Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Ketotifen and Cardiovascular Risk in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: Mast cells found to be an important contributor to inflammation, obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis. We evaluate the ability of ketotifen to reduce cardiovascular risk in patient with type 2 diabetes millets (T2DM). Method: In a randomized controlled study we recruited forty eight patients with T2DM from Internal Medicine Department at Tanta University Hospital, Egypt. They were classified in to three groups. Group 1: received glimepiride (GL) 3 mg/day alone; group 2: received GL 3 mg/day +ketotifen 1 mg once daily; group 3: received GL 3 mg/day +ketotifen 1 mg twice daily. Fasting blood samples were obtained before and 12 weeks after treatment for biochemical analysis of IL-6 and lipid profile with subsequent calculation of Castelli index 1 and atherogenic coefficient. Body mass index was also calculated for all patients. Data were analyzed by paired student's t-test and one way analysis of variance, p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The obtained data suggested that ketotifen in its twice daily dose significantly improves lipid profile and decreases IL-6 level, castelli index 1 and atherogenic coefficient. Conclusions: Mast cell stabilization with ketotifen can decrease the risk of diabetes associated cardiovascular complications
A 500 pc filamentary gas wisp in the disk of the Milky Way

Star formation occurs in molecular gas. In previous studies, the structure of the molecular gas has been studied in terms of molecular clouds, but has been overlooked beyond the cloud scale. We present an observational study of the molecular gas at 49.5 ◦ < l < 52.5 ◦ and −5. 0k m s −1 <v lsr < 17. 4k m s −1 . The molecular gas is found in the form of a huge (500 pc) filamentary gas wisp. This has a large physical extent and a velocity dispersion of ∼ 5k m s −1 . The eastern part of the filamentary gas wisp is located ∼130 pc above the Galactic disk (which corresponds to 1.5–4 e-folding scale-heights), and the total mass of the gas wisp is 1 × 10 5 M� . It is composed of two molecular clouds and an expanding bubble. The velocity structure of the gas wisp can be explained as a smooth quiescent component disturbed by the expansion of a bubble. That the length of the gas wisp exceeds by much the thickness of the molecular disk of the Milky Way is consistent with the cloud-formation scenario in which the gas is cold prior to the formation of molecular clouds. Star formation in the filamentary gas wisp occurs at the edge of a bubble (G52L nebula), which is consistent with some models of triggered star formation.
Multi-Sensor Fusion for Mono and Multi-Vehicle Localization using Bayesian Network

Outdoor mobile robotised vehicles currently hold the attention of many researchers because they can bring solutions to many applications related to transport of passengers in urban environments. An example of robotised vehicle is the CyCab (Bom et al., 2005). Transport applications which can combine mono or multi vehicle operating mode are most efficient. For autonomous navigation application, the vehicle needs to know its position accurately (Dissanayake et al. 2001); (Thrun et al. 2001) and if possible on the road network. In this work, we propose to use the digital road map database for the geo-localization of the vehicle. The localization of a vehicle using or in respect to or on a road map is treated by several ways in the last ten years. This relatively recent research theme is known also as the map-matching or road-matching problem. It can be interesting to localize a vehicle using a road map because it can useful to recover the attributes associated with these data bases. Examples of attributes are the width of the road, the presence of landmarks for accurate localization, authorized maximum speed for advanced driver assistance system application etc. Unfortunately, the use of the road map to improve the localization is not a simple task. There are always errors on the estimate of the position and because the map can represents a deformed sight of the world. Outdoor positioning systems often rely on GPS, because of its affordability and convenience. However, GPS suffers from satellite masks occurring in urban environments, under bridges, tunnels or in forests. GPS appears then as an intermittently-available positioning system that needs to be backed up by a dead-reckoning system (Zhao, 1997); (Abbott & Powell, 1999); (EL Najjar & Bonnifait, 2003). In this work, the proposed method of multi-sensors fusion for mono-vehicle localization is based on the use of encoders positioned at the rear wheel of the vehicle. We use these sensors to measure elementary rotations of the wheels and to estimate the displacement of the vehicle. Thus, a dead-reckoned estimated pose is obtained by integrating the elementary rotations of the wheels using a differential odometric model. The multisensor fusion of GPS and odometry is performed by a Bayesian Network (BN). Afterwards, we extend the multi-sensor fusion method proposed in this work for mono-vehicle localization to be used for the localization of several vehicles moving in the same environment. We suppose in this extension that the vehicles evolve in a train configuration. In the literature, we found two ways to make moving a train of vehicles. The first one
Rent-seeking in a unionised monopoly Odd

A unionised monopoly firm, benefitting from some kind of anticompetitive regulation, and its corresponding trade union have a common interest in spending resources to protect the monopoly rents created by the regulation. In the present paper, a situation in which the unionised monopoly is challenged by a consumer organisation fighting for deregulation is analysed as a standard Tullock rent-seeking contest. With unequal sharing of monopoly rents, the free-riding incentives among the rent-defending players turn out to be overwhelming, in the sense that the unique Nash equilibrium is characterised by zero effort contribution by the player with the lower valuation of the contested prize. This implies that being “strong”, in terms of bargaining strength, is not necessarily an advantage for neither player in a unionised monopoly that is threatened by deregulation.
Insights from Clearance Assessments of Fusion Power Plants : ARIES and PPCS

The development of commercial fusion plants includes the demonstration that the waste burden for future generations would be avoided. In order to minimize the radioactive material requiring long-term storage, maximum emphasis should be placed on recycling and clearance, avoiding geologic disposal. Clearance is the most desirable option for components like the vessel, shield, magnets and bioshield, which make up a great part of the mass and are only mildly irradiated. Recently, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other institutions have revised clearance guidelines for nuclear applications. In this paper, the implications of these new standards, particularly for slightly irradiated fusion materials, are considered. The amount of clearable materials is lower and/or the cooling period is longer than previously estimated. It becomes more evident now that improvements to the clearance data are needed to include many missing fusion-specific nuclides, and that the control and measurement of impurity levels, even for materials subjected to low neutron exposure, is important. Segregation of components into more basic parts also plays a key role in minimizing the amount of waste. Finally, the issue of public acceptability of cleared materials is discussed since the unrestricted release of radioactive materials to the market is still controversial, despite the extremely low level of activity (≤ 10 μSv/y)  way below the natural background.
High Speed and Sensitive X-ray Analysis System with Automated Aberration Correction Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope

We have developed a new HD-2700 (Hitachi High-Technologies Corp., Japan) scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) that includes an automatic aberration correction function, and a large-solid-angle energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy detector that enables high-resolution and sensitive analysis. For observation with atomic resolution, using spherical-aberration-corrected STEM, in order that satisfactory performance of the device can be achieved readily, and within a short time, irrespective of the operator’s skill level, a spherical-aberration-correction device with an automatic aberration-correction function was developed. This automatic aberration-correction function carries out the entire correction-related process (aberration measurement, selection and correction) automatically, with automatic selection of the aberrations that require correction, and automatic measurement of the appropriate corrections.
Bacteria Protozoa Metazoa Ammonium Nitrate Labile DOM Refractory DOM Phosphate Higher levels Semilabile DOM Phytoplankton Tricho-desmium Unicellular diazotroph N

Previous studies have focused on the role of labile dissolved organic matter (DOM) (defined as turnover time of ~1 d) in supporting heterotrophic bacterial production, but have mostly neglected semilabile DOM (defined as turnover time of ~100 to 1000 d) as a potential substrate for heterotrophic bacterial growth. To test the hypothesis that semilabile DOM supports substantial amounts of heterotrophic bacterial production in the open ocean, we constructed a 1-dimensional epipelagic ecosystem model and applied it to 3 open ocean sites: the Arabian Sea, Equatorial Pacific and Station ALOHA in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The model tracks carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus with flexible stoichiometry. This study used a large number of observations, including measurements of heterotrophic bacterial production rates and standing stocks, and DOM concentration data, to rigorously test and constrain model output. Data assimilation was successfully applied to optimize the model parameters and resulted in simultaneous representation of observed nitrate, phosphate, phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass, primary production, heterotrophic bacterial biomass and production, DOM, and suspended and sinking particulate organic matter. Across the 3 ocean ecosystems examined, the data assimilation suggests semilabile DOM may support 17 to 40% of heterotrophic bacterial carbon demand. In an experiment where bacteria only utilize labile DOM, and with more of the DOM production assigned to labile DOM, the model poorly represented the observations. These results suggest that semilabile DOM may play an important role in sustaining heterotrophic bacterial growth in diverse regions of the open ocean.
Distribution and size of corpora lutea in dairy cows during puerperium

: During puerperium phase in cows, uterus goes through involution process, while ovaries restore supressed cyclicity as a result of gestation. After 10-20 days postpartum (PP) luteinizing hormone (LH) levels begin to raise and renewal of cyclicity after parturition is probably most important factor for cows to successfuly conceive again. observed in right ovaries of cows in both groups, while corpora lutea were bigger in multiparous cows. Numbers and sizes of corpora lutea, may give an insight in quality of restoration of ovarian cyclicity and a solid base for prediction on future reproductive performances.
Spatial ability in primary school: effects of the Tridio® learning material

The Tridio® learning material, consisting of cubes and mosaic pieces and accompanying exercises involving isometric and orthogonal views, has been developed with the aim of enhancing children's spatial ability. This study investigated the effects of Tridio on 5th-graders' (11-year-olds') spatial ability, categorized in J. B. Carroll's (1993) factors spatial relations (SR) and visualization (VZ). A matched-pairs pretest-posttest design (25 pairs) was used. Experimental group children received a training with Tridio, consisting of five individual 30 min sessions. SR was measured using the Card Rotations test and the Flags test; the Paper Folding test and the Mental Rotations test were used as tests of VZ. The appropriateness of these tests for 11-year-olds was first examined in a pilot study. Furthermore, a content-specific test of Tridio performance was administered. Partial correlations between the content-specific and the spatial ability test scores, controlling for school performance, indicated that Tridio adds to the general school curriculum in focusing on spatial ability, but that not all types of Tridio exercises contribute to this. Transfer effects of the Tridio training on spatial ability were, however, not found. With a higher power, effects on SR may be found, but probably not on VZ. The found lack of effect on VZ may be due to the young age of the participants, or to the fact that many children did not get to the more complex Tridio exercises. Content-specific effects were present, indicating that children possibly learned something other than spatial ability
Real time and spatiotemporal data indexing for sensor based databases

The most important aspect of a system for emergency response is time. So it is necessary to organise fast storage of newly arriving data into databases, fast search of data, maintenance of time sequences, robustness of the systems. All of these processes have to be real time. Another important aspect for environmental risk monitoring for example, is to allow real-time queries based on spatiotemporal attributes. Fastest accesses to the most recent data are also necessary. In addition, real-time data collected into real time database from sensors require fast and efficient management to avoid main memory saturation. The paper discusses real-time spatiotemporal indexing schemes and real time management of main memory. Some possible solutions for real time spatiotemporal data indexing are presented to allow real time and fast data structuring. The proposed index methods support queries privileging recent data. One of the presented indexing solutions is dedicated to real time spatiotemporal data issued from fixed sensors. Another one is dedicated to real time spatiotemporal data collected from agile sensors. Finally, an outline solution concerning management of real time memory saturation according to the significance of data is presented.
The Impact of Smoking Cessation Training-Counseling Programs on Success of Quitting Smoking in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

Background: The smokers who use supportive programs have a greater chance to quit smoking. Smoking cessation recommendation is one of the most important prevention and treatment methods mentioned in care guidelines provided for patients with acute coronary syndrome. Aim: The main objective of this study is to determine the effects of training-counseling programs on smoking cessation in patients with acute coronary syndrome. Method: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 51 patients with acute coronary syndrome in Ghaem and Imam Reza hospitals in Mashhad, 2015, after filling the Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (MONICA) questionnaire, were categorized into two groups. Intervention group received smoking cessation training-counseling program and control group received some advices/recommendations to quit smoking. After a three-month telephone follow-up, smoking cessation standard questionnaire was filled for all patients. The data were analyzed using SPSS v11.5 and Chi-square test. Results: The age of study participants was 52. 6Â± 7.9 and 56. 2Â±12.3 for intervention and control group, respectively. According to Chi-square test, a significant difference was observed between intervention and control groups in first through fifth stages after the intervention in terms ofÂ succeed to quit smoking (p<0/05), but this difference wasnâ��t significant in sixth stage after intervention (p=0/06). Implications for Practice: According to the findings of the study and given that the nurses are in the frontline of treatment process and also because they spend more time with patients and have a major impact on them, it is suggested to take advantage of the nurses to improve smoking cessation training-counseling programs regarding patients with acute coronary syndrome.
ADMM for multiaffine constrained optimization

ABSTRACT We expand the scope of the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). Specifically, we show that ADMM, when employed to solve problems with multiaffine constraints that satisfy certain verifiable assumptions, converges to the set of constrained stationary points if the penalty parameter in the augmented Lagrangian is sufficiently large. When the Kurdyka–Łojasiewicz (K–Ł) property holds, this is strengthened to convergence to a single constrained stationary point. Our analysis applies under assumptions that we have endeavoured to make as weak as possible. It applies to problems that involve nonconvex and/or nonsmooth objective terms, in addition to the multiaffine constraints that can involve multiple (three or more) blocks of variables. To illustrate the applicability of our results, we describe examples including nonnegative matrix factorization, sparse learning, risk parity portfolio selection, nonconvex formulations of convex problems and neural network training. In each case, our ADMM approach encounters only subproblems that have closed-form solutions.
Accuracy of Doppler Echocardiographic Estimates of Pulmonary Artery Pressures at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center Riyadh

Background and Objectives: The accuracy of Doppler echocardiography in estimating pulmonary arterial hypertension has been a center of debate with recent reports suggesting poor correlation between the Doppler echocardiographic estimation of pulmonary pressure with the one measured by right heart catheterization. Our aim is to study the correlation between the Doppler echocardiographic estimates of pulmonary artery pressures with the right heart catheterization measured pulmonary artery pressures at our center. Design and Settings: This is a non-randomized, retrospective, observational study. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 100 consecutive patients was done who have undergone the echocardiogram and right heart catheterization within 3 months of each other during the last five years at our hospital. Results: There was a moderate correlation between PASP determined during RHC and estimated PASP using Doppler echocardiography (Pearson correlation r = 0.51, P < 0.0001). Using the predefined definition of an inaccurate Doppler echocardiographic estimation of PASP as ± 10 mmHg different from PASP measured during RHC, we found that Doppler echocardiography was inaccurate 49% (49/100) of the time. When inaccurate, Doppler Echocardiography overestimated PASP by as much as 38 mmHg and underestimated PASP by as much as 37 mmHg. Conclusion: The Doppler echocardiographic estimates of PASP were found inaccurate at our center.
Skew-Normal Variational Approximations for Bayesian Inference

A new variational approximation based on multivariate skew-normal densities is developed. This paper overcomes most of the computational difficulties associated with the proposed approximation and shows for several examples how the method can significantly improve upon accuracy of the Laplace approximation, integrated nested Laplace approximation and Gaussian variational approximations whilst being significantly faster than Markov chain Monte Carlo methods.
Determinants of Portfolio Performance II: An Update

This article presents a framework for determining the contributions of different aspects of the investment management process—asset allocation policy, active asset allocation, and security selection—to the total return of investment portfolios. Data from 82 large pension plans indicate that asset allocation policy, however determined, is the overwhelmingly dominant contributor to total return. Active investment decisions by plan sponsors and managers did little on average to improve performance over the 10-year period December 1977 to December 1987. The performance attribution framework is also extended to account for actual and synthetic cash holdings within asset classes.
Unification of the Anelastic and Quasi-Hydrostatic Systems of Equations

Abstract A system of equations is presented that unifies the nonhydrostatic anelastic system and the quasi-hydrostatic compressible system for use in global cloud-resolving models. By using a properly defined quasi-hydrostatic density in the continuity equation, the system is fully compressible for quasi-hydrostatic motion and anelastic for purely nonhydrostatic motion. In this way, the system can cover a wide range of horizontal scales from turbulence to planetary waves while filtering vertically propagating sound waves of all scales. The continuity equation is primarily diagnostic because the time derivative of density is calculated from the thermodynamic (and surface pressure tendency) equations as a correction to the anelastic continuity equation. No reference state is used and no approximations are made in the momentum and thermodynamic equations. An equation that governs the time change of total energy is also derived. Normal-mode analysis on an f plane without the quasigeostrophic approximation and.
Uniform detection of the pre‐main‐sequence population in the five embedded clusters related to the H ii region NGC 2174 (Sh2‐252)

We investigate 5 embedded clusters (ECs) and the extended stellar group itself of the prominent H II region NGC 2174 (Sh2-252), which presents scarce and heterogeneous information, coming from the optical and infrared. Considering the discrepant values of distance and age, the clusters and the HII region appear to be physically unrelated. The analysis is based on field-star decontaminated 2MASS photometry, which allows sampling the pre-main sequence (PMS). We find that Sh2-252A, C, E, NGC2175s, and Teu 136 are small ECs (radius within 1.0 2.3pc) characterised by a similar age (� 5Myr), reddening (AV � 1), distance from the Sun (d� � 1.4kpc), and low mass (60 200M� ). This age is consistent with the H II region, the presence of O and B stars still in the MS, and the dominance (& 95% in number) of PMS stars in colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs). NGC 2175 is not a star cluster, but an extended stellar group that encompasses the ECs Sh2-252A and C. It contains � 36% of the member stars (essentially PMS) in the area, with the remaining belonging to the 2 ECs. CMDs of the overall star-forming region and the ECs provide d� = 1.4 ± 0.4kpc for the NGC2174 complex, consistent with the value estimated for the physically-related association GemOB1. Our uniform approach shows that NGC 2174 and its related ECs (except, perhaps, for Teu 136) are part of a single star-forming complex. CMD similarities among the ECs and the overall region suggest a coeval (to within ±5Myr) star-forming event extending for several Myr. At least 4 ECs originated in the event, together with the off-cluster star formation that probably gave rise to the scattered stars of NGC2175.