Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Dosimetry and Radioenhancement Comparison of Gold Nanoparticles in Kilovoltage and Megavoltage Radiotherapy using MAGAT Polymer Gel Dosimeter

Background: Numerous unique characteristics of the nanosized gold, including high atomic number, low toxicity, and high biocompatibility make it one of the most appropriate nanostructures to boost radiotherapy efficacy. Many in-vivo and in-vitro investigations have indicated that gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can significantly increase tumor injuries in low kilovoltage radiotherapy. While deep-lying tumors require much higher energy levels with greater penetration power, and investigations carried out in megavoltage energy range show contradictory results. Objective: In this study, we quantitatively assess and compare dose enhancement factors (DEFs) obtained through AuNPs under radiation of Cobalt-60 source (1.25MeV) versus Iridium-192 source (380 KeV) using MAGAT gel dosimeter. Material and Methods: MAGAT polymer gel in both pure and combined with 0.2 mM AuNPs was synthesized. In order to quantify the effect of energy on DEF, irradiation was carried out by Co-60 external radiotherapy and Ir-192 internal radiotherapy. Finally, readings of irradiated and non-irradiated gels were performed by MR imaging. Results: The radiation-induced R2 (1/T2) changes of the gel tubes doped with AuNPs compared to control samples, upon irradiation of beams released by Ir-192 source showed a significant dose enhancement (15.31% ±0.30) relative to the Co-60 external radiotherapy (5.85% ±0.14). Conclusion: This preliminary study suggests the feasibility of using AuNPs in radiation therapy (RT), especially in low-energy sources of brachytherapy. In addition, MAGAT polymer gel, as a powerful dosimeter, could be used for 3D visualization of radiation dose distribution of AuNPs in radiotherapy.
Total Laparoscopic Aortofemoral Bypass as a Routine Procedure for the Treatment of Aortoiliac Occlusive Disease

The purpose of our study was to evaluate whether total laparoscopic aortofemoral bypass can be performed routinely in patients who require surgical intervention for aortoiliac occlusive disease. In a prospective study, 68 consecutive patients underwent total laparoscopic aortofemoral bypass between 2002 and 2004. Among these patients, there were 50 men and 18 women, with a mean age of 68.4 ± 9 years. The mean operating time was 199 minutes, with a mean aortic cross-clamp time of 85.8 minutes. There were five major complications (7.3%). The mean postoperative hospital stay was 6.3 days. Most of the younger patients could be discharged on the third or fourth postoperative day. Our results show that total laparoscopic aortic surgery can be offered as a routine procedure to the majority of patients with long-segment aortoiliac occlusive disease.
An analysis of existing Artificial Stock Market Models for Representing Bombay Stock Exchange

The goal of agent-based modeling of stock markets is to enrich our understanding of fundamental processes that appear in a market. Artificial stock markets are models of financial markets used to study and understand market dynamics. Agent Based Artificial Stock Markets can be seen as any market model in which prices are formed endogenously as a result of participants’ interaction. There are various artificial stock markets in existence primarily for US and European markets. This study aims at assessing the suitability of existing agent based artificial stock market models for the Bombay Stock Exchange. We analyze few continuous session artificial stock market model, namely Continuous Time Asynchronous Model (CTAM),Electronic Market Maker (EMM) Model, Continuous Extended Glosten Milgrom Model (CEGM) and KapSyn. We analyze their features and design to enable us assess their suitability to depict the BSE based on a few important parameters. It appears that the elements of KapSyn would be most suitable for representing the BSE, after incorporating modifications to cater for the absence of market makers in BSE.
A construction of inter-group complementary codes with flexible ZCZ length

A general construction of inter-group complementary (IGC) codes is proposed based on perfect complementary (PC) codes, interleaving operation, and the orthogonal matrix. The correlation properties of the newly constructed IGC codes can be described as follows: (1) the autocorrelation sidelobes of the codes are zeros in the zero correlation zone (ZCZ); (2) the cross-correlation functions (CCFs) between any two different codes of the same group are zeros in the ZCZ; (3) the CCFs between any two codes of different groups are zeros everywhere. The key point of this construction is that the ZCZ length of the generated IGC codes can be chosen flexibly. It is well known that there is a limitation between the ZCZ length and the number of mates; that is, the smaller is the length of ZCZ, the more are the IGC codes that can be generated. Therefore, if we can choose the ZCZ length of the IGC codes flexibly according to the requirement of the system, more users can be accommodated in the system.
Production of allitol from D‐psicose by a novel isolated strain of Klebsiella oxytoca G4A4

A novel bacterium capable of producing allitol from D‐psicose was isolated from soil and identified as Klebsiella oxytoca G4A4. An efficient method for the transformation of D‐psicose to allitol was achieved through the resting cell reaction. Ribitol as an inducer is suitable for cell cultivation, and cells are most active in Tris–HCl buffer (pH 8.0) at 37 °C with a density of 40 (OD600 nm). After the reaction, the final conversion rates of the washed cells were approximately 87, 83, and 55% at D‐psicose concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, and 1%, respectively. The product from D‐psicose was purified and determined to be allitol by high‐performance liquid chromatography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
Sequential layer-by-layer engineered polypyrrole-activated carbon multilayer films: high-energy composite electrode materials for symmetrical supercapacitors

ABSTRACT Multilayer polypyrrole (PPy))/Activated carbon (AC) composite electrode was potentiostatically prepared on the surface of stainless steel. Numbers of layers were optimized with p-toluene sulphonic acid, benzene sulphonic acid, and camphor sulphonic acid, as concerned with the accessibility of monomers and high capacitance. Surface morphology of successive deposition of PPy/AC layers were observed using SEM and AFM. The performances of each layer have been studied using cyclic voltammetry and AC impedance spectroscopy. The first layer showed specific capacitance of 345 F g−1, whereas in the multilayered film it was 658 F g−1. Symmetrical supercapacitor were fabricated using multilayer electrodes and compared with single layer electrodes. The properties of supercapacitor showed specific capacitance of 557 F g−1 in a multilayer based supercapacitor, and charge-discharge studies showed excellent stability at the different current density in 0.1M H2SO4. Hence, the study provides evidence and scope for using multilayer with optimized materials and electrochemical conditions. Graphical Abstract
The SQL++ Unifying Semi-structured Query Language, and an Expressiveness Benchmark of SQL-on-Hadoop, NoSQL and NewSQL Databases

SQL-on-Hadoop, NewSQL and NoSQL databases provide semi-structured data models (typically JSON based) and respective query languages. Lack of formal syntax and semantics, idiomatic (nonSQL) language constructs and large variations in syntax, semantics and actual capabilities pose problems even to database experts: It is hard to understand, compare and use these languages. It is especially tedious to write software that interoperates between two of them or an SQL database and one of them. Towards solving these problems, first we formally specify the syntax and semantics of SQL++. It consists of a semi-structured data model (which extends both JSON and the relational data model) and a query language that is fully backwards compatible with SQL. SQL++ is “unifying” in the sense that it is explicitly designed to encompass the data model and query language capabilities of current SQL-on-Hadoop, NoSQL and NewSQL databases. Then, we itemize fifteen SQL++ data model and query language features and benchmark eleven databases on their support of the multiple options associated with each feature, leading to feature matrices and commentary. Each feature matrix is the result of empirical validation through sample queries. This work was supported by NSF DC 0910820, NSF III 1018961, NSF IIS 1237174 and Informatica grants. The grants’ PI was Prof Papakonstantinou who is a shareholder of an entity that commercializes outcomes of this research. Kian Win Ong E-mail: kianwin@cs.ucsd. edu Yannis Papakonstantinou∗ E-mail: yannis@cs.ucsd. edu Romain Vernoux E-mail: rvernoux@cs.ucsd. edu Since SQL itself is a subset of SQL++, the SQL-aware reader will easily identify in which ways each of the surveyed databases provides more or less than SQL. The eleven databases are Hive, Jaql, Pig, Cassandra, JSONiq, MongoDB, Couchbase, SQL, AsterixDB, BigQuery and UnityJDBC. They were selected due to their market adoption or because they present cutting edge, advanced query language abilities. Finally, we briefly discuss the use of SQL++ as the query language of the FORWARD virtual database query processor, which executes SQL++ queries over SQL and non-SQL databases and the use of SQL++ in the FORWARD application framework, which enables rapid development of live reports and interactive applications on SQL and non-SQL databases. FORWARD provides a proof-of-concept of SQL++’s applicability as a unifying data model and query language.
Using an intelligibility measure to create noise robust cepstral coefficients for HMM-based speech synthesis

The aim of this work is to increase intelligibility of HMMbased synthetic speech in noisy environments by modifying clean synthetic speech given that noise is known. For that purpose we need a measure for intelligibility of speech in noise that can automatically define the sort of modifications that we need to apply. In previous experiments [1] we have observed that spectrum envelope modifications can have a significant positive impact on the intelligibility of HMM-generated synthetic speech in noise and that the Glimpse proportion measure (GP) [2] is highly correlated with subjective scores under those circumstances. We have then introduced a method for cepstral coefficient extraction that modifies spectrum envelope based on the GP measure. The GP accounts only for the effect of additive noise, not requiring a reference unmodified speech signal to produce a intelligibility prediction. To control the amount of distortions introduced by the modification we extract cepstral coefficients using an optimization criterion with two terms. The first term accounts for the minimization of the mismatch between natural speech periodogram and magnitude spectrum as modeled by cepstral coefficient, the current criterion used for cepstral coefficient extraction performed at the training stage of the HMM-based speech synthesis framework [3]. The second term accounts for the maximization of an approximated analytical and differentiable version of the GP measure. Using this method we found significant intelligibility gains however not for all tested noise types which indicates that we need a more effective method for controlling distortions [4].
Trans-population analysis of genetic mechanisms of ethnic disparities in neuroblastoma survival.

BACKGROUND Black patients with neuroblastoma have a higher prevalence of high-risk disease and worse outcome than white patients. We sought to investigate the relationship between genetic variation and the disparities in survival observed in neuroblastoma. METHODS The analytic cohort was composed of 2709 patients. Principal components were used to assign patients to genomic ethnic clusters for survival analyses. Locus-specific ancestry was calculated for use in association analysis. The shorter spans of linkage disequilibrium in African populations may facilitate the fine mapping of causal variants in regions previously implicated by genome-wide association studies conducted primarily in patients of European descent. Thus, we evaluated 13 single nucleotide polymorphisms known to be associated with susceptibility to high-risk neuroblastoma from genome-wide association studies and all variants with highly divergent allele frequencies in reference African and European populations near the known susceptibility loci. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS African genomic ancestry was associated with high-risk neuroblastoma (P = .007) and lower event-free survival (P = .04, hazard ratio = 1.4, 95% confidence interval = 1.05 to 1.80). rs1033069 within SPAG16 (sperm associated antigen 16) was determined to have higher risk allele frequency in the African reference population and statistically significant association with high-risk disease in patients of European and African ancestry (P = 6.42 × 10(-5), false discovery rate < 0.0015) in the overall cohort. Multivariable analysis using an additive model demonstrated that the SPAG16 single nucleotide polymorphism contributes to the observed ethnic disparities in high-risk disease and survival. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrates that common genetic variation influences neuroblastoma phenotype and contributes to the ethnic disparities in survival observed and illustrates the value of trans-population mapping.
The mass-specific energy cost of human walking is set by stature

SUMMARY The metabolic and mechanical requirements of walking are considered to be of fundamental importance to the health, physiological function and even the evolution of modern humans. Although walking energy expenditure and gait mechanics are clearly linked, a direct quantitative relationship has not emerged in more than a century of formal investigation. Here, on the basis of previous observations that children and smaller adult walkers expend more energy on a per kilogram basis than larger ones do, and the theory of dynamic similarity, we hypothesized that body length (or stature, Lb) explains the apparent body-size dependency of human walking economy. We measured metabolic rates and gait mechanics at six speeds from 0.4 to 1.9 m s–1 in 48 human subjects who varied by a factor of 1.5 in stature and approximately six in both age and body mass. In accordance with theoretical expectation, we found the most economical walking speeds measured (J kg–1 m–1) to be dynamically equivalent (i.e. similar U, where U=velocity2/gravity · leg length) among smaller and larger individuals. At these speeds, stride lengths were directly proportional to stature whereas the metabolic cost per stride was largely invariant (2.74±0.12 J kg–1 stride–1). The tight coupling of stature, gait mechanics and metabolic energy expenditure resulted in an inverse relationship between mass-specific transport costs and stature (Etrans/Mb∝Lb–0.95, J kg–1 m–1). We conclude that humans spanning a broad range of ages, statures and masses incur the same mass-specific metabolic cost to walk a horizontal distance equal to their stature.
A link between immune hyperactivation of T cells during HIV-1 infection and the virus protease?

The decline of CD4 T cells during HIV-1 infection has been associated and correlated with the presence of activated T cells, cells characterized by the high expression of surface activation markers such as CD38 and HLA-DR and pro-apoptotic molecules, including the Fas death receptor. The increased appearance of CD28 peripheral blood T lymphocytes, especially among CD8 T cells, is one of the characteristics of T-cell activation during HIV-1 infection [1] and, interestingly, the expression of the receptor for interleukin (IL)-7, IL-7 receptor (R) a, an important cytokine for T-cell homeostasis, is dramatically decreased on CD28 T cells from HIV-1 infected patients [2].
Using Information Entropy to Analyze Dynamic Reserves of Emergency Material

Emergency material reserves are important ways to provide material basis and security guarantee while solving sudden disasters. Scientific and reasonable reserves of material not only reduce the loss of disaster to the minimum, but also make good use of special funds. The probability and intensity of sudden disasters are uncertain. The requirement scale of emergency materials is consequently difficult to predict. Fortunately, information entropy principle can convert uncertain problems into certain ones. In order to identify the optimal quantity of emergency reserves, we propose a dynamic model for dealing with emergency reserves on the basis of the information entropy generated from deficient and excessive material reserves. Finally, we offer optimal reserves of tents as an empirical research. The analysis of empirical results shows that the model proposed in this paper can be used for research on dynamic reserves of emergency material under the condition that requirement is uncertain.
Planetary Lake Lander: Using Technology Relevant to Titan's Exploration to Investigate the Impact of Deglaciation on Past and Present Planetary Lakes

INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF DEGLACIATION ON PAST AND PRESENT PLANETARY LAKES . N. A. Cabrol, E. A. Grin, C. Haberle, J. E. Moersch, R. E. Jacobsen, R. Sommaruga, E. D. Fleming, A. M. Detweiler, A. Echeverria, Y. Blanco, L. A. Rivas, Liam Pedersen, Trey Smith, D. S. Wettergreen, C. Demergasso, V. Parro, Terry Fong, G. Chong, L. Bebout, SETI CSC/NASA Ames, MS 245-3, Moffett Field, CA. Email: Nathalie.A. Cabrol@nasa.gov; Oregon State University; Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville; Univ. Innbruck, Austria; BAER/NASA Ames, MS 239-4, Moffett Field, CA; Univ. Catolica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile; Centro de Astrobiologia, Madrid, Spain; IRG, NASA Ames, MS-269-2, Moffetft Field; CMU, Robotics Inst. , Pittsburgh, PA;NASA Ames, MS 239-4, Moffett Field.
Exploring the disorders of brain effective connectivity network in ASD: A case study using EEG, transfer entropy, and graph theory

Many people worldwide suffer from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) which is a neurodevelopmental disorder. It severely degrades the subjects' communication skills. The earlier diagnosing of ASD, The higher probability to prevent the severity of ASD symptoms. In the recent decade, brain connectivity studies on ASD subjects have converged to the theory of under-connectivity as a biomarker of ASD. Most of these studies have used fMRI data rather than EEG/MEG data and investigated functional connectivity rather than effective connectivity. There are few EEG/MEG studies which investigated the effective connectivity disorders in ASD subjects. Also, to the best of our knowledge there is no published study to investigate the disorders of brain effective connectivity networks in ASD subjects using EEG data, nonlinear effective connectivity measures and graph theory. In this paper, we aim to start filling this gap. We used EEG data, transfer entropy with self-prediction optimality, and four graph theoretic parameters to compare the effective connectivity networks of ASD youths with those of healthy controls (HCs) during a passive face processing task. Our results showed a significant difference in average degree (p<0.05) between ASD and HC groups which is consistent with the under-connectivity theory of ASD. On the other hand we detected no significant changes in total clustering coefficient, average path length, and longest path length.
Comparison of filter smoke number and elemental carbon from thermal optical analysis of marine diesel engine exhaust

The interest on contribution of shipping to global warming and especially on polar ice melting has increased. The International Maritime Organization is working toward reporting and estimation of black carbon emissions from shipping. The filter smoke number method is discussed as one possible candidate for onboard determination of black carbon/soot concentration of the engine exhaust gas, and it has recently been considered as one of the best candidates for further evaluation in the International Council on Clean Transportation 4th workshop on marine black carbon emission. Proven, standardized technology and small size and simple operation of the filter smoke meter make it a potential choice for actual onboard use. In our study, we evaluated the validity of the filter smoke number method for measuring soot emission by looking at correlations between the filter smoke number and elemental carbon analyzed using thermal optical transmittance analysis. Until now the conversion of the filter smoke number to black carbon /soot emission has been performed with equations derived from high-speed engines operating with distillate fuels. We introduce optimized calculation parameters for filter smoke number to black carbon/soot conversion, which are derived from light and heavy fuel oil measurements. These new parameters can be utilized with improved accuracy for the estimation of the black carbon emission from filter smoke number measurement with marine fuel qualities.
Controller design of switching sampled system with actuator saturation

In this paper, static output feedback (SOF) control problem has be conducted for switching sampled systems with actuator saturation in the H∞ setting. Switching sampled system is a hybrid system that consists of continuous-time system and discrete-time system. It is more precise to describe the practical digital control system. Traditionally, the sufficient conditions for the existence of such H∞ controller are characterized in terms of the solution of a differential Hamilton-Jacobi inequality with jumps, which is equivalent to solving the partial differential inequalities. In general, there is no analytic solution for this nonlinear partial differential inequalities with jumps. Using some transformations, the H∞ SOF controller design problem with actuator saturation is expressed in terms of an eigenvalue problem (EVP) which can be efficiently solved using the LMI toolbox in Matlab. By solving the EVP, the stability and robustness of the system can be guaranteed with a maximization of the estimation of the domain of attraction. Eventually, the H∞ SOF control problem is solved by LMI approach for the switching sampled systems with less consevative.
Health impact of Mediterranean diets in food at work

Abstract Objective To evaluate the feasibility of diet mediterranisation, in a food-at-work context, and its consequence on metabolic syndrome in a mid-age unselected healthy male population group. Design One-year longitudinal intervention study. Physical exercise was not modified. Setting All workers of the Santiago division of ‘Maestranza Diesel’, a metal-mechanic company servicing the mining industry, were invited to participate. Subjects Initially, 145 workers of a total of 171, of average age 39 years, accepted to participate (sixteen women and 129 men). A subgroup of ninety-six men fully completed the controls programmed for the intervention study. Losses from the original group correspond to missing one control (sixteen), leaving the company (eleven) or blood sampling discomfort (six). The women and sixteen male workers, hired post study initiation, did participate but were excluded from this 12-month analysis. Results Diet mediterranisation was successful, reflected in the daily food consumption at the canteen and the evolution of the Mediterranean diet score (MDS) from 4·8 ± 1·4 to 7·4 ± 1·5 (limits 0–14). Some metabolic syndrome components showed statistically significant improvement and also statistically significant correlation with the MDS: waist circumference, HDL-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure. After 12 months, the reversion rate for metabolic syndrome was 48 % (12/23) with an incidence rate of 4·1 % for new cases (3/73). In total, metabolic syndrome decreased from 24·0 % to 15·6 % (23/96 to 15/96) (P = 0·029). Conclusions Diet mediterranisation is feasible in a food-at-work intervention, affecting lunch consumption at the workers canteen and overall consumption evaluated with MDS, together with a significant reduction in metabolic syndrome.