Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Force control of wire driving lower limb rehabilitation robot

BACKGROUND: To solve the technical problems associated with the research on lower limb rehabilitation robot in terms of configuration design, human-machine compatibility, lightweight, and multimodel rehabilitation. OBJECTIVE: This study introduced a parallel wire driving lower limb rehabilitation robot. The robot featured modular design, reconfiguration, multimodel, and good human-machine compatibility. METHODS: The dynamics model of the wire driving module (WDM) was built based on which a multiple feedback loop controller (including a forward controller and a surplus force compensator) was designed. RESULTS: The experimental results showed that the WDM could load force accurately and reliably during the loading procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The machinery and control system of the WDM met the design request.
G T ] 6 M ay 2 01 8 Simple Games versus Weighted Voting Games ⋆

A simple game (N, v) is given by a set N of n players and a partition of 2 into a set L of losing coalitions L with value v(L) = 0 that is closed under taking subsets and a set W of winning coalitions W with v(W ) = 1. Simple games with α = minp≥0 maxW∈W,L∈L p(L) p(W ) < 1 are known as weighted voting games. Freixas and Kurz (IJGT, 2014) conjectured that α ≤ 1 4 n for every simple game (N, v). We confirm this conjecture for two complementary cases, namely when all minimal winning coalitions have size 3 and when no minimal winning coalition has size 3. As a general bound we prove that α ≤ 2 7 n for every simple game (N, v). For complete simple games, Freixas and Kurz conjectured that α = O( √ n). We prove this conjecture up to a lnn factor. We also prove that for graphic simple games, that is, simple games in which every minimal winning coalition has size 2, computing α is NP-hard, but polynomial-time solvable if the underlying graph is bipartite. Moreover, we show that for every graphic simple game, deciding if α < a is polynomial-time solvable for every fixed a > 0.
Impact of cardiosynchronous brain pulsations on Monte Carlo calculated doses for synchrotron micro‐ and minibeam radiation therapy

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of brain movements induced by heartbeat on dose distributions in synchrotron micro‐ and minibeam radiation therapy and to develop a model to help guide decisions and planning for future clinical trials. Methods The Monte Carlo code PENELOPE was used to simulate the irradiation of a human head phantom with a variety of micro‐ and minibeam arrays, with beams narrower than 100 μm and above 500 μm, respectively, and with radiation fields of 1 × 2 cm and 2 × 2 cm. The dose in the phantom due to these beams was calculated by superposing the dose profiles obtained for a single beam of 1 μm × 2 cm. A parameter δ, accounting for the total displacement of the brain during the irradiation and due to the cardiosynchronous pulsation, was used to quantify the impact on peak‐to‐valley dose ratios and the full width at half maximum. Results The difference between the maximum (at the phantom entrance) and the minimum (at the phantom exit) values of the peak‐to‐valley dose ratio reduces when the parameter δ increases. The full width at half maximum remains almost constant with depth for any δ value. Sudden changes in the two quantities are observed at the interfaces between the various tissues (brain, skull, and skin) present in the head phantom. The peak‐to‐valley dose ratio at the center of the head phantom reduces when δ increases, remaining above 70% of the static value only for minibeams and δ smaller than ∼200 μm. Conclusions Optimal setups for brain treatments with synchrotron radiation micro‐ and minibeam combs depend on the brain displacement due to cardiosynchronous pulsation. Peak‐to‐valley dose ratios larger than 90% of the maximum values obtained in the static case occur only for minibeams and relatively large dose rates.
Small heat shock proteins genes are differentially expressed in distinct varieties of common bean

Plants respond to temperature stress by synthesizing a set of heat shock proteins (HSPs), which may be responsible for the acquisition of thermotolerance. In this study, the induction of small HSPs (sHSPs) in eight common bean varieties was evaluated by Northern blot analysis using the W HSP 16.9 cDNA as heterologous probe. Cowpea was used, as a positive control since this plant, as opposed to common bean, is known to grow well under high temperature regimes such as that found in the Brazilian semi-arid region. After the growth period, the plants were submitted to two h of heat shock at 40 oC. All varieties tested were able to induce sHSP mRNAs that hybridized with W HSP 16.9 probe. However, significant kinetic differences were found when comparing different varieties. SHSP mRNA levels induced after heat shock in cowpea was higher than the levels observed on the bean varieties displaying the highest expression of these proteins. Besides, the sHSP expression was also assessed at the protein accumulation level by Western-blot analysis for cowpea and both IPA 7 and Negro Argel varieties of bean plants. The revealed protein pattern confirmed that sHSPs are differentially expressed in distinct varieties of common bean according their heat stress tolerance.
Hypermethylation of CpG islands is associated with increasing chromosomal damage in chinese lead‐exposed workers

Lead is a widely existing environmental pollutant with potential carcinogenicity. To investigate the association of blood lead level (B‐Pb) with potential chromosomal damage and cancer, we analyzed micronucleus (MN) frequency of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) and the methylation status of six human tumor suppressor genes (TSGs) post lead exposure. In the study, 147 lead‐exposed workers were divided into two groups according to their B‐Pb P50 value, with other 50 lead‐unexposed workers as a control group. The cytokinesis‐blocked micronucleus (CBMN) assay was performed to detect chromosomal damage of PBLs of both lead‐exposed and ‐unexposed workers. The methylation‐specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP‐PCR) was further used to examine the methylation status of six TSGs (GSTP1, hMLH1, MGMT, p14, p15, and p16). Results showed that MN frequencies of high B‐Pb workers 8.1 ± 3.1‰ and low B‐Pb workers 5.7 ± 2.3‰ were significantly higher than that of control group 2.8 ± 1.9‰ (P < 0.01), while the MN frequency of high B‐Pb workers was also higher than that of the low B‐Pb workers (P < 0.01). The MN frequency in PBLs of lead‐exposed group with the methylated TSGs was significantly higher than that in PBLs with the unmethylated TSGs (P < 0.05). Notably, the CpG island methylator phenotype (CIMP) correlated with chromosome damage (P < 0.05). Additionally, workers with high B‐Pb had higher chromosome damage than those with low B‐Pb (P < 0.05). Taken altogether, the results suggest that lead‐exposed workers with CIMP positive and high B‐Pb have a higher risk of being vulnerable to tumorigenesis. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 59:549–556, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Potential of Sentinel-1 Images for Estimating the Soil Roughness over Bare Agricultural Soils

The purpose of this study is to analyze the potential of Sentinel-1 C-band SAR data in VV polarization for estimating the surface roughness (Hrms) over bare agricultural soils. An inversion technique based on Multi-Layer Perceptron neural networks is used. It involves two steps. First, a neural network (NN) is used for estimating the soil moisture without taking into account the soil roughness. Then, a second neural network is used for retrieving the soil roughness when using as an input to the network the soil moisture that was estimated by the first network. The neural networks are trained and validated using simulated datasets generated from the radar backscattering model IEM (Integral Equation Model) with the range of soil moisture and surface roughness encountered in agricultural environments. The inversion approach is then validated using Sentinel-1 images collected over two agricultural study sites, one in France and one in Tunisia. Results show that the use of C-band in VV polarization for estimating the soil roughness does not allow a reliable estimate of the soil roughness. From the synthetic dataset, the achievable accuracy of the Hrms estimates is about 0.94 cm when using the soil moisture estimated by the NN built with a priori information on the moisture volumetric content “mv” (accuracy of mv is about 6 vol. %). In addition, an overestimation of Hrms for low Hrms-values and an underestimation of Hrms for Hrms higher than 2 cm are observed. From a real dataset, results show that the accuracy of the estimates of Hrms in using the mv estimated over a wide area (few km2) is similar to that in using the mv estimated at the plot scale (RMSE about 0.80 cm).
Estimating the Economic Burden Related to Older Adult Falls by State

Objective: Unintentional falls in older adults (persons 65 years of age and older) impose a significant economic burden on the health care system. Methods for calculating state-specific health care costs are limited. This study describes 2 methods to estimate state-level direct medical spending due to older adult falls and explains their differences, advantages, and limitations. Design: The first method, partial attributable fraction, applied a national attributable fraction to the total state health expenditure accounts in 2014 by payer type (Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance). The second method, count applied to cost, obtained 2014 state counts of older adults treated and released from an emergency department and hospitalized because of a fall injury. The counts in each state were multiplied by the national average lifetime medical costs for a fall-related injury from the Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System. Costs are reported in 2014 US dollars. Setting: United States. Participants: Older adults. Main Outcome Measure: Health expenditure on older adult falls by state. Results: The estimate from the partial attributable fraction method was higher than the estimate from the count applied to cost method for all states compared, except Utah. Based on the partial attributable fraction method, in 2014, total personal health care spending for older adult falls ranged from $48 million in Alaska to $4.4 billion in California. Medicare spending attributable to older adult falls ranged from $22 million in Alaska to $3.0 billion in Florida. For the count applied to cost method, available for 17 states, the lifetime medical costs of 2014 fall-related injuries ranged from $68 million in Vermont to $2.8 billion in Florida. Conclusions: The 2 methods offer states options for estimating the economic burden attributable to older adult fall injuries. These estimates can help states make informed decisions about how to allocate funding to reduce falls and promote healthy aging.
Study of Process Parameters Affecting the Diameter and Morphology of Electrospun Polyvinylidene Fluoride ( PVDF ) Nanofibers

The recent developments in technology are to design and manufacture the devices of portable size with increase in efficiency, less energy consumption and more effectiveness. Fabrication of nanofibers of different polymer solution and their increasing use in wide range of applications is directing towards this. Out of different manufacturing techniques of nanofibers, electrospinning is the simple, more productive and low cost method. In this study, the nanofibers of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) in solvent Dimethyl formamide (DMF) are spun with the help of electrospinning technique at different combination of input parameters such as concentration, voltage, flow rate and distance between collector and syringe tip. Taguchi method of design of experiments (L9) is used for combination of these input parameters. Further, the diameter and morphology of collected nanofibers are studied with the help of SEM images. The objective is being to study the effects of parameters and produce nanofibers of minimum diameter and defect free morphology by controlling the input parameters.
Common femoral artery endarterectomy in the age of endovascular therapy

Objectives Common femoral artery endarterectomy (CFE) is the standard treatment for common femoral artery occlusive disease. We aim to assess the medium term outcomes of CFE with or without further concomitant procedures. Design A retrospective observational study. Methods All patients who underwent either isolated CFE (ICFE), CFE with angioplasty for occlusive arterial disease (CFEA) or concomitant CFE with endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (CFEE) were included. Patient demographics follow up, clinical improvement, types of CFE closure, patency rates, and survival-free amputation were noted. Results From 2002 to 2015, 1512 patients were referred with a diagnosis of critical limb ischemia. Of those, 1134 required revascularization. Sixty-one patients underwent 66 CFE. Ten limbs underwent an ICFE, 35 had CFEA, and 21 underwent CFEE. Demographics were comparable in all groups. Twenty-seven were closed primarily, while 39 required patch closure (12 venous, 8 Dacron, 19 biological). Technical success was 100% in ICFEs, 94% in CFEA, and 100% for CFEE (p = 0.274). Immediate clinical success was 100% in both CFE and CFEE, but was 85.7% in CFEA (p = 0.035). Immediate hemodynamic success was similar in all three groups (p = 0.73). Sustained hemodynamic success was 30% in ICFE, 54.3% in CFEA, and 23.8% in CFEE (p = 0.056). At two years, the primary patency was 90% in ICFE, 74.3% in CFEA, and 100% in CFEE (p = 0.049). Primary-assisted patency was 90% in ICFE, 82.9% in CFEA, and 100% in CFEE (p = 0.17). Secondary patency was 90% in ICFE, 94.3% in CFEA, and 100% in CFEE (p = 0.409). Re-intervention was required in 26.9% of primary closures, versus 12.8% with patch closures (p = 0.279). Amputation-free survival was 100% in ICFE, 80% in CFEA, and 100% in CFEE (p = 0.056). Conclusion CFE is a reliable and dependable procedure, even in the absence of good distal runoff.
Information unequal error protection using polar codes

Unequal error protection (UEP) divides the data into different levels of importance in order to ensure that the most important parts of the source information have more protection than the less important parts. In this study, the authors investigate the application of UEP using polar codes and propose a technique that utilises the channel polarisation property of these codes to achieve UEP without any significant modification. They demonstrate the error bounds of the proposed technique particularly within the context of JPEG2000. In addition, they propose a joint source-channel decoding method that is based on iterative decoding. This method takes the advantage of the error resilience tools that already exist in the JPEG2000 decoder. It will be shown that the proposed technique offers better performance than the conventional transmission with equal error protection.
Relay performance optimisation based on signal space reconstruction

In this study, the authors study the interference exploitation problem in multi-input multi-output (MIMO) multi-way relay channel, which is MIMO Y channel. In this channel, multiple users complete the exchange of information among users through a common relay in the multiple access channel phase and broadcast phase. Each user sends signals to other users and receives the signals sent by other users. For a three-user transmission model, each user and relay have three antennas, respectively. To achieve better decoding performance at the relay, they design precoding vectors on the basis of traditional signal space alignment (SSA) so that the intersection subspaces hold orthogonal. Corresponding optimisation rules are proposed for zero-forcing and maximum-likelihood decoders. It is seen from the simulation results that the proposed algorithm greatly improves the decoding accuracy compared with the traditional SSA relay decoding, and reduce the computational complexity. Because of the improvement of the performance of relay decoding, the reliability of the whole transmission system will be improved.
Biophysical Characterization of Interactions Involving Importin-α during Nuclear Import*

Proteins containing the classical nuclear localization sequences (NLSs) are imported into the nucleus by the importin-α/β heterodimer. Importin-α contains the NLS binding site, whereas importin-β mediates the translocation through the nuclear pore. We characterized the interactions involving importin-α during nuclear import using a combination of biophysical techniques (biosensor, crystallography, sedimentation equilibrium, electrophoresis, and circular dichroism). Importin-α is shown to exist in a monomeric autoinhibited state (association with NLSs undetectable by biosensor). Association with importin-β (stoichiometry, 1:1; K D = 1.1 × 10−8 m) increases the affinity for NLSs; the importin-α/β complex binds representative monopartite NLS (simian virus 40 large T-antigen) and bipartite NLS (nucleoplasmin) with affinities (K D = 3.5 × 10−8 m and 4.8 × 10−8 m, respectively) comparable with those of a truncated importin-α lacking the autoinhibitory domain (T-antigen NLS, K D = 1.7 × 10−8 m; nucleoplasmin NLS,K D = 1.4 × 10−8 m). The autoinhibitory domain (as a separate peptide) binds the truncated importin-α, and the crystal structure of the complex resembles the structure of full-length importin-α. Our results support the model of regulation of nuclear import mediated by the intrasteric autoregulatory sequence of importin-α and provide a quantitative description of the binding and regulatory steps during nuclear import.
Mineralogy and petrology of amoeboid olivine inclusions in CO3 chondrites: Relationship to parent‐body aqueous alteration

Abstract— Petrographic and mineralogic studies of amoeboid olivine inclusions (AOIs) in CO3 carbonaceous chondrites reveal that they are sensitive indicators of parent‐body aqueous and thermal alteration. As the petrologic subtype increases from 3.0 to 3.8, forsteritic olivine (Fa0–1) is systematically converted into ferroan olivine (Fa60–75). We infer that the Fe, Si and O entered the assemblage along grain boundaries, forming ferroan olivine that filled fractures and voids. As temperatures increased, Fe+2 from the new olivine exchanged with Mg+2 from the original AOI to form diffusive haloes around low‐FeO cores. Cations of Mn+2, Ca+2 and Cr+3 were also mobilized.
Dicarboxylic acids, metals and isotopic compositions of C and N in atmospheric aerosols from inland China: implications for dust and coal burning emission and secondary aerosol formation

Abstract. Dicarboxylic acids (C2–C10), metals, elemental carbon (EC), organic carbon (OC), and stable isotopic compositions of total carbon (TC) and total nitrogen (TN) were determined for PM10 samples collected at three urban and one suburban sites of Baoji, an inland city of China, during winter and spring 2008. Oxalic acid (C2) was the dominant diacid, followed by succinic (C4) and malonic (C3) acids. Total diacids in the urban and suburban areas were 1546±203 and 1728±495 ng m−3 during winter and 1236±335 and 1028±193 ng m−3 during spring. EC in the urban and the suburban atmospheres were 17±3.8 and 8.0±2.1 μg m−3 during winter and 20±5.9 and 7.1±2.7 μg m−3 during spring, while OC at the urban and suburban sites were 74±14 and 51±7.9 μg m−3 in winter and 51±20 and 23±6.1 μg m−3 in spring. Secondary organic carbon (SOC) accounted for 38±16% of OC in winter and 28±18% of OC in spring, suggesting an enhanced photochemical production of secondary organic aerosols in winter under an inversion layer development. Total metal elements in winter and spring were 34±10 and 61±27 μg m−3 in the urban air and 18±7 and 32±23 μg m−3 in the suburban air. A linear correlation (r2>0.8 in winter and r2>0.6 in spring) was found between primary organic carbon (POC) and Ca2+/Fe, together with a strong dependence of pH value of sample extracts on water-soluble inorganic carbon, suggesting fugitive dust as an important source of the airborne particles. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), sulfate, and Pb in the samples well correlated each other (r2>0.6) in winter, indicating an importance of emissions from coal burning for house heating. Stable carbon isotope compositions of TC (δ13C) became higher with an increase in the concentration ratios of C2/OC due to aerosol aging. In contrast, nitrogen isotope compositions of TN (δ15N) became lower with an increases in the mass ratios of NH4+/PM10 and NO3−/PM10, which is possibly caused by an enhanced adsorption and/or condensation of gaseous NH3 and HNO3 onto particles.
Rifabutin Acts in Synergy and Is Bactericidal with Frontline Mycobacterium abscessus Antibiotics Clarithromycin and Tigecycline, Suggesting a Potent Treatment Combination

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium abscessus is a rapidly emerging mycobacterial pathogen causing dangerous pulmonary infections. Because these bacteria are intrinsically multidrug resistant, treatment options are limited and have questionable efficacy. The current treatment regimen relies on a combination of antibiotics, including clarithromycin paired with amikacin and either imipenem or cefoxitin. Tigecycline may be added when triple therapy is ineffective. We initially screened a library containing the majority of clinically available antibiotics for anti-M. abscessus activity. The screen identified rifabutin, which was then investigated for its interactions with M. abscessus antibiotics used in drug regimens. Combination of rifabutin with either clarithromycin or tigecycline generated synergistic anti-M. abscessus activity, dropping the rifabutin MIC below concentrations found in the lung. Importantly, these combinations generated bactericidal activity. The triple combination of clarithromycin, tigecycline, and rifabutin was also synergistic, and clinically relevant concentrations had a sterilizing effect on M. abscessus cultures. We suggest that combinations including rifabutin should be further investigated for treatment of M. abscessus pulmonary infections.