Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Breast milk microRNAs: Potential players in oral tolerance development

Breast milk is an essential source of nutrition and hydration for the infant. In addition, this highly complex biological fluid contains numerous immunologically active factors such as microorganisms, immunoglobulins, cytokines and microRNAs (miRNAs). Here, we set out to predict the function of the top 10 expressed miRNAs in human breast milk, focusing on their relevance in oral tolerance development and allergy prevention in the infant. The top expressed miRNAs in human breast milk were identified on basis of previous peer-reviewed studies gathered from a recent systematic review and an updated literature search. The miRNAs with the highest expression levels in each study were used to identify the 10 most common miRNAs or miRNA families across studies and these were selected for subsequent target prediction. The predictions were performed using TargetScan in combination with the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery. The ten top expressed miRNAs were: let-7-5p family, miR-148a-3p, miR-30-5p family, miR-200a-3p + miR-141-3p, miR-22-3p, miR-181-5p family, miR-146b-5p, miR-378a-3p, miR-29-3p family, miR-200b/c-3p and miR-429-3p. The target prediction identified 3,588 potential target genes and 127 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways; several connected to the immune system, including TGF-b and T cell receptor signaling and T-helper cell differentiation. This review highlights the role of breast milk miRNAs and their potential contribution to infant immune maturation. Indeed, breast milk miRNAs seem to be involved in several pathways that influence oral tolerance development.
Shortwave infrared camera with extended spectral sensitivity

The shortwave infrared spectral range (SWIR) has certain advantages for the observation during day under fog and haze weather conditions. Due to the longer wavelength compared to the visible spectrum the range performances in the SWIR is here considerably extended. In addition cooled SWIR focal plane arrays reach in the meantime sensitivities to be useable for night viewing under twilight or moon light conditions. The presented SWIR camera system combines the color imaging in the visible spectrum with the imaging in the SWIR spectrum. The 20x zoom optics is fully corrected between 440 nm and 1700 nm. A dichroic beam splitter projects the visible spectrum on a color chip with HDTV resolution and the SWIR spectrum on a 640x512 InGaAs focal plane array. The open architecture of the camera system allows the use of different SWIR sensors and CMOS sensors. A universal designed interface electronic operates the used cameras and provides standard video outputs and compressed video streams on an ethernet interface. The camera system is designed to be integrated in various stabilized platforms. The camera concept is described and the comparison with pure SWIR or combined SWIR / MWIR dual band cameras are discussed from an application and system point of view.
Urinary Stones Segmentation in Abdominal X-Ray Images Using Cascaded U-Net Pipeline With Stone-Embedding Augmentation and Lesion-Size Reweighting Approach

In this research, we proposed a two-stage pipeline for segmenting urinary stones. The first stage U-Net generated the map localizing the urinary organs in full abdominal x-ray images. Then, this map was used for creating partitioned images input to the second stage U-Net to reduce class imbalance and was also used in stone-embedding augmentation to increase a number of training data. The U-Net model was trained with the combination of real stone-contained images and synthesized stone-embedded images to segment urinary stones on the partitioned input images. In addition, we proposed to use an inverse weighting method in the focal Tversky loss function in order to rebalance lesion size. The U-Net model using our proposed pipeline produced a 71.28% pixel-wise <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$F_{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> score and a 69.82% region-wise <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$F_{2}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> score, which were 2.88% and 7.63%, respectively, higher than those of a baseline method. Experimental results showed that the proposed method improved urinary stone segmentation results, especially for small stones and stones in uncommon locations.
A message-passing algorithm with damping

We propose a modified belief propagation algorithm, with over-relaxed dynamics. Such an algorithm turns out to be generally more stable and faster than ordinary belief propagation. We characterize the performance of the algorithm, employed as a tool for combinatorial optimization, on the random satisfiability problem. Moreover, we trace a connection with a recently proposed double-loop algorithm for minimizing Bethe and Kikuchi free energies.
Interpolation Based Kernel Function's Construction

The kernel function is important for support vector machines(SVMs) in classifying and regression. However, how to select a kernel function for the given data is still an open problem. Many papers are limited to consult the properties of some standard kernel functions. Since the effect of kernel mapping has not been understood very clearly, the result may be not as good as SVM should be in some cases. In this paper, we first point out that it is no necessary to get the explicit expression of mercer kernel functions, because only some limited values are needed in SVM. Then we present a method based on scattered data interpolation to construct a kernel function according to the given data. The experiments show that kernel function constructed in our method has less subjectivity and more predominance of generalization than most of traditional kernel functions.
Numerical experiments on the evolution in coronal magnetic configurations including a filament in response to the change in the photosphere

We investigate equilibrium height of a flux rope, and its internal equilibrium in a realistic plasma environment by carrying out numerical simulations of the evolution of systems including a current-carrying flux rope. We find that the equilibrium height of a flux rope is approximately described by a power-law function of the relative strength of the background field. Our simulations indicate that the flux rope can escape more easily from a weaker background field. This further confirms that a catastrophe in the magnetic configuration of interest can be triggered by a decrease in strength of the background field. Our results show that it takes some time to reach internal equilibrium depending on the initial state of the flux rope. The plasma flow inside the flux rope due to the adjustment for the internal equilibrium of the flux rope remains small and does not last very long when the initial state of the flux rope commences from the stable branch of the theoretical equilibrium curve. This work also confirms the influence of the initial radius of the flux rope in its evolution; the results indicate that a flux rope with a larger initial radius erupts more easily. In addition, by using a realistic plasma environment and a much higher resolution in our simulations, we notice some different characteristics compared to previous studies in Forbes.
Improvement of the Rayleigh approximation for scattering from a small scatterer

An improvement of the Rayleigh approximation for electromagnetic scattering from an arbitrary small scatterer is developed through solving the conventional integro-differential equation governing the electric field inside the scatterer. The improvement is represented by an equivalent polarizability tensor differing from that used in the Rayleigh approximation in two aspects: (i) it is frequency dependent, and (ii) it gives a scattering amplitude tensor satisfying energy conservation. The energy conservation is investigated through formulating the extinction, scattering, and absorption losses according to the equivalent polarizability tensor. Numerical calculations on spheres and spheroids indicate that the present extinction loss formulation has a wider validity range than the extinction loss formulation according to the Rayleigh approximation. >
Free Fatty Acids from Cow Urine DMSO Fraction Induce Cell Death in Breast Cancer Cells without Affecting Normal GMSCs

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the biological relevance of free fatty acids derived from cow urine DMSO fraction (CUDF) by employing in vitro and in silico approaches. Background: Metabolic heterogeneity at the intra- and intercellular levels contributes to the metabolic plasticity of cancer cells during drug-induced response. Free fatty acid (FFA) availability at intra- and intercellular levels is related to tumor heterogeneity at interpatient and xeno-heterogeneity levels. Methods: We collected fresh urine from healthy cows and subjected it to fractionation in DMSO using drying, vortexing, and centrifugation. Finally, the sterile filtrate of cow urine DMSO fraction (CUDF) was evaluated for antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects in MCF-7 and ZR-75-1 breast cancer cells using routine cell-based assays. Intracellular metabolites were studied with the help of a novel in-house vertical tube gel electrophoresis (VTGE) method to reveal the nature of CUDF components in MCF-7 cells. Identified intracellular FFAs were studied for their molecular interactions with targeted receptor histone deacetylase (HDAC) using molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Results: CUDF showed a significant reduction in cell viability and cell death in MCF-7 and ZR-75-1 breast cancer cells. Interestingly, FFAs tetracosanedioic acid, 13Z-docosenoic acid (erucic acid), nervonic acid, 3-hydroxy-tetradecanoic acid, and 3-hydroxcapric acid were found inside the treated MCF-7 cancer cells. These FFAs, including tetracosanedioic acid, indicated a specific affinity to HDAC at their inhibitory sites, similar to trichostatin A, a known inhibitor. Conclusions: This study reports on FFAs derived from CUDF as potential antiproliferative and pro-cell death agents against breast cancer cells. MD simulations hinted at tetracosanedioic acid and other FFAs as inhibitors of HDAC that could explain the observed effects of FFAs in cancer cells.
An Ultra-Low-Voltage Single-Crystal Oscillator-Timer (XO-Timer) Delivering 16-MHz and 32.258-kHz Clocks for Sub-0.5-V Energy-Harvesting BLE Radios in 28-nm CMOS

This paper reports an ultra-low-voltage (ULV) single-crystal oscillator-timer (XO-Timer) for sub-0.5 V Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) radios that aims for self-powering by harvesting the ambient energies. Specifically, we tailor an on-chip micropower manager <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$(\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>PM) to customize the voltage and current budgets for each sub-function of the XO-Timer. Such <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>PM shows a high power efficiency by introducing a 3-stage cascaded structure and a single voltage-regulation loop; they together uphold the performance of the XO-Timer amid supply-voltage and temperature variations. The core amplifier of the XO-Timer is ULV-enabled, and is reconfigurable (i.e., 1-stage and 3-stage gm) to balance between the power budget and performance under the high-performance mode (HPM) and low-power mode (LPM). Fabricated in 28-nm CMOS, the XO-Timer in HPM generates a 16-MHz clock with a power of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$24.3 ~\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>, and a phase noise of −133.8 dBc/Hz at 1-kHz offset, resulting in a Figure-of-Merit (FoM1) of −236 dBc/Hz. In the LPM, the XO-Timer delivers a 32.258-kHz clock while consuming <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$11.4 ~\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>. The sleep-timer FoM2 is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$14.8 ~\mu \text{W}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> and the Allan deviation is 35.1 ppb, achieving the lowest supply voltage (0.25 V) not only for a dual-mode XO-Timer but also for a MHz-range XO.
Radiative-transfer modelling of funnel flows

Abstract Emission line profiles from pre-main-sequence objects accreting via magnetically-controlled funnel flows encode information on the geometry and kinematics of the material on stellar radius scales. In order to extract this information it is necessary to perform radiative-transfer modelling of the gas to produce synthetic line profiles. In this review I discuss the physics that needs to be included in such models, and the numerical methods and assumptions that are used to render the problem tractable. I review the progress made in the field over the last decade, and summarize the main successes and failures of the modelling work.
Comparison Study of Extraction Accuracy of 3D Facial Anatomical Landmarks Based on Non-Rigid Registration of Face Template

(1) Background: Three-dimensional (3D) facial anatomical landmarks are the premise and foundation of facial morphology analysis. At present, there is no ideal automatic determination method for 3D facial anatomical landmarks. This research aims to realize the automatic determination of 3D facial anatomical landmarks based on the non-rigid registration algorithm developed by our research team and to evaluate its landmark localization accuracy. (2) Methods: A 3D facial scanner, Face Scan, was used to collect 3D facial data of 20 adult males without significant facial deformities. Using the radial basis function optimized non-rigid registration algorithm, TH-OCR, developed by our research team (experimental group: TH group) and the non-rigid registration algorithm, MeshMonk (control group: MM group), a 3D face template constructed in our previous research was deformed and registered to each participant’s data. The automatic determination of 3D facial anatomical landmarks was realized according to the index of 32 facial anatomical landmarks determined on the 3D face template. Considering these 32 facial anatomical landmarks manually selected by experts on the 3D facial data as the gold standard, the distance between the automatically determined and the corresponding manually selected facial anatomical landmarks was calculated as the “landmark localization error” to evaluate the effect and feasibility of the automatic determination method (template method). (3) Results: The mean landmark localization error of all facial anatomical landmarks in the TH and MM groups was 2.34 ± 1.76 mm and 2.16 ± 1.97 mm, respectively. The automatic determination of the anatomical landmarks in the middle face was better than that in the upper and lower face in both groups. Further, the automatic determination of anatomical landmarks in the center of the face was better than in the marginal part. (4) Conclusions: In this study, the automatic determination of 3D facial anatomical landmarks was realized based on non-rigid registration algorithms. There is no significant difference in the automatic landmark localization accuracy between the TH-OCR algorithm and the MeshMonk algorithm, and both can meet the needs of oral clinical applications to a certain extent.
Warp statistics and financial returns

ABSTRACT We introduce a new approach to financial returns and data analysis based on an infinite family of statistics called warp statistics. These statistics provide evidence that certain distributions such as the stable distributions are not good models for the financial returns from various securities or indexes like the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones. As statistics for general random variables, these numbers often appear to converge in simulations and we give several examples where the reciprocal of the first warp statistic appear to converge to the Hausdorff dimension. For any normal random variable, simulations suggest that the first and second warp statistics are and which provides new goodness of fit tests for normality. We give explicit formulas for the first and second warp statistics that are easily evaluated by a computer which makes this theory particularly suitable for applications.
An Approach of Animal Detection Based on Generalized Hough Transform

To detect animal objects under complicated background, a new approach is proposed to detect animal objects using shape feature. At first, a model is built by devising Canny hierarchical structure, then candidate fragments of the back and buttock are extracted using Generalizing Hough Transform, at last the matching task is accomplished based on restricting relationship of relative positions between the back and buttock. The experiment result shows that our approach achieves a promising detection rate under posture variations, scale variations and background clutter. Index Terms - Image Processing; Object Detection; Generalized Hough Transform.
Inequities in Telemedicine Use Among Patients With Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases

Background and Objectives In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, outpatient stroke care delivery was rapidly transformed to outpatient evaluation through video (VTM) and telephone (TPH) telemedicine (TM) visits around the world. We sought to evaluate the sociodemographic differences in outpatient TM use among stroke patients. Methods We conducted a retrospective chart review of outpatients evaluated at 3 tertiary stroke centers in the early period of the pandemic, 3/16/2020 through 7/31/2020. We compared the use of TM by patient characteristics including age, sex, race/ethnicity, insurance status, stroke type, patient type, and site. The association between TM use and patient characteristics was measured using the relative risk (RR) from a modified Poisson regression, and site-specific effects were controlled using a multilevel analysis. Results A total of 2,024 visits were included from UTHealth (n = 878), MedStar Health (n = 269), and Columbia (n = 877). The median age was 64 [IQR 52–74] years, and 53% were female. Approximately half of the patients had private insurance, 36% had Medicare, and 15% had Medicaid. Two-thirds of the visits were established patients. TM accounted for 90% of total visits, and the use of TM over office visits was primarily associated with site, not patient characteristics. TM utilization was associated with Asian and other/unknown race. Among TM users, older age, Black race, Hispanic ethnicity, and Medicaid insurance were associated with lower VTM use. Black (aRR 0.88, 95% CI 0.86–0.91, p < 0.001) and Hispanic patients (aRR 0.92, 95% CI 0.87–0.98, p = 0.005) had approximately 10% lower VTM use, while Asian patients (aRR 0.98, 95% CI 0.89–1.07, p = 0.59) had similar VTM use compared with White patients. Patients with Medicaid were less likely to use VTM compared with those with private insurance (aRR 0.86, 95% CI 0.81–0.91, p < 0.001). Discussion In our diverse cohort across 3 centers, we found differences in TM visit type by race and insurance early during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings suggest disparities in VTM access across different stroke populations. As VTM remains an integral part of outpatient neurology practice, steps to ensure equitable access are essential.
Learning Autonomous Control Policy for Intersection Navigation With Pedestrian Interaction

In recent years, great efforts have been devoted to deep imitation learning for autonomous driving control, where raw sensory inputs are directly mapped to control actions. However, navigating through densely populated intersections remains a challenging task due to uncertainty caused by uncertain traffic participants. We focus on autonomous navigation at crowded intersections that require interaction with pedestrians. A multi-task conditional imitation learning framework is proposed to adapt both lateral and longitudinal control tasks for safe and efficient interaction. A new benchmark called IntersectNav is developed and human demonstrations are provided. Empirical results show that the proposed method can achieve a success rate gain of up to 30% compared to the state-of-the-art.
On certain pairs of automorphisms of C*-algebras

Abstract Let α and β be *-automorphisms of a C*-algebra A such that α + α β + β-1. There exist invariant ideals I1I2 and I3 of A, with II ∩ I2 ∩ I3 = {O}, containing, respectively, the range ofβ − α, the range of β − α-1, and the union of the ranges of β2 − α2 and β2 − α-2. The induced actions on the quotient algebras give a decomposition of the system (A, α, β) into systems where β = α, β = α-2 and α2 = α-2. If α and β are one-parameter groups of *-automorphisms such that α + α-1 = β + β−1, then the corresponding result is valid, and may be strengthened to assert that I1 ∩ I2 = {0}. These results are analogues and extensions of similar results of A. B. Thaheem et al. for von Neumann algebras and commuting automorphisms.
On conjectures and consequences in fuzzy logic

Even though the authors' ultimate goal is to begin with a theoretical study on the concepts of induction, abduction and deduction in the broad framework offered by the theories of fuzzy sets, the paper is nothing else than an experiment focused on two basic preliminary tasks. The first one is to introduce the concept of conjecture, as well as its particular cases hypothesis and consequence, into fuzzy logic (after excluding self-contradictory fuzzy sets). This is done by extending the definitions previously proposed by the authors in the setting of orthocomplemented lattices (Trillas et al., 2000), which appeared to be successful both for orthomodular and boolean lattices. Once these definitions are established, the next step is to study whether they are good enough to capture Zadeh's compositional operator, which, as it is well known, generates the most common fuzzy inference method.
A new volume of fluid advection algorithm: the defined donating region scheme

This paper presents a new volume of fluid (VOF) advection algorithm, termed the defined donating region (DDR) scheme. The algorithm uses a linear piecewise method of free surface reconstruction, coupled to a fully multi-dimensional method of cell boundary flux integration. The performance of the new scheme has been compared with the performance of a number of alternative schemes using translation, rotation and shear advection tests. The DDR scheme is shown to be generally more accurate than linear constant and flux limited schemes, and comparable with an alternative linear piecewise scheme. The DDR scheme conserves fluid volume rigorously without local redistribution algorithms, and generates no fluid ‘flotsam’ or other debris, making it ideal in applications where stability of the free surface interface is paramount. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A Facile Microwave Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnFe2O4/rGO Nanocomposites for Supercapacitor Electrodes

As a typical binary transition metal oxide, ZnFe2O4 has attracted considerable attention for supercapacitor electrodes due to its high theoretical specific capacitance. However, the reported synthesis processes of ZnFe2O4 are complicated and ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles are easily agglomerated, leading to poor cycle life and unfavorable capacity. Herein, a facile microwave hydrothermal process was used to prepare ZnFe2O4/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites in this work. The influence of rGO content on the morphology, structure, and electrochemical performance of ZnFe2O4/rGO nanocomposites was systematically investigated. Due to the uniform distribution of ZnFe2O4 nanoparticles on the rGO surface and the high specific surface area and rich pore structures, the as-prepared ZnFe2O4/rGO electrode with 44.3 wt. % rGO content exhibits a high specific capacitance of 628 F g−1 and long cycle life of 89% retention over 2500 cycles at 1 A g−1. This work provides a new process for synthesizing binary transition metal oxide and developing a new strategy for realizing high-performance composites for supercapacitor electrodes.