Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Mitochondrial Proteomic Signatures of Human Skeletal Muscle Linked to Insulin Resistance

Introduction: Mitochondria are essential in energy metabolism and cellular survival, and there is growing evidence that insulin resistance in chronic metabolic disorders, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and aging, is linked to mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle. Protein profiling by proteomics is a powerful tool to investigate mechanisms underlying complex disorders. However, despite significant advances in proteomics within the past two decades, the technologies have not yet been fully exploited in the field of skeletal muscle proteome. Area covered: Here, we review the currently available studies characterizing the mitochondrial proteome in human skeletal muscle in insulin-resistant conditions, such as obesity, T2D, and aging, as well as exercise-mediated changes in the mitochondrial proteome. Furthermore, we outline technical challenges and limitations and methodological aspects that should be considered when planning future large-scale proteomics studies of mitochondria from human skeletal muscle. Authors’ view: At present, most proteomic studies of skeletal muscle or isolated muscle mitochondria have demonstrated a reduced abundance of proteins in several mitochondrial biological processes in obesity, T2D, and aging, whereas the beneficial effects of exercise involve an increased content of muscle proteins involved in mitochondrial metabolism. Powerful mass-spectrometry-based proteomics now provides unprecedented opportunities to perform in-depth proteomics of muscle mitochondria, which in the near future is expected to increase our understanding of the complex molecular mechanisms underlying the link between mitochondrial dysfunction and insulin resistance in chronic metabolic disorders.
Burden of respiratory infections and otitis media in the Inuit population of Nunavik, Quebec, Canada

ABSTRACT Background Respiratory infections are a major health problem in the Inuit population of Nunavik, province of Quebec, Canada. Objectives A study was undertaken to assess the burden of lower (LRTI) and upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and otitis media (OM) and to explore some of their determinants including the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) status. Methods The reference population includes children less than 5 years of age born in 1994–2010 and a sample of 825 children was selected for this study. Outpatient medical records were reviewed. Visits with a diagnosis of LRTI, URTI and OM were extracted. Univariate and multivariate statistical analyses were performed to identify predictors of disease risk. Results The average number of LRTI, URTI and OM episodes were, respectively, 2.6, 6.2 and 5.9 from birth up to the 5th birthday. Seasonal patterns were similar for URTI and OM, but was different for LRTI. Children who received the recommended 4 PCV doses had a lower LRTI and OM risk than unvaccinated children. There was a trend towards a lower OM risk associated with a mixed PCV10+ PCV13 schedule compared with PCV7. Conclusion Results suggest a lower LRTI and OM risk associated with PCV use in this high-risk population but respiratory disease risk remains high compared with the general population in Quebec.
Evaluating the Environmental Effect of Pesticides: A Critique of the Environmental Impact Quotient

The environmental impact quotient (EIQ) developed by Kovach et al. (1. Kovach, C. Petzoldt, J. Degni & J. Tette. 1992. A method to measure the environmental effect of pesticides. N.Y. Food Life Sci. Bull. No. 139.) is an effort to fill an important gap: the need to provide growers and others with easy-to-use information about the adverse effects of pesticides. However, flaws in both the formula and its conceptual underpinnings serve to make the information provided misleading. Although Kovach et al. provides a great deal of information and many interesting ideas, we recommend that EIQ presented there not be used as a tool to evaluate field applications of pesticides. Further, current understanding of pesticides and their effects is not sufficient to allow the environmental effects of a pesticide to be captured by a single number. We discuss alternate ways to provide growers and policymakers with usable information about pesticides.
The Persuasive Automobile: Design and Evaluation of a Persuasive Lane-Specific Advice Human Machine Interface

Traffic congestion is a major societal challenge. By advising drivers on the optimal lane to drive, traffic flow can be improved, and congestion reduced. In this paper we describe the development of a lane-specific advice Human Machine Interface (HMI). Persuading drivers to follow an advice that is beneficial to the traffic situation, but may not be immediately beneficial to the drivers themselves, is challenging. In this paper we define persuasive elements to encourage drivers to follow the lane-specific advices. We then describe the interface design process, followed by its evaluation using a driving simulator study. In the simulator study, the effect of two types of persuasion are evaluated: a competitive variant where drivers could earn points and compete with others, and a cooperative variant where real-time information on the number of compliant drivers was available. Participants drove in the simulator on two days. Between days, the treatment groups viewed a Web-portal showing their performance and encouragement from an avatar. Those in the competitive and cooperative groups followed significantly more advices (117 and 111) than those in the control group (89). No significant differences were visible between competitive and cooperative groups. The differences between groups only emerged on the second day.
Enthalpy-based Output Feedback Control of the Stefan Problem with Hysteresis*

This paper presents an observer and an output feedback control with respect to a reference solution for the one-phase Stefan problem under input hysteresis. The one-phase Stefan problem describes evolution of the temperature and melting-solidification front in liquid-solid material. The setting models an industrial casting process, and experiments have revealed the existence of hysteresis due to boiling of the cooling water at the surface of the casting process. Therefore, one-phase Stefan problem with water cooling hysteresis under Neumann boundary actuation is considered. Full state feedback control law for this problem was designed and proved to provide asymptotic convergence of both temperature distribution and the solidification front. However, for the casting process, only boundary sensing is available. To address the latter problem, the present paper proposes an observer that estimates the temperature profile based on the available surface temperature measurement, taking into account boundary input hysteresis. The stability of the observer is proved with Lypanov method. Finally, an output feedback control law is proposed and proved to ensure asymptotic convergence of the temperature and the solidification front errors to zero. A numerical example presents the application of the method proposed.
Low-Complexity On-Demand Reconstruction for Compressively Sensed Problematic Signals

Compressed Sensing (CS) is a revolutionary technology for realizing low-power sensor nodes through sub-Nyquist sampling, and the CS reconstruction engines have been widely studied to fulfill the energy efficiency for real-time processing. However, in most cases, we only want to analyze the problematic signals which account for a very low percentage. Therefore, large efforts will be wasted if we recover uninterested signals. On the other hand, in order to identify the high-risk signals, additional hardware and computation overhead are required for classification other than CS reconstruction. In this paper, to achieve low-complexity on-demand CS reconstruction, we propose a two-stage classification-aided reconstruction (TS-CAR) framework. The compressed signals can be classified with a sparse coding based classifier, which provides the hardware sharing potential with reconstruction. Furthermore, to accelerate the reconstruction speed, a cross-domain sparse transform is applied from classification to reconstruction. TS-CAR is implemented in electrocardiography based atrial fibrillation (AF) detection. The average computational cost of TS-CAR is 2.25× fewer compared to traditional frameworks when AF percentage is among 10% to 50%. Finally, we implement TS-CAR in TSMC 40 nm technology. The post-layout results show that the proposed intelligent CS reconstruction engine can provide a competitive area- and energy-efficiency compared to state-of-the-art CS and machine learning engines.
Towards deep iterative-reconstruction algorithms for computed tomography (CT) applications

We introduce a new approach for designing deep learning algorithms for computed tomography applications. Rather than training generically-structured neural network architectures to equivalently perform imaging tasks, we show how to leverage classical iterative-reconstruction algorithms such as Newton-Raphson and expectation- maximization (EM) to bootstrap network performance to a good initialization-point, with a well-understood baseline of performance. Specifically, we demonstrate a natural and systematic way to design these networks for both transmission-mode x-ray computed tomography (XRCT) and emission-mode single-photon computed tomography (SPECT), highlighting that our method is capable of preserving many of the nice properties, such as convergence and understandability, that is featured in classical approaches. The key contribution of this work is a formulation of the reconstruction task that enables data-driven improvements in image clarity and artifact reduction without sacrificing understandability. In this early work, we evaluate our method on a number of synthetic phantoms, highlighting some of the benefits and difficulties of this machine-learning approach.
SPIMN Stateful Packet Inspection for Multi Gigabits Networks

Stateful Packet Inspection (SPI) is the most important area of Network Intrusion Detection Systems (NIDS (However it must be operated in multi-Gigabit speeds, to trace and reassemble every connection, and examine every packet flow. I proposed Stateful Packet Inspection for Multi Gigabits Networks (SPIMN). It is customized hardware to achieve a more efficient and faster online inspection system. A generic architecture of SPIMN is based on using FPGA and Header Inspection. Therefore, Xilinx ISE 14.1 used in the design and in the simulation to test the design before the implementation on FPGA Virtex-7 by creating a Test-bench circuit. Finally, the testing and evaluation of SPIMN indicate that this model can work with more than 2,000 Snort rules on 100 Gigabit Ethernet networks.
CoopeRA: Cooperator Resource Allocation Algorithm based On Clustering and D2D Transmissions in LTE Heterogeneous Networks and 5G networks

This paper proposes a new approach, Cooperator Resource Allocation Algorithm (CoopeRA), to improve the radio resources allocation scheme and reduce the impact of congestion in LTE Heterogeneous network (HetNets) and 5G networks by using Device-to-Device (D2D) communications and by borrowing some adjacent Macro-cell resources from the neighboring nodes that are belonging to the same WLAN network but not to same Macro-cell. Our solution is based on cluster construction and D2D transmissions in Local Area Networks (LAN) to relay the traffic of users belonging to congested LTE cells. Our new algorithm increases the number of new calls in the congested Macro-cell, even if the resources are limited. The simulation validates this study when the results shows the performance of our mechanism.
Skimping on Gas - Reducing Ethereum Transaction Costs in a Blockchain Electricity Market Application

In recent years, information systems have not been largely evaluated by their operating costs, but mainly by their strategic benefit and competitive advantage. As blockchain-based decentralized applications become more commonplace, representing a shift towards fully consumption-based distributed computing, a new mode of thinking is required of developers, with meticulous attention to computational resource efficiency. This study improves on a blockchain application designed for conducting microtransactions of electricity in a nanogrid environment. By applying the design science research methodology, we improve the efficiency of the application’s smart contract by 11 %, with further improvement opportunities identified. Despite the results, we find the efficiency remains inadequate for public Ethereum deployment. From the optimization process, we extrapolate a set of general guidelines for optimizing the efficiency of Ethereum smart contracts in any application.
In-the-Field Mitigation of Process Variability for Improved FPGA Performance

The mitigation of process variability becomes paramount as chip fabrication advances deeper into the sub-micron regime. Conservative guard-bands result in considerable performance loss, while most low-level solutions impede dynamic customization at application level. This paper exploits the existing process variability of commercial off-the-shelf FPGAs to improve the operating frequency of a design, in-the-field, at anytime during the lifetime of a chip. We begin by measuring variability in prevalent FPGAs and assessing its impact on the performance of common DSP benchmarks. For the former, we develop a custom sensing network of Ring-Oscillators to generate detailed 2D maps per chip. For the latter, we perform intensive testing and statistical analysis to establish the relation between variability maps and benchmark frequencies. Accordingly, we propose a framework to automatically characterize the user's devices, place the design on the most efficient region, and scale its frequency based on user requirements and functional verification. Experimental results on 20 FPGAs of 28 nm Xilinx technology show up to 13 percent intra-die and 30 percent inter-die variability; with limited cost, our framework provides 10$-$-14.7 percent average gain by exploiting such variability, or up to 56$-$-138 percent by also customizing the guard-band.
Goatsrue (Galega officinalis) Response to Herbicides

Abstract Goatsrue response to eight herbicide treatments was evaluated in greenhouse and field trials. Herbicides tested on goatsrue grown from seed in the greenhouse included 2,4-D amine, dicamba, chlorsulfuron, picloram, imazapyr, imazamox, aminopyralid, and triclopyr. Each herbicide was applied at rates of 0.125×, 0.25×, 0.5×, 1.0×, and 2.0×, where X is equal to the labeled rate. Goatsrue was most sensitive to the acetolactate synthase inhibitors chlorsulfuron and imazapyr, with 50% inhibition values of 0.07× (3.7g ai ha−1) and 0.16× (90 g ai ha−1) respectively. Goatsrue did not respond to increasing 2,4-D and imazamox rates. Herbicides evaluated in the greenhouse were also tested at two field sites (Smithfield and Amalga, UT), except imazamox, which was replaced by metsulfuron. Field studies gave some varying results, but overall showed that chlorsulfuron, metsulfuron, aminopyralid, and picloram gave at least 93% control at Smithfield, and 89% control at Amalga 24 mo after treatment (MAT). Treatments of chlorsulfuron, metsulfuron, aminopyralid, and picloram were also effective at increasing perennial grass cover at Smithfield 24 MAT. All treatments at Smithfield decreased seedling goatsrue cover, whereas only aminopyralid and picloram decreased seedling cover at Amlaga 11 MAT. Nomenclature: 2,4-D amine; dicamba; chlorsulfuron; picloram; imazapyr; imazamox; aminopyralid; triclopyr; metsulfuron; goatsrue, Galega officinalis L
Cardiac rehabilitation in patients with peripheral arterial disease after revascularization

Objectives To evaluate safety, feasibility, and benefit of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) who undergo revascularization. Methods We conducted a prospective, non-randomized, pilot study to assess the feasibility, safety, and benefit of CR in PAD patients after revascularization compared to standard of care (controls). CR feasibility was assessed by the ability to complete 36 sessions. Safety was defined as the absence of adverse cardiovascular events during CR. Quality of life (QoL) assessment was performed using SF-36 form (Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey) and PAD-specific quality of life questionnaire (VascuQOL6). Other endpoints included incidence of claudication during 6-minute walk test (6MWT), mean distance, and number of laps walked. All outcome data were collected before and after CR completion. Standard statistical tests were used for comparisons. Results This study enrolled 20 subjects (CR group = 10). Mean age was 60.70 (±7.13) and 63.1 (±9.17) years in CR and controls, respectively (p-value > 0.05). Fifty percent and 60% were female in CR and control group, respectively. All subjects completed 36 CR sessions without adverse events. The increase in mean distance walked during 6MWT was higher in the CR group compared to control group (63.7 m vs. 10.5 m, p = 0.043). Change in mean number of laps walked was higher in the CR group (3.5 vs. –1.1; p < 0.01). Scores on 6 of 8 scales of SF-36 and VascuQOL6 were higher in the CR group, though not statistically significant. Conclusion CR is safe, feasible, and improves walking ability in ambulatory patients with PAD after arterial revascularization.
Omalizumab for the treatment of chronic inducible urticaria in 80 patients

Recruited were 80 participants with conditions as follows: solar urticaria (n=27), cold urticaria (n=22), symptomatic dermographism (n=11), cholinergic urticaria (n=10), delayed pressure urticaria (n=7), aquagenic urticaria (n=2), and heat urticaria (n=1). To compare the therapeutic benefits for different CindU subtypes, we evaluated response to omalizumab 300mg/4w using the Urticaria Control Test (UCT),1 grouping patients according to response: complete response (UCT=16); satisfactory response (UCT≥12-15); and non-response (UCT<12). We also analysed time to a satisfactory/complete response (fast ≤3 months and slow >4 months). We used omalizumab according to the EAACI/GA2 LEN/EDF/WAO guideline recommendations.
A Two-step LMI Scheme for H2 − H∞ Control Design

In this paper, a two-step H<inf>2</inf> − H<inf>∞</inf> control design scheme with guaranteed mixed H<inf>2</inf> and H<inf>∞</inf> performance is proposed. Different from the traditional H<inf>2</inf>/H<inf>∞</inf> control, the proposed method designs an H<inf>2</inf> controller for a nominal plant and then designs an extra Q operator to recover robustness in H<inf>∞</inf> sense for the closed-loop system. When the system uncertainty occurs, operator Q is triggered by a residual signal due to the error between the nominal model and the actual plants, and an extra control signal is generated by operator Q to compensate the nominal H<inf>2</inf> controller. It is noted that the proposed H<inf>2</inf> − H<inf>∞</inf> design scheme provides additional design freedom to reduce conservativeness, comparing with the traditional mixed H<inf>2</inf>/H<inf>∞</inf> control. The control design in the Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) approach is applied to synthesize the H<inf>2</inf> − H<inf>∞</inf> controller. Simulation results of a numerical example are given to demonstrate that H<inf>2</inf> − H<inf>∞</inf> control design is able to compensate the nominal H<inf>2</inf> control and significantly improve system performance in the presence of system uncertainty. Moreover, two-step H<inf>2</inf> −H<inf>∞</inf> control renders better state responses than the traditional mixed H<inf>2</inf>/H<inf>∞</inf> control.
Energy Allocation for Short-Packet Massive Multiple Access with Two-Iteration Successive Decoding

An optimum energy allocation for massive user networks operating under iterative successive interference cancellation (I-SIC) is derived in this work. We analyze an uplink setting where a large network of cost-effective low-power users employ a practical transmission scheme consisting of the same channel encoder followed by spread spectrum modulation. Variational calculus (VC) is utilized to derive the asymptotic large-user energy distribution that favors I-SIC’s performance, in terms of spectral efficiency (SE), when at most two decoding attempts per user are performed. The capacity region under random spreading and SIC operating in the infinite blocklength regime is evaluated and contrasted with the maximized SE using short packets.
Body size and probability of description: the beetle fauna of Britain

The interaction between the species richness of higher taxa and the body sizes of the species they contain has been a recurrent theme in ecology and evolutionary biology (e.g. Van Valen, 1973; May, 1978, 1986, 1988; Dial & Marzluff, 1988; Kochmer & Wagner, 1988). However, as May (1978) noted, a major obstacle to an improved understanding of this relationship is that described species are patently not a random subset of all species with respect to their body sizes. Larger species tend to have a greater probability of description than smaller. Thus, vertebrate groups are better known than most invertebrate groups, the butterflies and dragonflies are better known than other insect groups, and most of the mammal and bird species discovered this century have been small (Diamond, 1985). Unfortunately, most of the evidence for an influence of body size upon the likelihood of a species being described is, like that above, somewhat anecdotal. To my knowledge, n o study has sought systematic trends in the dates of description of species of different body sizes for a particular taxon. Nonetheless, given that we do not have sufficient time to describe all of the tropical fauna before much of it is lost (SoulC, 1990), gaining an understanding of any such patterns may provide an important key to the biases in that proportion of the fauna which we will manage to describe. It might also suggest ways in which we might usefully modify the future emphasis of species description.
An Android Inline Hooking Framework for the Securing Transmitted Data

Information leaks can occur through many Android applications, including unauthorized access to sensors data. Hooking is an important technique for protecting Android applications and add security features to them even without its source code. Various hooking frameworks are developed to intercept events and process their own specific events. The hooking tools for Java methods are varied, however, the native hook has few methods. Besides, the commonly used Android hook frameworks cannot meet the requirement of hooking the native methods in shared libraries on non-root devices. Even though some approaches are able to hook these methods, they have limitations or are complicated to implement. In the paper, a feasible hooking approach for Android native methods is proposed and implemented, which does not need any modifications to both the Android framework and app’s code. In this approach, the method’s reference address is modified and control flow is redirected. Beyond that, this study combines this approach with VirtualXposed which aims to run it without root privileges. This hooking framework can be used to enforce security policies and monitor sensitive methods in shared objects. The evaluation of the scheme demonstrates its capability to perform hook operation without a significant runtime performance overhead on real devices and it is compatible and functional for the native hook.