Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a New Bioartificial Liver Using a Porcine Autologous Biomatrix as Hepatocyte Support

Long-term maintenance of hepatocyte viability and differentiated function expression is crucial for bioartificial liver support. The maintenance of hepatocyte function in a bioreactor is still a problem. A major advance was the recognition that hepatocytes in attachment cultures can maintain their differentiation longer. To restore hepatocyte polarity and prolong their function, we developed a new bioreactor with a cross-flow geometry configuration and an original hepatocyte extracellular autologous biomatrix (Porcine Bio-Matrix) support. To test this new bioreactor, we compared it with a standard bioartificial liver cartridge in a suitable surgical model of acute liver failure in pigs. In our model, we performed a total hepatectomy, followed by partial liver transplantation after an 18 hour anhepatic phase. The results showed that the bioreactor containing the biomatrix was able to bridge the animal to transplantation and to sustain the transplanted liver until all function recovered (80% of animals survived, p = 0.0027). No animal survived more than 24 hours after liver transplantation in the group treated with the traditional bioartificial liver, whereas hepatocyte viability on the Porcine Bio-Matrix was 65% after 12 hours of treatment. The results suggest that our biomatrix is a suitable cell support and guarantees long-term maintenance of metabolic activity of hepatocytes. Further studies are needed, but the results obtained with this new three-dimensional bioreactor are promising, and its potential is attractive.
A Topic Model for Linked Documents and Update Rules for its Estimation

The latent topic model plays an important role in the unsupervised learning from a corpus, which provides a probabilistic interpretation of the corpus in terms of the latent topic space. An underpinning assumption which most of the topic models are based on is that the documents are assumed to be independent of each other. However, this assumption does not hold true in reality and the relations among the documents are available in different ways, such as the citation relations among the research papers. To address this limitation, in this paper we present a Bernoulli Process Topic (BPT) model, where the interdependence among the documents is modeled by a random Bernoulli process. In the BPT model a document is modeled as a distribution over topics that is a mixture of the distributions associated with the related documents. Although BPT aims at obtaining a better document modeling by incorporating the relations among the documents, it could also be applied to many applications including detecting the topics from corpora and clustering the documents. We apply the BPT model to several document collections and the experimental comparisons against several state-of-the-art approaches demonstrate the promising performance.
The Osteogenic Potential of Mesoporous Bioglasses/Silk and Non-Mesoporous Bioglasses/Silk Scaffolds in Ovariectomized Rats: In vitro and In vivo Evaluation

Silk-based scaffolds have been introduced to bone tissue regeneration for years, however, their local therapeutic efficency in bone metabolic disease condition has been seldom reported. According to our previous report, mesoporous bioactive glass (MBG)/silk scaffolds exhibits superior in vitro bioactivity and in vivo osteogenic properties compared to non-mesoporous bioactive glass (BG)/silk scaffolds, but no information could be found about their efficiency in osteoporotic (OVX) environment. This study investigated a biomaterial-based approach for improving MSCs behavior in vitro, and accelerating OVX defect healing by using 3D BG/silk and MBG/silk scaffolds, and pure silk scaffolds as control. The results of SEM, CCK-8 assay and quantitative ALP activity showed that MBG/silk scaffolds can improve attachment, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of both O-MSCs and sham control. In vivo therapeutic efficiency was evaluated by μCT analysis, hematoxylin and eosin staining, safranin O staining and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase, indicating accelerated bone formation with compatible scaffold degradation and reduced osteoclastic response of defect healing in OVX rats after 2 and 4 weeks treatment, with a rank order of MBG/silk > BG/silk > silk group. Immunohistochemical markers of COL I, OPN, BSP and OCN also revealed that MBG/silk scaffolds can better induce accelerated collagen and non-collagen matrix production. The findings of this study suggest that MBG/silk scaffolds provide a better environment for cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation, and act as potential substitute for treating local osteoporotic defects.
Throughput optimization with cooperative spectrum sensing in cognitive radio network

In cognitive radio (CR) network spectrum sensing is an important issue. Cooperative spectrum sensing improves the detection probability. The accuracy in taking decision about the presence of primary user (PU) depends on sensing time and number of CR users involving in cooperation. A CR network can be efficient if it performs the detection process with minimum error probability and at the same time it maximizes its overall throughput. We have investigated the optimal number of CRs required in cooperation to minimize the total error. Throughput of the CR network has been investigated with respect to sensing time. The performance of the network has been investigated in terms of maximum throughput for optimal number of CR users.
Polymerization cycles on hardness and surface gloss of denture bases

The aim of this study was to evaluate di ff erent polymerization cycles on the hardness and surface gloss of acrylic resins for denture bases. Classico and Vip Cril Plus acrylic resins samples were made in dental stone molds. Powder-liquid ratio and resin manipulation were according to the manufacturers’ instructions, and the resulting mass pressed in metallic fl asks. The polymerization cycles were A - hot water bath at 74°C for 9 hours; B - hot water bath at 74°C for 8 hours + 100°C for 1 hour, and C - hot water bath at 74°C for 2 hours + 100°C for 1 hour. After polymerization, the samples were de fl asked and submitted to fi nishing and polishing procedures, and stored in water at 37°C for 24 hours . A hardness indenter with load of 25 gf for 10 s evaluated the Knoop hardness values. A gloss meter evaluated the surface gloss using a light incidence of 60°. Data were submitted to ANOVA and Tukey’s test ( α = 0.05). Hardness: There were signi fi cant di ff erences between resins regardless of polymerization cycles (Classico = 22.28 and Vip Cril Plus = 25.83). Signi fic ant di ff erences occurred among polymerization cycles regardless of resins (A = 25.83, B = 24.64 and C = 21.73). There was similarity for the resin and cycle interaction (Classico: A = 24.51, B = 22.68 and C = 19.65; Vip Cril Plus: A = 27.15, B = 26.53 and C = 23.81). Surface gloss. Signi fi cant di ff erences were shown between resins regardless of polymerization cycle (Classico = 57.26 and Vip Cril Plus = 49.38) and between polymerization cycles regardless of resin (A = 48.82, B = 53.46 and C = 57.68). Statistical di ff erences were also found for the resin and cycle interaction (Classico: A = 52.32, B = 63.79 and C = 55.67; Vip Cril Plus: A = 45.32, B = 43.14 and C = 59.69). Di ff erent polymerization cycles showed similar e ff ects on hardness and di ff erent e ff ects on the surface gloss of denture base acrylic resins.
Toward knowledge-free induction of machine-readable dictionaries

Machine-readable dictionaries (MRDs) have found uses in many natural language tasks. Current MRDs are typically generated either by the expensive processes of digitization from hard-copy dictionaries or construction by hand. It would be valuable if MRDs could be built automatically from a corpus of text. Moreover, if induction were knowledge free, it could be applied across ages, across domains, and perhaps even to non-language problems. In this research, we focus on three major subtasks of language-independent, near-knowledge-free induction of MRDs. In particular, we concentrate on inducing dictionary headwords, identifying language morphologies, and clustering and labeling parts of speech. However, unlike past research efforts, our algorithms make use of no language-specific information and most, in fact, are completely knowledge-free. To induce dictionary headwords, we identify nine currently available algorithm for multiword unit selection and, based on extensive comparisons to both static and dynamic gold standards, we isolate the algorithms that are best for our task. We then explore semantic non-compositionality and non-substitutivity as means of improving performance. We find that non-substitutivity provides modest improvements. Since not all languages are amenable to multiword unit processing, we also identify segmentation strategies and show hoe to enhance those strategies. Next we introduce a new knowledge-free methodology for automatic acquisition of morphology. This approach makes use of character trees, singular value decomposition, induced syntactic constraints, orthographic information, and transitivity. We measure its performance in German, Dutch, and English and show that it outperforms other existing knowledge-free algorithms. Using this morphological information and distributional information, we introduce a novel approach to clustering words based on syntactic usage. We proceed to automatically affix actual part-of-speech tags to those clusters without using any training data or lexicons. We couple language universals (our sole human input) with features extracted from the clusters and tag the clusters using a probabilistic framework. A number of algorithms already exist for finding semantic relationships. We therefore conclude by describing such algorithms and by discussing how the components we have induced could be combined with existing strategies in order to yield actual definitions.
Narrow Spectrum Kilowatt-Level MOPA Seeded By Yb-Doped Random Fiber Laser

We proposed and experimentally demonstrated an approach to achieving a narrow spectrum kilowatt-level fiber master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA). The MOPA is seeded by a narrow spectrum random laser with Yb-doped fiber gain and has the spectral broadening-free feature. The narrow spectrum property is sustained during power scaling due to the suppression of nonlinear process. The frequency and time domain of the random laser are well characterized. The proposed one-stage scheme eventually produces 1.105- and 1.073-kW output at 1064 and 1067 nm, and the 3-dB bandwidth are 0.40 and 0.47 nm, corresponding to 0.38- and 0.37-nm random laser seed, respectively. The beam quality of $\text {M}^{2}\approx 1.4$ is achieved at 1.105-kW power level, and the proposed MOPA has the potential of wavelength tunability by simply tuning the fiber Bragg grating of random laser seed.
Observation of collagen fiber structure in dermis tissue by a second-harmonic-generation microscope

Second-harmonic-generation (SHG) microscope is applied to observe collagen fiber structure in porcine dermis and mouse tendon. Difference of collagen fiber structure among different samples is clearly visualized as high contrast SHG images using a sample-scanning SHG microscope based on a transmission configuration. From comparison of the SHG image between a transmission detection mode and a reflection one, we confirm that the reflection-mode SHG imaging is also useful to observe the collagen fiber structure in the porcine dermis. Finally, we applied a laser-scanning confocal SHG microscope to optical-sectioning SHG imaging of the thick porcine dermis every 10-μm depth and confirmed that the collagen fiber structure in the dermis is spatially evolved along the depth direction. The proposed method will be a powerful tool for in vivo measurement of human dermis to monitor skin diseases and cosmetics.
Ultrasound assisted organic pigment dispersion: advantages of ultrasound method over conventional method

Purpose – The present work aims to deal with ultrasound-assisted organic pigment (phthalocyanine blue and green) dispersion and its comparison with the conventional approach. Design/methodology/approach – Ultrasound is expected to give beneficial results based on the strong shear forces generated by cavitational effects. The dispersion quality for preparation using an ultrasound-based method has been compared with dispersion obtained using high-speed dispersion mill. Effects of different operating parameters such as probe diameter and use of surfactants on the physical properties of dispersion and the colour strength have been investigated. Calculations for the energy requirement for two approaches have also been presented. Findings – The use of sodium dodecyl sulphate and Tween 80 surfactants shows better performance in terms of the colour properties of dispersion prepared in water and organic solvent, respectively. Ultrasound gives better dispersion quality as compared to the conventional approach. Orig.
Effects of aluminum doping concentrations on radiation sensitivity of erbium-doped fibers

The dependence of radiation induced attenuation (RIA) on Al concentrations was investigated for γ-irradiated EDFs doped with different Er, Al and Ge concentrations. The dependence of RIA on dose was found well fitted by power law, and linear dependence of adjusted α on Al concentrations was verified. When the Al concentration was as low as 0.11%, an unknown RIA band with absorption peak around 800 nm was observed, which might be related to Erbium ions.
Distributed low-overhead energy-efficient routing for sensor networks via topology management and path diversity

Conserving energy has been known as the most significant problem in all facets of sensor network operation. Particularly in routing, researchers were concerned with the problems of using topology control to achieve power efficient routes, as well as finding alternate routes to extend the lifetime of the network. Current schemes though, fail in one or more of the following areas: 1) provide solutions that treat both the aforementioned problems, 2) provide distributed algorithms, 3) account for the overhead of the algorithms 4) compare the results with theoretically computed optimums, 5) account for the effect of the MAC layer. We propose and evaluate a unicast routing algorithm that exploits the ability of the nodes to transmit at multiple power levels. It can find the optimal power-efficient route between two nodes, with less energy and time overheads than the distributed Bellman-Ford algorithm, as well as use alternate routes to extend the total lifetime of the network, up to 87% of the theoretical optimum lifetime, taking into account all overheads. Furthermore, we address many practical considerations in the context of sensor networks. We built our case around three main pillars: i) a distributed algorithm, ii) extensive evaluation of the overhead of the algorithm, and iii) account for the effect of the MAC layer.
Navigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Description

Surgical management of brain tumors involves resecting the brain tumor and preserving essential brain function. “Mapping” of brain functions, such as body movement and language, is considered to be most accurately achieved with DCS, an intraoperative procedure that increases operating time and requires a wide surgical opening. Even if not completely accurate compared to DCS, preoperative techniques that map brain functions may aid in planning the extent of resection and the operative approach. Although DCS is still usually performed to confirm the brain locations associated with specific functions, preoperative mapping techniques may provide useful information that improves patient outcomes.
Calcium and Metabolic Oscillations in Pancreatic Islets: Who's Driving the Bus?

Pancreatic islets exhibit bursting oscillations in response to elevated blood glucose. These oscillations are accompanied by oscillations in the free cytosolic Ca2+ concentration (Cac ), which drives pulses of insulin secretion. Both islet Ca2+ and metabolism oscillate, but there is some debate about their interrelationship. Recent experimental data show that metabolic oscillations in some cases persist after the addition of diazoxide (Dz), which opens K(ATP) channels, hyperpolarizing β-cells and preventing Ca2+ entry and Ca2+ oscillations. Further, in some islets in which metabolic oscillations were eliminated with Dz, increasing the cytosolic Ca2+ concentration by the addition of KCl could restart the metabolic oscillations. Here we address why metabolic oscillations persist in some islets but not others, and why raising Cac restarts oscillations in some islets but not others. We answer these questions using the dual oscillator model (DOM) for pancreatic islets. The DOM can reproduce the experimental data and shows that the model supports two different mechanisms for slow metabolic oscillations, one that requires calcium oscillations and one that does not.
Shared control between human and machine: haptic display of automation during manual control of vehicle heading

In this paper, a paradigm for shared control is described in which a machine's manual control interface is motorized to allow a human and an automatic controller to simultaneously exert control. The manual interface becomes a haptic display, relaying information to the human about the intentions of the automatic controller while retaining its role as a manual control interface. The human may express his control intentions in a way that either overrides the automation or conforms to it. The automatic controller, by design, aims to create images in the mind of the human of fixtures in the shared workspace that can be incorporated into efficient task completion strategies. The fixtures are animated under the guidance of an algorithm designed to automate part of the human/machine task. Results are presented from 2 experiments in which 11 subjects completed a path following task using a motorized steering wheel on a fixed-base driving simulator. These results indicate that the haptic assist through the steering wheel improves lane keeping by at least 30% reduces visual demand by 29% (p<0.000! ) and improves reaction time by 18 ms (p=0.0009).
ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF DIFFERENT EXTRACT OF MORINGA OLEIFERA LEAVES – AN IN-VITRO STUDY Research

Moringa oleifera is a common plant and known for various medicinal properties. The research work was conducted to investigate the in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of aqueous, ethanolic and methanolic extract of leaf Moringa oleifera. In-vitro antimicrobial activity was performed by disc diffusion method in MH agar medium and MIC test. The extract showed significant effect on the tested organisms. The methanolic extract showed maximum zone of inhibition against S.aureus (23.6±1.15), whereas aqueous extract showed lowest against B.subtilis (12.0±1.73). Methanolic extract showed maximum relative percentage inhibition against S.aureus (90.34 %) and aqueous extract showed lowest relative percentage inhibition against B.subtilis (27.86 %). Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) was measured by tube dilution method. Extract showed 2.4 mg/ml for B.subtilis, E.coli and 7.4 mg/ml MIC values for S.aureus. The antioxidant activities of different concentrations of methanol extracts of the leaves were determined by the three assay techniques i.e. DPPH radical scavenging assay, Nitric oxide scavenging assay, and Hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay method. Methanol extract of leaves has shown effective antioxidant activity in all assay techniques. The results obtained in the present study indicate that the leaves of Moringa oleifera are a potential source of natural antibacterial and antioxidants.
Nutritional Strategies to Reduce Heat Stress in Broilers and Broiler Breeders

Summary One of the most important constraints for the development of the poultry meat industry in the hotregions of the world is climate. This paper deals with certain nutritional manipulations and feedingpractices that have been found to be helpful in reducing heat stress in broilers and broiler breeders.The most important factor affecting performance in broilers subjected to high temperature is reducedfeed intake. High temperature accompanied by high humidity is more detrimental to broiler performancethan high temperature with low humidity. Nutritional manipulations, such as the addition of fat andthe reduction of excess protein are recommended. During hot periods, lower protein diets supplementedwith limiting amino acids give better results than high protein diets. Responses to amino acidsupplements differ with different dietary factors at high temperature; dietary electrolytes being one ofthem. Maintenance of both carbon dioxide and blood pH is critical to heat-stressed broilers and theaddition of ammonium chloride and potassium chloride to the drinking water to maintain this balanceis advised. The dietary electrolyte balance (DEB) is more critical at high temperature than at normaltemperature. The addition of extra vitamins and electrolytes to the drinking water is also helpful andthe use of ascorbic acid in the feed or in the drinking water has become a common practice in hotregions. Environmental temperature has an effect on carcass composition and at high temperature,meat yield, particularly breast meat is reduced.
Mechanism of Pozzolanic Reactions and Control of Alkali-Aggregate Expansion

The mechanism of pozzolanic reactions and their control of expansion caused by alkali-aggregate reaction was investigated. Mixtures of tricalcium silicate, opal, sodium hydroxide, and water having calcium oxide to silica mole ratios from 1.07 to 3.0 were prepared and reacted from seven days to four years before filtering. The solids (precipitates) were studied by X-ray diffraction to determine the phases present, and the alkali content of filtrates was obtained by chemical analysis. Results suggest that pozzolans reduce or eliminate alkali-aggregate expansion by producing additional calcium silicate hydrate and low lime calcium silicate hydrate. These hydrates can retain additional alkali, thus reducing the amount of alkali available for reaction with reactive aggregate. In order to control alkali-aggregate expansion by the addition of pozzolan, such as fly ash, results indicate that about 30% low lime fly ash is required. However, this amount could be reduced considerably, to a level as low as 20% (cement basis), if the concrete contains reactive siliceous aggregate.