Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pregnant women's perception of cesarean section on demand

Abstract Aims: To assess pregnant women's awareness of and attitudes towards cesarean section (CS) on demand, as well as to identify specific target groups by focusing on differences dependant on the participants' background, parity and intended mode of delivery. Methods: The study was conducted at two centers during three months. German-speaking pregnant women were invited to answer an anonymous, structured questionnaire. We compared urban vs. rural, nulliparous vs. parous and women opting for a CS vs. denying this wish, with regard to awareness and attitudes towards CS on demand. Results: Ninety-two percent of the 201 participants were aware of the possibility to deliver by CS on demand. Their sources of information were mostly print media reports, television, or friends. Pain avoidance and missing the birth experience were the main reasons for and against CS on demand, respectively. For women opting for CS on demand, traumatically-experienced previous birth and the child's well-being were other important reasons for a CS. Conclusions: Because negative birth experience appears to be decisive for pregnant women's attitude towards CS on demand and their perception of CS seems to be partly based on misconceptions, antenatal counseling should focus on these aspects.
Cooperative motion control of a formation of UAVs

We address a cooperative motion control problem for a fleet of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The problem partially decouples in two tasks: path-following and coordination control. The former requires the vehicle to converge and follow a desired path with no temporal constraints. The latter coordinates the elements in a fleet to travel on a desired pattern. In this paper we provide a practical and correctly provable solution by resorting to Lyapunov based nonlinear techniques to explicitly take into account the nonlinearities inherent to the mathematical model, graph theory to describe the inter-vehicle communication topology, and supported by Flight Variable Management System (FVMS) and Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) to evaluate the proposed method through by Software in the Loop (SiL) simulations. Moreover, coordination in a switching communication topology is achieved.
Maintaining Sentiment Polarity in Translation of User-Generated Content

Abstract The advent of social media has shaken the very foundations of how we share information, with Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin among many well-known social networking platforms that facilitate information generation and distribution. However, the maximum 140-character restriction in Twitter encourages users to (sometimes deliberately) write somewhat informally in most cases. As a result, machine translation (MT) of user-generated content (UGC) becomes much more difficult for such noisy texts. In addition to translation quality being affected, this phenomenon may also negatively impact sentiment preservation in the translation process. That is, a sentence with positive sentiment in the source language may be translated into a sentence with negative or neutral sentiment in the target language. In this paper, we analyse both sentiment preservation and MT quality per se in the context of UGC, focusing especially on whether sentiment classification helps improve sentiment preservation in MT of UGC. We build four different experimental setups for tweet translation (i) using a single MT model trained on the whole Twitter parallel corpus, (ii) using multiple MT models based on sentiment classification, (iii) using MT models including additional out-of-domain data, and (iv) adding MT models based on the phrase-table fill-up method to accompany the sentiment translation models with an aim of improving MT quality and at the same time maintaining sentiment polarity preservation. Our empirical evaluation shows that despite a slight deterioration in MT quality, our system significantly outperforms the Baseline MT system (without using sentiment classification) in terms of sentiment preservation. We also demonstrate that using an MT engine that conveys a sentiment different from that of the UGC can even worsen both the translation quality and sentiment preservation.
QoS-Aware User Association for Load Balancing in Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

In this paper, we propose a load-aware and QoS- aware user association strategy that jointly considers the load of each BS and user's achievable rate instead of only utilizing the latter, and formulate it as a network-wide weighted utility maximization problem to reveal how a heterogeneous cellular network should self-organize. This is a nonlinear mixed-integer optimization problem, and its optimum solutions are very difficult to be obtained when it is large scale one. To solve the proposed problem, we relax association indicator variables and adopt a gradient descent method to find optimum solutions. Then, each user is associated with some BS with a maximum association indicator taken from solutions of the relaxed optimization problem. Experimental results show that, compared with the best power association and range expansion association, our strategy has a lower call blocking probability and a higher load balancing level.
Towards a Flexible, Lightweight Virtualization Alternative

In recent times, two virtualization approaches have become dominant: hardware-level and operating system-level virtualization. They differ by where they draw the virtualization boundary between the virtualizing and the virtualized part of the system, resulting in vastly different properties. We argue that these two approaches are extremes in a continuum, and that boundaries in between the extremes may combine several good properties of both. We propose abstractions to make up one such new virtualization boundary, which combines hardware-level flexibility with OS-level resource sharing. We implement and evaluate a first prototype.
Acceleration Model Analyses and Imaging Algorithm for Highly Squinted Airborne Spotlight-Mode SAR with Maneuvers

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging is usually performed along a straight path. In practice, variations from the ideal caused by maneuvers with acceleration are inevitable. The main problem is the complex signal processing, particularly in the highly squinted spotlight mode. In this paper, acceleration model is analyzed in more details. Impacts are obtained how the acceleration influences the Doppler parameters and space-variant terms, including the SAR resolution and azimuth bandwidth. According to the special signal properties of the acceleration case, an approximation of the range history is made to avoid using the method of series reversion (MSR) to obtain an accurate spectrum. Based on the high-accurate spectrum, a spotlight algorithm with a modified two-step approach is given. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the modified algorithm.
Measures of User experience in a Streptococcal pharyngitis and Pneumonia Clinical Decision Support Tools

Summary Objective: To understand clinician adoption of CDS tools as this may provide important insights for the implementation and dissemination of future CDS tools. Materials and Methods: Clinicians (n=168) at a large academic center were randomized into intervention and control arms to assess the impact of strep and pneumonia CDS tools. Intervention arm data were analyzed to examine provider adoption and clinical workflow. Electronic health record data were collected on trigger location, the use of each component and whether an antibiotic, other medication or test was ordered. Frequencies were tabulated and regression analyses were used to determine the association of tool component use and physician orders. Results: The CDS tool was triggered 586 times over the study period. Diagnosis was the most frequent workflow trigger of the CDS tool (57%) as compared to chief complaint (30%) and diagnosis/antibiotic combinations (13%). Conversely, chief complaint was associated with the highest rate (83%) of triggers leading to an initiation of the CDS tool (opening the risk prediction calculator). Similar patterns were noted for initiation of the CDS bundled ordered set and completion of the entire CDS tool pathway. Completion of risk prediction and bundled order set components were associated with lower rates of antibiotic prescribing (OR 0.5; CI 0.2-1.2 and OR 0.5; CI 0.3-0.9, respectively). Discussion: Different CDS trigger points in the clinician user workflow lead to substantial variation in downstream use of the CDS tool components. These variations were important as they were associated with significant differences in antibiotic ordering. Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of workflow integration and flexibility for CDS success. Citation: Mann D, Knaus M, McCullagh L, Sofianou A, Rosen L, McGinn T, Kannry J. Measures of user experience in a streptococcal pharyngitis and pneumonia clinical decision support tools. Appl Clin Inf 2014; 5: 824–835 http://dx.doi. org/10.4338/ACI-2014-04-RA-0043
A Hybrid On-Line Signature Verification System Supporting Multi-Confidential Levels Defined by Data Mining Techniques

-On-line signature verification is used widely for user authentication in many applications. In existing systems, one confidential level is usually used as the threshold for signature verifications. This causes high false rejection ratio (FRR) to systems in which signature verification is less important, and on the other hand, high false acceptance ratio (FAR) to systems in which signature verification is more critical. Thus applying multi-confidential levels to the signature verification is crucial to solve this problem. Also, data mining technique can be used to define multi-confidential levels appropriately. This paper proposes a hybrid on-line signature verification system supporting multi-confidential levels defined by data mining techniques.
Android botnets on the rise: Trends and characteristics

Smartphones are the latest technology trend of the 21st century. Today's social expectation of always staying connected and the need for an increase in productivity are the reasons for the increase in smartphone usage. One of the leaders of the smartphone evolution is Google's Android Operating System (OS). The openness of the design and the ease of customizing are the aspects that are placing Android ahead of the other smartphone OSs. Such popularity has not only led to an increase in Android usage but also to the rise of Android malware. Although such malware is not having a significant impact on the popularity of Android smartphones, it is however creating new possibilities for threats. One such threat is the impact of botnets on Android smartphones. Recently, malware has surfaced that revealed specific characteristics relating to traditional botnet activities. Malware such as Geinimi, Pjapps, DroidDream, and RootSmart all display traditional botnet functionalities. These malicious applications show that Android botnets is a reality. From a security perspective it is important to understand the underlying structure of an Android botnet. This paper evaluates Android malware with the purpose of identifying specific trends and characteristics relating to botnet behaviour. The botnet trends and characteristics are detected by a comprehensive literature study of well-known Android malware applications. The identified characteristics are then further explored in terms of the Android Botnet Development Model and the Android Botnet Discovery Process. The common identified trends and characteristics aid the understanding of Android botnet activities as well as the possible discovery of an Android bot.
Role of vascular endothelial growth factor in the pathophysiology of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in two rodent models

The pathophysiology of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) should be approached as a multifactorial process. In several stages of NASH, a link between disease progression and hepatic microvasculature changes can be made. In this study we investigated the role of angiogenesis in two mouse models for NASH, and the effect of a preventive and therapeutic antiangiogenic treatment in a diet‐induced mouse model for NASH. Protein and RNA levels of angiogenic and inflammatory factors were significantly up‐regulated in the liver of C56BL/6 and db/db mice with NASH at different timepoints. To examine the effect of angiogenic factors on the disease progression of NASH, a prevention and treatment study was set up, blocking the placental growth factor (PlGF) or vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). Our study showed that treatment prevents the progression of NASH by attenuating steatosis and inflammation, both in a preventive and therapeutic setting, thereby confirming the hypothesis that angiogenic factors play an early role in the disease progression from steatosis to NASH. Anti‐PlGF (αPlGF) did not significantly improve liver histology. Vascular corrosion casting showed a more disrupted liver vasculature in mice with NASH compared to controls. Treatment with αVEGFR2 showed an improvement of the liver vasculature. Moreover, fat‐laden primary hepatocytes treated with αVEGFR2 stored significantly less lipids. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that there is an increased expression of angiogenic factors in the liver in different mouse models for NASH. We found that VEGFR2 blockage attenuates steatosis and inflammation in a diet‐induced mouse model for NASH in a preventive and therapeutic setting. Our findings warrant further investigation of the role of angiogenesis in the pathophysiology in NASH. (HEPATOLOGY 2013)
Confronting Climate Change Challenges to Dryland Cereal Production: A Call for Collaborative, Transdisciplinary Research, and Producer Engagement

Semi-arid cereal systems face challenges worldwide that are driven by ongoing and projected climate change. These challenges include ensuring cropping system resilience and productivity under changing water and temperature regimes while reversing soil degradation, reducing crop susceptibility to pests, pathogens and weed competition, and exploiting genetic resources to develop cultivars with resilience to climate stresses and improved compatibility with cropping system innovations. Meeting these interdependent challenges requires transdisciplinary efforts that integrate knowledge across many scientific domains. The USDA-NIFA-funded coordinated agricultural project, “Regional Approaches to Climate Change for Pacific Northwest Agriculture” (REACCH), employed this transdisciplinary approach to address climate change and sustainability challenges for rain-fed cereal-based systems in the semi-arid intermountain Pacific Northwest. To engage with and contribute to similar efforts globally, REACCH sponsored a workshop “Transitioning Cereal Systems to Adapt to Climate Change” (TCSACC) in November 2015. Participants from 17 countries and five continents with expertise in agronomy, crop physiology, crop modeling, crop protection, breeding and genetics, sociology and economics shared their perspectives, successes, and challenges to achieving transdisciplinary research integration for semi-arid cereal systems under changing climates. Conference goals were to: (1) strengthen the global network of researchers addressing climate change effects on semi-arid cereal-based systems, (2) share the approaches to achieving transdisciplinary collaboration to advance climate change resilience in cereal systems, and (3) identify the elements of a collaborative research agenda that are needed to advance global food security in the 21st century. This paper distills the conference themes and summarizes the calls to action that were discussed.
[Simultaneous determination of 8 main compounds in Eclipta Herba by UPLC].

To establish an UPLC method for the simultaneous determination of 8 compounds in Eclipta Herba, such as isoquercitrin, luteoloside, demethylwedelolactone, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid C, luteolin, wedelolactone and apigenin. The experiment was performed with a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C₁₈ (2.1 mm×100 mm, 1.7 μm) column by gradient elution of 0.1% formic acid in water and acetonitrile: 0-4 min,10%-13% A; 4-10 min, 13%-16% A; 10-13 min, 16%-25% A; 13-17 min, 25%-28% A; 17-20 min,28%-40% A;20-25 min,40%-95% A. The flow rate was 0.3 mL•min⁻¹. The condition of was the colum temperature was maintained at 35 ℃ and the detected wavelength was set at 350 mm. 8 components were separated clearly by this method. Also a good linearity was obtained between the chosen concentration(r≥0.999 0). The measured data showed that the recovery rate range from 96.60%-103.4% (n=6) and their RSD values were 0.86%-2.4%. The method has high recovery rate, good reproducibility and stability. It provides a scientific basis for the identification and quality evaluation of Eclipta Herba.
A language independent approach to multilingual text summarization

This paper describes an efficient algorithm for language independent generic extractive summarization for single document. The algorithm is based on structural and statistical (rather than semantic) factors. Through evaluations performed on a single-document summarization for English, Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu documents, we show that the method performs equally well regardless of the language. The algorithm has been applied on DUC data for English documents and various newspaper articles for other languages with corresponding stop words list and modified stemmer. The results of summarization have been compared with DUC 2002 data using degree of representativeness. For other languages, the degree of representativeness we get is highly encouraging.
Surgical Management of Ascending Aortic Aneurysm and Its Complications

Ascending aortic aneurysms involving the proximal aortic arch, arising anywhere from the aortic valve to the innominate artery, represent various problems in which open surgery is generally required. Surgical options include excision of the aortic pathology or wrapping the aneurysm shell with an aortic Dacron graft. Intervention using the latter method can lead to extravasation of blood along the suture lines resulting in continuous bleeding within the periprosthetic space. The Cabrol technique was developed as a method for decompression of postoperative leaks by the formation of a conduit system from the periprosthetic space to the right atrium. The coronary ostia are anastomosed to a second graft in an end-to-end fashion, which is then anastomosed to the ascending aortic conduit side to side. The native aorta is then sewn around the prosthesis, hereby creating a shunt to drain anastomotic leakage. This shunt reduces postsurgical risk of pseudoaneurysm formation and normally closes a few days following surgery. We discuss the case of a patient who underwent Cabrol's variation and six months later was demonstrated to have a patent shunt.
Studies on the Suitable Rot-Proof Processes for Manufacturing More Sustainable Jute Based Nursery Pot

Cellulosic jute fabric was treated with different types of rot proofing agent for increasing the durability of the jute based nursery pot. Different types of rot-proofing salts were found in the market but among these it was found that copper compound was the best chemical to use as a rot proofing agent. In this experiment, two different types of processes were optimized. These processes were a) Carpet backing clothes (CBC) were treated with different concentrations of a mixture of copper sulphate and sodium carbonate solution and b) jute fabrics were treated with different concentrations of comsol solutions. The treated jute fabrics were tested and evaluated for determination of liquor pick-up, tensile strength, copper deposition, cost analysis, soil effect, and plant growth rate to optimize the longevity of the natural product as jute nursery pot. Seeds were sown in the jute based nursery pots. This experiment was conducted in the soil condition. The longevity of the jute based nursery pots were increased by rot-proofing treatment. After certain period, jute nursery pots were converted into biomass. This product does not create any harmful effect on the environment for plantation and their production, use and disposal. It was observed that, 25% comsol solution treated jute nursery pots exhibited a maximum longevity of fourteen months but10% copper sulphate mixed with 2% sodium carbonate treated jute nursery pots showed durability about fifteen months. Comsol is a costly chemical but copper sulphate salt is cheap. From the experiments, it was found that by increasing the percentage of copper sulphate solution (12% and14%) for the treatment of jute nursery pot, the percentage of copper deposition was increased but tensile strength of the fabric was decreased. The longevity of more sustainable jute nursery pot was about fifteen months and it was achieved by 10% copper sulphate solution treatment. The treated nursery pots rather showed better growth rates of the plants in comparison to those plants of control pot. This treatment did not change the neutral nature of the soil. It was found from soil analysis that jute nursery pot converted into biomass. Jute is a 100% biodegradable and eco-friendly material and do not pollute our environment like poly pot. We should encourage the uses of jute products so that we can contribute to our environment to make our planet a clean and healthy place to live.
Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA Growth and Biofilm Formation after Treatment with Antibiotics and SeNPs

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a dangerous pathogen resistant to β-lactam antibiotics. Due to its resistance, it is difficult to manage the infections caused by this strain. We examined this issue in terms of observation of the growth properties and ability to form biofilms in sensitive S. aureus and MRSA after the application of antibiotics (ATBs)—ampicillin, oxacillin and penicillin—and complexes of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs) with these ATBs. The results suggest the strong inhibition effect of SeNPs in complexes with conventional ATBs. Using the impedance method, a higher disruption of biofilms was observed after the application of ATB complexes with SeNPs compared to the group exposed to ATBs without SeNPs. The biofilm formation was intensely inhibited (up to 99% ± 7% for S. aureus and up to 94% ± 4% for MRSA) after application of SeNPs in comparison with bacteria without antibacterial compounds whereas ATBs without SeNPs inhibited S. aureus up to 79% ± 5% and MRSA up to 16% ± 2% only. The obtained results provide a basis for the use of SeNPs as a tool for the treatment of bacterial infections, which can be complicated because of increasing resistance of bacteria to conventional ATB drugs.