Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Overview of Recent Advances in Fixed-Time Cooperative Control of Multiagent Systems

Fixed-time cooperative control is currently a hot research topic in multiagent systems since it can provide a guaranteed settling time, which does not depend on initial conditions. Compared with asymptotic cooperative control algorithms, fixed-time cooperative control algorithms can achieve better closed-loop performance and disturbance rejection properties. Different from finite-time control, fixed-time cooperative control produces the faster rate of convergence and provides an explicit estimation of the settling time independent of initial conditions, which is desirable for multiagent systems. This paper aims at presenting an overview of recent advances in fixed-time cooperative control of multiagent systems. Some fundamental concepts about finite- and fixed-time stability and stabilization are first recalled with insight understanding. Then, recent results in finite- and fixed-time cooperative control are reviewed in detail and categorized according to different agent dynamics. Finally, this paper raises several challenging issues that need to be addressed in the near future.
Conservative Exploration using Interleaving

In many practical problems, a learning agent may want to learn the best action in hindsight without ever taking a bad action, which is significantly worse than the default production action. In general, this is impossible because the agent has to explore unknown actions, some of which can be bad, to learn better actions. However, when the actions are combinatorial, this may be possible if the unknown action can be evaluated by interleaving it with the production action. We formalize this concept as learning in stochastic combinatorial semi-bandits with exchangeable actions. We design efficient learning algorithms for this problem, bound their n-step regret, and evaluate them on both synthetic and real-world problems. Our real-world experiments show that our algorithms can learn to recommend K most attractive movies without ever violating a strict production constraint, both overall and subject to a diversity constraint.
Therapeutic Attenuation of Cardiac Remodeling After Acute Myocardial Infarction: A Conversation With Marc A. Pfeffer, MD, PhD

Marc Pfeffer, MD, PhD, is the Dzau Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School; and Senior Physician, Cardiovascular Division at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He was born in Brooklyn, NY, and obtained his MD and PhD at the University of Oklahoma. He married his late wife and research collaborator, Janice Pfeffer, PhD, in 1970. He has won numerous awards, including the American Heart Association James B. Herrick Award for Outstanding Achievements in Clinical Cardiology (2013) and the American Heart Association Distinguished Scientist Award (2015), the American College of Cardiology Distinguished Scientist Award (Translational Domain; 2017), and an Honorary Doctoral Degree from Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2014). ### Dr Rutherford asks: In the early 1970s, you, and your late wife Janice, studied adrenergic mechanisms and cardiac hypertrophy and ventricular function, as well, in spontaneously hypertensive rats. What led to your initial animal studies on acute myocardial infarction and your interest in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system? Dr Pfeffer replies: As graduate students in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Oklahoma, my late wife, Janice, and I had the privilege to work under the tutelage of Edward D. Frohlich, MD, who is a pioneer in the hemodynamics of hypertension with a major emphasis on the response of the heart to the augmented workload imposed by hypertension. He was keenly interested in the functional consequences of developing left ventricular hypertrophy and obtained breeding stock of the newly developed Japanese strain of the SHR. We developed methods to assess hemodynamics and left ventricular function to compare normotensive with hypertensive rats during aging. We found a marked age-associated deterioration in contractile performance in the hypertensive rats that could be prevented by a variety of antihypertensive agents. Our studies of the longitudinal changes in ventricular structure and function in an animal model of genetic hypertension caught the attention of Eugene Braunwald, MD, who was organizing a Program Project Grant on the Pathophysiology of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy at the then Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. We moved to the Brigham in 1976 as his postdoctoral fellows (me as a medical intern) …
Nitrate-rich vegetables do not lower blood pressure in individuals with mildly elevated blood pressure: a 4-wk randomized controlled crossover trial.

Background Emerging evidence suggests that increasing intakes of nitrate-rich vegetables may be an effective approach to reduce blood pressure. Objective Our primary aim was to determine whether daily consumption of nitrate-rich vegetables over 4 wk would result in lower blood pressure. Design Thirty participants with prehypertension or untreated grade 1 hypertension were recruited to a randomized controlled crossover trial with 4-wk treatment periods separated by 4-wk washout periods. Participants completed 3 treatments in random order: 1) increased intake (∼200 g/d) of nitrate-rich vegetables [high-nitrate (HN); ∼150 mg nitrate/d], 2) increased intake (∼200 g/d) of nitrate-poor vegetables [low-nitrate (LN); ∼22 mg nitrate/d], and 3) no increase in vegetables (control; ∼6 mg nitrate/d). Compliance was assessed with the use of food diaries and by measuring plasma nitrate and carotenoids. Nitrate metabolism was assessed with the use of plasma, salivary, and urinary nitrate and nitrite concentrations. The primary outcome was blood pressure assessed by using 24-h ambulatory, home, and clinic measurements. Secondary outcomes included measures of arterial stiffness. Results Plasma nitrate and nitrite concentrations increased with the HN treatment in comparison to the LN and control treatments (P < 0.001). Plasma carotenoids increased with the HN and LN treatments compared with the control (P < 0.01). HN treatment did not reduce systolic blood pressure [24-h ambulatory-HN: 127.4 ± 1.1 mm Hg; LN: 128.6 ± 1.1 mm Hg; control: 126.2 ± 1.1 mm Hg (P = 0.20); home-HN: 127.4 ± 0.7 mm Hg; LN: 128.7 ± 0.7 mm Hg; control: 128.3 ± 0.7 mm Hg (P = 0.36); clinic-HN: 128.4 ± 1.3 mm Hg; LN: 130.3 ± 1.3 mm Hg; control: 129.8 ± 1.3 mm Hg (P = 0.49)] or diastolic blood pressure compared with LN and control treatments (P > 0.05) after adjustment for pretreatment values, treatment period, and treatment order. Similarly, no differences were observed between treatments for arterial stiffness measures (P > 0.05). Conclusion Increased intake of nitrate-rich vegetables did not lower blood pressure in prehypertensive or untreated grade 1 hypertensive individuals when compared with increased intake of nitrate-poor vegetables and no increase in vegetables. This trial was registered at www.anzctr. org.au as ACTRN12615000194561.
Sustained ocular delivery of Dorzolamide-HCl via proniosomal gel formulation: in-vitro characterization, statistical optimization, and in-vivo pharmacodynamic evaluation in rabbits

Abstract Glaucoma is the second cause of blindness worldwide. Frequent administration of traditional topical dosage forms may lead to patient incompliance and failure of treatment. Our study aims to formulate proniosomal gel formulations that sustain the release of the water-soluble anti-glaucoma drug Dorzolamide-HCl (Dorz). Proniosomal gel formulations were prepared using coacervation phase separation method according to a 52 full factorial design. The effects of Cholesterol and surfactant (Span 40) amounts (independent variables) on the percentage entrapment efficiency (EE%), particle size (PS), and the percent of drug released after 8 h (Q8h) (dependent variables (DVs)) were investigated. An optimized formulation (OF) was chosen based on maximizing EE% and Q8h and minimizing PS. An intraocular pressure (IOP) pharmacodynamic study was performed in rabbits to evaluate the in-vivo performance of the OF-gel compared to the marketed Trusopt® eye drops. The results showed that the independent variables studied significantly affected EE%, PS, and Q8h. OF was the one containing 60 mg Cholesterol and 540 mg Span 40. It had desirability of 0.885 and its actually measured DVs deviated from the predicted ones by a maximum of 4.8%. The in-vivo pharmacodynamic study showed that OF could result in higher reduction in IOP, significantly sustain that reduction in IOP and increase Dorz bioavailability compared to Trusopt® eye drops. Thus the OF-gel is very promising for being used in glaucoma treatment.
Large-Scale Land Cover Classification in Gaofen-2 Satellite Imagery

Many significant applications need land cover information of remote sensing images that are acquired from different areas and times, such as change detection and disaster monitoring. However, it is difficult to find a generic land cover classification scheme for different remote sensing images due to the spectral shift caused by diverse acquisition condition. In this paper, we develop a novel land cover classification method that can deal with large-scale data captured from widely distributed areas and different times. Additionally, we establish a large-scale land cover classification dataset consisting of 150 Gaofen-2 imageries as data support for model training and performance evaluation. Our experiments achieve outstanding classification accuracy compared with traditional methods.
Multifunctional Three-Phase Four-Leg PV-SVSI With Dynamic Capacity Distribution Method

The unequal single-phase load distribution in three-phase (3P) four-wire (4W) low-voltage (LV) networks can cause significant neutral current and neutral to ground voltage rise problems at both customer and distribution transformer terminals. High neutral current can overload the neutral conductors and can cause electrical safety concerns to the users. To mitigate the high neutral current problem in an unbalanced residential LV network, a multifunctional 3P four-leg (4L) rooftop photovoltaic (PV) smart voltage source inverter (SVSI) is designed with improved active neutral current compensation along with active power export and point of common coupling (PCC) voltage regulation. A novel dynamic capacity distribution (DCD) method is proposed using the available SVSI capacity after active and reactive power operations to achieve higher capacity neutral compensation at the PCC. The performance of the designed 3P-4L PV-SVSI with the DCD method is compared with a traditional 4L SVSI with fixed unbalanced compensation capacity and a passive unbalance compensator, such as a zig-zag transformer, in PSCAD/EMTDC software. Several case studies, such as balanced and unbalanced load changing effects, are presented with actual residential loads connected to an Australian 3P-4W LV network. A Semikron Semiteach modified inverter and a real-time TMSF28335 DSP microcontroller are also used to provide experimental verification on the improvement of the proposed neutral current compensation with the DCD method. Detailed simulations and experimental studies are presented to verify the robustness and efficacy of the proposed control strategy with the designed 3P-4L PV-SVSI.
Post-translational quantitation by SRM/MRM: applications in cardiology

ABSTRACT Introduction: Post-translational modifications (PTMs) have an important role in the regulation of protein function, localization, and interaction with other molecules. PTMs apply a dynamic control of proteins in both physiological and pathological conditions. The study of disease-specific PTMs allows identifying potential biomarkers and developing effective drugs. Enrichment techniques combined with high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS)/MS analysis provide attractive results on PTM characterization. Selected reaction monitoring/multiple reaction monitoring (SRM/MRM) is a powerful targeted assay for the quantitation and validation of PTMs in complex biological samples. Areas covered: The most frequent PTMs are described in terms of biological role and analytical methods commonly used to detect them. The applications of SRM/MRM for the absolute quantitation of PTMs are reported, and a specific section is focused on PTM detection in proteins that are involved in the cardiovascular system and heart diseases. Expert commentary: PTM characterization in relation to disease pathology is still in progress, but targeted proteomics by LC-MS/MS has significantly upgraded our knowledge in the last few years. Advances in enrichment strategies and software tools will facilitate the interpretation of high PTM complexity. Promising studies confirm the great potential of SRM/MRM to study PTMs in the cardiovascular field, and PTMomics could be very useful in the clinical perspective.
Using PROV and Blockchain to Achieve Health Data Provenance

Provenance is the foundation of data quality, usually implemented by automatically capturing the trace of data manipulation over space and time. In healthcare, provenance becomes critical since it encompasses both clinical research and patient safety. In this proposal we aim at exploiting and innovating existing health IT deployments by enabling data provenance queries for all kind of clinical information from anywhere. The proposed technical solution exploits the novelty and the peer-to-peer fashion of the blockchain technology and smart-contracts to instrument international standards such as IHE and HL7 with a provenance system robust to fraudulences.
A Model of Information Diffusion in Interconnected Online Social Networks

Online social networks (OSN) have today reached a remarkable capillary diffusion. There are numerous examples of very large platforms people use to communicate and maintain relationships. People also subscribe to several OSNs, e.g., people create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and so on. This phenomenon leads to online social internetworking (OSI) scenarios where users who subscribe to multiple OSNs are termed as bridges. Unfortunately, several important features make the study of information propagation in an OSI scenario a difficult task, e.g., correlations in both the structural characteristics of OSNs and the bridge interconnections among them, heterogeneity and size of OSNs, activity factors, cross-posting propensity, and so on. In this article, we propose a directed random graph-based model that is amenable to efficient numerical solution to analyze the phenomenon of information propagation in an OSI scenario; in the model development, we take into account heterogeneity and correlations introduced by both topological (correlations among nodes degrees and among bridge distributions) and user-related factors (activity index, cross-posting propensity). We first validate the model predictions against simulations on snapshots of interconnected OSNs in a reference scenario. Subsequently, we exploit the model to show the impact on the information propagation of several characteristics of the reference scenario, i.e., size and complexity of the OSI scenario, degree distribution and overall number of bridges, growth and decline of OSNs in time, and time-varying cross-posting users propensity.
Xenon-inhibition of the MscL mechano-sensitive channel and the CopB copper ATPase under different conditions suggests direct effects on these proteins

Xenon is frequently used as a general anesthetic in humans, but the mechanism remains an issue of debate. While for some membrane proteins, a direct interaction of xenon with the protein has been shown to be the inhibitory mechanism, other membrane protein functions could be affected by changes of membrane properties due to partitioning of the gas into the lipid bilayer. Here, the effect of xenon on a mechanosensitive ion channel and a copper ion-translocating ATPase was compared under different conditions. Xenon inhibited spontaneous gating of the Escherichia coli mechano-sensitive mutant channel MscL-G22E, as shown by patch-clamp recording techniques. Under high hydrostatic pressure, MscL-inhibition was reversed. Similarly, the activity of the Enterococcus hirae CopB copper ATPase, reconstituted into proteoliposomes, was inhibited by xenon. However, the CopB ATPase activity was also inhibited by xenon when CopB was in a solubilized state. These findings suggest that xenon acts by directly interacting with these proteins, rather than via indirect effects by altering membrane properties. Also, inhibition of copper transport may be a novel effect of xenon that contributes to anesthesia.
Pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia: toward a metabolomic-based approach

Approximately 20%–30% of schizophrenia patients are resistant to current standard pharmacotherapies. Recent schizophrenia research aims to identify specific pathophysiological abnormalities and novel targets in the disease, with the goals of identifying at-risk individuals, facilitating diagnosis, prompting early and personalized interventions, and helping predict response to treatment. Metabolomics involves the systematic study of the profile of biochemical alterations early in the course of a given disorder. Major aspects of the schizophrenia metabolome have been characterized, uncovering potential selective biomarkers for the disease that may change how the disorder is diagnosed, and how patients are stratified and treated. This review focuses on the most common metabolomic fingerprints of the different pathways involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, and the potential development of novel metabolomic-related pharmacotherapies for improved treatment of schizophrenia and other related idiopathic psychotic disorders.
Distribution of chloride cells in teleost larvae

Distribution and density of the chloride cells in the newly hatched larvae of teleosts vary depending on species and environmental salinity at hatching. In the euryhaline freshwater ayu (Plecoglossus altivelis), chloride cells are concentrated in the skin posterior to the pectoral fins and gradually decrease in number toward the head and tail. In the stenohaline sea water flounder (Kareius bicoloratus), most chloride cells are localized at the inner membrane of gill chambers and in the skin near the openings of gill chambers, but only a few cells appear in the skin of the yolk sac. In the stenohaline freshwater carp (Cyprinus carpio), only a few small chloride cells are scattered in the body skin. The density and abundance of chloride cells appears to be correlated with the different requirements for osmoregulation in teleost larvae.
Impact of intelligent wireless sensor network on predictive maintenance cost

Today's modern manufacturing demand that production systems be monitored continuously, in real time, to ensure reliability, safety of manufacturing processes and quality of products. The integration of intelligent sensors into production systems enables very specific tasks to be performed, such as remote monitoring and communicating quickly the relevant information concerning deterioration detected on these systems. This is of major interest to guide maintenance manager to make decision regarding maintenance actions. The objective of this article is to investigate the impact of maintenance policies on the performance of manufacturing systems. The integration of intelligent sensors networks is proposed for monitoring equipments to implement predictive maintenance policy. We develop simulation studies to investigate the impact of the intelligent sensor on predictive maintenance cost and reliability. The optimum predictive maintenance time can be found using the threshold of the reliability data issue from the sensors. The methods are based on the cost per unit time to show how different parameter impact the cost of maintenance, To perform this study a numerical example is illustrate the model.
A High-Gain, High-Efficiency Nonisolated Bidirectional DC–DC Converter With Sustained ZVS Operation

This paper proposes a high-gain, highly efficient nonisolated bidirectional dc–dc converter with soft-switching capabilities. An intermediate energy storage cell enables the converter to generate high gain in the continuous current mode. Two auxiliary resonant networks, each consisting of a low-power switch, a capacitor, and an inductor, are integrated to provide the soft switching [zero-voltage switching (ZVS)] for the main switches. The dedicated resonant networks ensure the ZVS is sustained over a wide operating range of duty cycle and power. The auxiliary switches are also soft switched to boost the efficiency further. Additionally, the reverse recovery loss is eliminated by optimizing the resonant capacitors. The validity of the design is verified by a 200 W prototype converter. A maximum gain of 17.8 is observed at a duty cycle ratio of 0.8. At 30 kHz, a full load efficiency of 97.5% and 95.5% is recorded in the boost and buck modes, respectively. On the other hand, at 100 kHz, these efficiencies are 97.0% and 94.5%, respectively. Consequently, the experimental results validate the proposed concept and design procedures. This performance exceeds that of high gain topologies published in the recent literature.
Optimum Boost Control of Quasi-Z Source Indirect Matrix Converter

Quasi-Z source indirect matrix converter (QZS-IMC) has been proved to have abilities of voltage boost, current filtering, variable voltage, and variable frequency. The voltage gain of QZS-IMC depends on QZS network shoot-through duty ratio <italic>D</italic>, rectifier modulation ratio <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m_{i}$</tex-math> </inline-formula>, and inverter modulation ratio <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$m_{o}$</tex-math> </inline-formula>. Their multiple combinations are able to achieve the same voltage gain, but determining which is the optimal has not been addressed. In addition, the size of <italic>D</italic> is associated with the duration of shoot-through events of the QZS network, voltage and current stresses of power devices, and the system power losse. This paper proposes to find the optimal operation curve of <italic>D</italic> based on the constrained optimization theory. Simulation and experimental results validate theoretical analysis, the proposed optimal control, and the power loss reduction of the QZS-IMC.