aspirin and a PDE5 inhibitor. Rational combinations of these drugs with physical exercise and an anti-aging diet (Koschei formula) can maximize their anti-aging effects and decrease side effects.
PISA finger: A novel parallel and self-adaptive underactuated finger with a single chain transmission mechanism

The traditional underactuated robot hand has only one grasping mode. Underactuated robot hand with combination grasping mode mostly adopts double chain transmission mechanism, which are corresponding to two kinds of grasping mode respectively. The double chain transmission mechanism has the disadvantages of complex system and large internal friction. This paper presents a novel design of a parallel and self-adaptive underactuated robot finger with a single chain transmission mechanism, called PISA finger. The method uses two link rod, a slider, a limit, a block and a spring to achieve using a single motor to drive a multiple finger phalanges. The PISA finger can realized the pinching grasp or enveloping grasp. The composition and movement process of the PISA finger are introduced in detail, and its internal structure is theoretically analyzed. The PISA finger has the receiver on the proximal phalanges, the object pushes the receiver to drive the distal phalange to envelop the object. The PISA finger parameter model is established to analyze the force condition of the receiver. Simulation and experimental results show that the PISA finger can automatically switch the grasping mode according to the different positions and shapes of the object so as to achieve stable grasping. The PISA hand is suitable for both industry and home application.
An intelligent system for forex trading: Hybrid ANN with GARCH and intrinsic mode functions

Time series forecasting can be viewed as an indispensable topic under discussion in a wide range of fields including, medicine, engineering, finance and economics, etc. As assumed by the conventional time series models static environmental conditions are rare to exist in real life situations. This study addressed this issue in case of financial markets by proposing an intelligent decision support system for Forex (Foreign Exchange) trading which can be used even under dynamic environmental conditions. The study proposes to identify clusters of time points relevant to dynamic environments defined by the release of scheduled news items. Then the proposed system utilizes the relevant database of time points to derive the forecast. The proposed intelligent system is supported with a hybrid neural network approach which combines generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) volatility estimates and intrinsic mode functions derived from Empirical Mode Decomposition. The incorporation of clustering of time points found significance in the forecasting process utilized in the proposed intelligent system over the method which ignores clustering. Moreover, the proposed system is efficient enough in delivering the trading decision yielding instant profitable opportunities, 57% of times and aggregated profit over hundred trading positions remained positive at almost all the time points.
LogSec: adaptive protection for the wild wild web

Today, a Web browser is a user's gateway to a multitude of Web applications, each with its own balance between confidentiality and integrity versus cross-application content sharing. Modern Web browsers apply the same permissive security policy to all content regardless of its demand for security -- a behavior that enables attacks such as cross-site request forgery (CSRF) or sidejacking. To defend against such attacks, existing countermeasures enforce overly strict policies, which expose incompatibilities with real-world Web applications. As a consequence, users get annoyed by malfunctions. In this paper, we show how browser behavior can be adapted based on the user's authentication status. The browser can enforce enhanced security policies, if necessary, and permit modern communication features, if possible. Our approach mitigates CSRF, session hijacking, sidejacking, and session fixation attacks. We present the implementation as a browser extension, named LogSec, that passively detects the user's authentication status without server-side support and is transparent for the user.
High rates of exposure to tuberculosis patients among HIV-infected health care workers in Botswana.

OBJECTIVE To compare daily exposure to tuberculosis (TB) patients between HIV-infected and non-HIV-infected health care workers (HCWs), and examine the uptake of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT) among HIV-infected HCWs in Botswana. DESIGN We conducted a cross-sectional study among HCWs in 30 hospitals and clinics. We determined self-reported exposure frequency to TB patients and HIV status through in-person interviews. HCWs with unknown or negative HIV status were offered rapid HIV testing. Multivariable Poisson regression modeling with robust variance was used to estimate the association between HIV status and daily exposure to TB patients. RESULTS Of 1877 participants enrolled, 1388 (73.9%) with complete data were included in this study. Among 277 (20.0%) HIV-infected participants, 14.3% were newly diagnosed, 57.8% were on ART, and 34.3% reported previously receiving IPT. Daily exposure to TB patients was reported by respectively 48.4% and 52.9% of HIV-infected and non-infected participants. After adjusting for sex, age, occupation, and department, the rates of daily TB exposure remained similar between HIV-infected and non-HIV-infected participants (prevalence ratio 0.96, 95%CI 0.85-1.08). CONCLUSIONS We found similar rates of exposure to TB patients between HIV-infected and non-HIV-infected HCWs. Improved efforts are needed to reduce nosocomial exposure to TB among HIV-infected HCWs.
Comparison of Routing Protocol in MANETs *

AOMDV is widely used protocol these days. But, its permissive for link failure. It takes the necessary action after detecting the link failure thus holding/queuing packets till new route is discovered after detecting failure in existing link. Early Link Failure DetectionAOMDV (ELFDAOMDV) keeps on monitoring distance between two mobile nodes. As soon distance between two nodes crosses specified threshold then it sends a request to source node to start discovering new route but continues to transfer data packets as the link is still up. In most of the cases, new route is discovered (if some exists) before link failure. Then using the intelligence data packets are automatically shifted to this newly discovered route, thus preventing the link failure. Hence, the algorithm is named as Early Link Failure Detection -
Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres Mediated by Mitotic DNA Synthesis Engages Break-Induced Replication Processes

ABSTRACT Alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) is a telomerase-independent telomere maintenance mechanism that occurs in a subset of cancers. By analyzing telomerase-positive cells and their human TERC knockout-derived ALT human cell lines, we show that ALT cells harbor more fragile telomeres representing telomere replication problems. ALT-associated replication defects trigger mitotic DNA synthesis (MiDAS) at telomeres in a RAD52-dependent, but RAD51-independent, manner. Telomeric MiDAS is a conservative DNA synthesis process, potentially mediated by break-induced replication, similar to type II ALT survivors in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Replication stresses induced by ectopic oncogenic expression of cyclin E, G-quadruplexes, or R-loop formation facilitate the ALT pathway and lead to telomere clustering, a hallmark of ALT cancers. The TIMELESS/TIPIN complex suppresses telomere clustering and telomeric MiDAS, whereas the SMC5/6 complex promotes them. In summary, ALT cells exhibit more telomere replication defects that result in persistent DNA damage responses at telomeres, leading to the engagement of telomeric MiDAS (spontaneous mitotic telomere synthesis) that is triggered by DNA replication stress, a potential driver of genomic duplications in cancer.
Context-Aware Deep Feature Compression for High-Speed Visual Tracking

We propose a new context-aware correlation filter based tracking framework to achieve both high computational speed and state-of-the-art performance among real-time trackers. The major contribution to the high computational speed lies in the proposed deep feature compression that is achieved by a context-aware scheme utilizing multiple expert auto-encoders; a context in our framework refers to the coarse category of the tracking target according to appearance patterns. In the pre-training phase, one expert auto-encoder is trained per category. In the tracking phase, the best expert auto-encoder is selected for a given target, and only this auto-encoder is used. To achieve high tracking performance with the compressed feature map, we introduce extrinsic denoising processes and a new orthogonality loss term for pre-training and fine-tuning of the expert autoencoders. We validate the proposed context-aware framework through a number of experiments, where our method achieves a comparable performance to state-of-the-art trackers which cannot run in real-time, while running at a significantly fast speed of over 100 fps.
A Methodology to Perform Semi-automatic Distributed EHR Database Queries

The proliferation of electronic health databases has resulted in the existence of a wide collection of diversified clinical digital data. These data are fragmented over dispersed databases in different clinical silos around the world. The exploration of these electronic health records (EHRs) is essential for clinical and pharmaceutical research and, therefore, solutions for secure sharing of information across different databases are needed. Although several partial solutions have been proposed over the years, data sharing and integration has been hindered by many ethical, legal and social issues. In this paper, we present a methodology to perform semiautomatic queries over longitudinal clinical data repositories, where every data custodian maintains full control of data.
Thermal imaging and dermoscopy for detecting inflammation in frontal fibrosing alopecia

Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is an inflammatory condition of the scalp, which leads to scarring and slowly progressive recession of frontotemporal and/or frontoparietal hairline. Choice of FFA treatment is highly dependent on accurate assessment of disease phase, as medical treatments are effective only during the initial inflammatory stage.