Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Remote Attestation: A Literature Review

With the rising number of IoT devices, the security of such devices becomes increasingly important. Remote attestation (RA) is a distinct security service that allows a remote verifer to reason about the state of an untrusted remote prover (device). Paradigms of remote attestation span from exclusively software, in software-based attestation, to exclusively hardware-based. In between the extremes are hybrid attestation that utilize the enhanced security of secure hardware components in combination with the lower cost of purely software-based implementations. Traditional remote attestation protocols are concerned with reasoning about the state of a prover. However, extensions to remote attestation also exist, such as code updates, device resets, erasure and attestation of the device's run-time state. Furthermore, as interconnected IoT devices are becoming increasingly more popular, so is the need for attestation of device swarms. We will describe and evaluate the state-of-the-art for remote attestation, which covers singular attestation of devices as well as newer research in the area of formally verified RA protocols, swarm attestation and control-flow attestation.
Technical Report: Virtual X-ray imaging for higher-order finite element results

This work describes and demonstrates the operation of a virtual X-ray algorithm operating on finite-element post-processing results which allows for higher polynomial orders in geometry representation as well as density distribution. A nested hierarchy of oriented bounding boxes is used for preselecting candidate elements undergoing a ray-casting procedure. The exact intersection points of the ray with the finite element are not computed, instead the ray is discretized by a sequence of points. The element-local coordinates of each discretized point are determined using a local Newton iteration and the resulting densities are accumulated. This procedure results in highly accurate virtual X-ray images of finite element models.
Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma with hepatocytotropism in a cat

Case summary A 14-year 3-month-old spayed female mixed-breed cat presented with jaundice, anaemia and thrombocytopenia. Haemophagocytic syndrome associated with lymphoma was suspected after cytological examination of the spleen. Despite treatment with prednisolone, L-asparaginase and nimustine, the cat died 176 days after the initial presentation. Necropsy revealed splenomegaly and hepatomegaly, without lymphadenopathy. Histopathologically, neoplastic lymphoid cells infiltrated the hepatic sinusoid and splenic sinus. The neoplastic lymphoid cells showed marked hepatocytotropism and contained erythrocytes, which was also confirmed by electron microscopy. Immunohistochemically, neoplastic lymphoid cells were positive for CD3, TIA1 (GMP-17) and granzyme B, and negative for CD8, CD20, CD56, CD57, CD79a and Iba1. Based on these findings, the cat was diagnosed with hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma (HS-TCL) with hepatocytotropism. Relevance and novel information This case shows cytotoxic immunophenotype of HS-TCL in a cat, which has not been demonstrated before. Severe hepatocytotropism and haemophagocytosis of the neoplastic cells were likely to be associated with jaundice and anaemia, respectively, and the poor outcome of the present case.
Efficiency of Nebulizing Furosemide in the Treatment of Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most common chronic illnesses in humans. Among both oral and intravenous diuretics, nebulizing furosemide (Lasix) is the most commonly used agent. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the therapeutic effects of nebulizing furosemide compared with placebo in the treatment of COPD using a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials. Materials and Methods: This review was performed based on the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) protocol. The databases of Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus were independently searched by two researchers using MeSH keywords. Studies published between 2002 and 2018 in different parts of the world were considered. The meta-analysis was performed through STATA 14 software and the heterogeneity was assessed using Q statistic or I2 index. Results: From 40 selected articles, 8 articles were finally included in the systematic review process. The analyses were performed considering two groups; nebulizing furosemide treatment (i.e. case) and placebo (i.e. control). Based on the forest plots, the average values of PaCO2 were 48.3 (39.04–57.56) and 46.56 (39.94–53.18) in the case and control groups, respectively. Also, the mean forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) was 49 (31.32–66.67) and 46.87 (31.44–62.30) in the case and control groups, respectively. Meta-regression analysis showed that both heart and pulse rates in the nebulizing furosemide group decreased by increasing the year of study and sample size (P <0.001). The heterogeneity among the studies was found to be 72.2%, which is classified as severe heterogeneity. Conclusion: nebulizing furosemide can improve and normalize the vital signs and other respiratory variables in patients with COPD.
Prevalence, Antimicrobial Susceptibility Patterns, and Risk Factors Associated with Enterococci among Pediatric Patients at Dessie Referral Hospital, Northeastern Ethiopia

Background Enterococcus species, which is previously considered as medically not important, now becomes one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections. Even though it becomes the most public health concern and emerging multidrug-resistant pathogen, there is no enough data in the study area. Objective To determine the prevalence, antimicrobial resistance pattern, and associated risk factors of enterococci infection in pediatric patients. Methods A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February to May 2019 at Dessie Referral Hospital, Northeastern Ethiopia. A total of 403 pediatric patients were included in the study, and a pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic and risk factor-related data. Clinical samples such as urine, blood, wound swabs, discharges, and other body fluids were collected aseptically and inoculated on to Bile Esculin Azide Agar, and colony characteristics, Gram stain, catalase, salt, and temperature tolerance tests were employed for bacterial identification. Antimicrobial sensitivity tests were performed using the modified Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. Data was entered into SPSS software version 25 and descriptive statistics; bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. In all cases, a P value ≤ 0.05 with corresponding 95% confidence interval were considered as statistically significant. Result The overall prevalence of enterococci was 2.7% (11/403). Of which, the highest number of enterococci infection was recovered from urine sample (54.5%) followed by blood (27.3%), wound swab (9.1%), and other body fluids (9%). The overall multidrug resistance rate was 54.5%. Higher drug resistance pattern was observed against tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and amoxicillin/clavulanate. Having history of invasive procedure (P < 0.001), chronic illness (P < 0.001) and previous admission history of the children (P < 0.001) were statistically significant associated risk factors for pediatrics enterococci infection. Conclusion The prevalence of enterococci from pediatric patients in this study was relatively low compared to other studies. Significant rates of MDR and VRE were identified, and the risk of infection became high when children had a history of different chronic illnesses and history of admission and underwent invasive treatment procedures. Therefore, efforts should be made to prevent enterococci infections and spread of multidrug-resistant enterococci.
Efficacy and safety of trifluridine/tipiracil plus bevacizumab and trifluridine/tipiracil or regorafenib monotherapy for chemorefractory metastatic colorectal cancer: a retrospective study

Background: The C-TASK-FORCE phase I/II and Danish randomized phase II trials reported the promising efficacy of trifluridine/tipiracil (TAS102) plus bevacizumab (BEV) in patients with chemorefractory metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). However, there had been no direct comparative phase III trial to compare the efficacy between TAS102 plus BEV and standard therapy with either TAS102 or regorafenib monotherapy. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with mCRC who received TAS102 plus BEV, TAS102 monotherapy, or regorafenib monotherapy after standard chemotherapies during 2013–2019. Results: Patients received TAS102 plus BEV (n = 139), TAS102 monotherapy (n = 153), or regorafenib monotherapy (n = 133). With a median follow-up of 25.3 months, median overall survival (OS) was 11.5 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 9.9–13.9] for TAS102 plus BEV, 8.1 months (95% CI, 6.8–9.2) for TAS102 monotherapy, and 6.8 months (95% CI, 5.7–8.5) for regorafenib monotherapy. The hazard ratios were 0.67 (95% CI, 0.51–0.88) for TAS102 plus BEV versus TAS102 monotherapy and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.54–0.94) for TAS102 plus BEV versus regorafenib monotherapy. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 4.4 months (95% CI, 3.7–5.4) for TAS102 plus BEV, 2.5 months (95% CI, 1.6–2.3) for TAS102 monotherapy, and 2.1 months (95% CI, 1.6–2.3) for regorafenib monotherapy. The hazard ratios were 0.57 (95% CI, 0.45–0.73) for TAS102 plus BEV versus TAS102 monotherapy and 0.44 (95% CI, 0.34–0.58) for TAS102 plus BEV versus regorafenib monotherapy. On multivariate analysis, TAS102 plus BEV was independently correlated with better OS and PFS. No unexpected adverse events were observed in any group. Conclusion: Our study shows that OS and PFS are longer in patients treated with TAS102 plus BEV than in those treated with TAS102 or regorafenib monotherapy.
Molecular Mechanism of Palmitic Acid on Myocardial Contractility in Hypertensive Rats and Its Relationship with Neural Nitric Oxide Synthase Protein in Cardiomyocytes

Objective It is aimed at investigating the mechanism of palmitic acid (PA) on myocardial contractility in hypertensive rats and its relationship with myocardial neural nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) protein. Methods The rats were randomly divided into sham operation group and hypertensive group, with thirty rats in each group, to prepare angiotensin II-induced hypertensive model rats. The blood pressure of rats was measured by the multianimal multichannel tail cuff noninvasive blood pressure system of Kent Coda, USA. The Ionoptix single-cell contraction detection system was used to detect myocardial cells. ATP level of left ventricular cardiomyocytes was determined by luminescence method, and protein was measured by Western blot. Results Compared with the sham group, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure were increased in the hypertensive group over 4 weeks; PA increased the contractility of left ventricular cardiomyocytes in normal rats, but not in hypertensive rats, and PA increased the intracellular ATP level of rats in the sham group but not in the hypertension group. In the hypertension group, the expression of nNOS in the cardiomyocytes was significantly increased, and specific nNOS inhibitor S-methyl-L-thiocitrulline (SMTC) was found to restore the positive inotropic effect of PA in the myocardium of the hypertension group. PA was supplemented after using CPT-1 inhibitor etomoxir (ETO); it was found that ETO inhibited the positive inotropic effect of PA on left ventricular cardiomyocytes in the sham group, and PA was supplemented after using SMTC and ETO, it was found that SMTC + ETO could inhibit the positive inotropic effect of PA on left ventricular cardiomyocytes in myocardium of hypertensive rats. Conclusion PA could increase the contractility of healthy cardiomyocytes, but had no obvious positive effect on the cardiomyocytes of hypertensive rats, PA enhanced the contractility of cardiomyocytes by increasing ATP level in them, and the inhibitory effect of PA on myocardial contractility in hypertensive rats may be related to the increased nNOS and CPT-1 in cardiomyocytes.
Gastroparesis Symptoms Associated with Intestinal Hypomotility: An Explorative Study Using Wireless Motility Capsule

Objective Gastric emptying measurements are mandatory in gastroparesis diagnostics, but the association between delayed emptying and symptoms is questionable. It is imperative to find biomarkers better correlated to symptom generation. Hence, we examined the association between symptom severity and gastrointestinal motility measured by wireless motility capsule. Patients and Methods In this prospective single-centre study, patients with gastroparesis symptoms were simultaneously investigated with gastric emptying scintigraphy and wireless motility capsule, measuring regional transit times and contractility parameters. Symptom severity was assessed with the Patient Assessment of Upper Gastrointestinal Symptom Severity Index (PAGI-SYM), including the Gastroparesis Cardinal Symptom Index (GCSI). Results We included 107 patients (70% women). In the whole patient group, nausea correlated with the gastric (rs = −0.31, p = 0.007), small bowel (rs = −0.41, p < 0.001) and colonic (rs = −0.33, p = 0.012) motility indices. In patients with idiopathic etiology, nausea correlated with small bowel motility index (rs = −0.81, p < 0.001) and mean stomach pressure (rs = −0.64, p = 0.013). We also found negative correlations between total GCSI score and maximum pressure of the small bowel (rs = −0.77, p < 0.001) and colon (rs = −0.74, p = 0.002). In diabetes patients, total PAGI-SYM score correlated with colonic motility index (rs = −0.34, p = 0.012), and mean pressure of the colon correlated with upper abdominal pain (rs = −0.37, p = 0.007). We found no association between symptoms, gastric emptying nor any other transit times. Conclusion In patients with gastroparesis symptoms, we found that symptom severity was associated with intestinal hypomotility. Based on these results, gastroparesis diagnostics should also include an evaluation of the small bowel and colon.
The Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway Regulated Cytokines for Pathological Neuropathic Pain in Chronic Compression of Dorsal Root Ganglion Model

Neuropathic pain is one of the important challenges in the clinic. Although a lot of research has been done on neuropathic pain (NP), the molecular mechanism is still elusive. We aimed to investigate whether the Wnt/β-catenin pathway was involved in NP caused by sustaining dorsal root ganglion (DRG) compression with the chronic compression of dorsal root ganglion model (CCD). Our RNA sequencing results showed that several genes related to the Wnt pathway have changed in DRG and spinal cord dorsal horn (SCDH) after CCD surgery. Therefore, we detected the activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in DRG and SCDH and found active β-catenin significantly upregulated in DRG and SCDH 1 day after CCD surgery and peaked on days 7-14. Immunofluorescence results also confirmed nuclear translocalization of active β-catenin in DRG and SCDH. Additionally, rats had obvious mechanical induced pain after CCD surgery and the pain was significantly alleviated after the application of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway inhibitor XAV939. Furthermore, we found that the levels of proinflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) were significantly elevated in CCD rat serum, while the levels of them were correspondingly decreased after the Wnt/β-catenin pathway being inhibited. The results of Spearman correlation coefficient analysis showed that the levels of TNF-α and IL-18 were negatively correlated with the mechanical withdrawal thresholds (MWT) after CCD surgery. Collectively, our findings suggest that the Wnt/β-catenin pathway plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of NP and may be an effective target for the treatment of NP.
Transient postprandial increase in intact circulating fibroblast growth factor-21 levels after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Background Despite a consistent link between obesity and increased circulating levels of fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF21), the effect of weight-loss interventions on FGF21 is not clear. We aimed to determine the short- and long-term effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) on intact plasma FGF21 levels and to test the hypothesis that RYGB, but not diet-induced weight loss, increases fasting and postprandial responses of FGF21. Method Twenty-eight participants with obesity followed a low-calorie diet for 11 weeks. The 28 participants were randomized to undergo RYGB surgery at week 8 (RYGB group, n = 14), or to a control group scheduled for surgery at week 12 (n = 14). Fasting levels of intact, biologically active FGF21 (amino acids 1-181) and its postprandial responses to a mixed meal were assessed at week 7 and 11, and 78 weeks (18 months) after RYGB. Results At week 11 (3 weeks after RYGB), postprandial responses of intact FGF21 were enhanced in participants undergoing surgery at week 8 (change from week 7 to 11: P = 0.02), whereas no change was found in non-operated control participants in similar negative energy balance (change from week 7 to 11: P = 0.81). However, no between-group difference was found (P = 0.27 for the group-week-time interaction). Fasting, as well as postprandial responses in intact FGF21, were unchanged 18 months after RYGB when both the RYGB and control group were collapsed together (change from week 7 to 78 weeks after RYGB: P = 0.17). Conclusion Postprandial intact FGF21 levels were enhanced acutely after RYGB whereas no signs of sustained changes were found 18 months after surgery. When comparing the acute effect of RYGB with controls in similar negative energy balance, we failed to detect any significant differences between groups, probably due to the small sample size and large inter-individual variations, especially in response to surgery.
Development of Integrated Neural Network Model for Identification of Fake Reviews in E-Commerce Using Multidomain Datasets

Online product reviews play a major role in the success or failure of an E-commerce business. Before procuring products or services, the shoppers usually go through the online reviews posted by previous customers to get recommendations of the details of products and make purchasing decisions. Nevertheless, it is possible to enhance or hamper specific E-business products by posting fake reviews, which can be written by persons called fraudsters. These reviews can cause financial loss to E-commerce businesses and misguide consumers to take the wrong decision to search for alternative products. Thus, developing a fake review detection system is ultimately required for E-commerce business. The proposed methodology has used four standard fake review datasets of multidomains include hotels, restaurants, Yelp, and Amazon. Further, preprocessing methods such as stopword removal, punctuation removal, and tokenization have performed as well as padding sequence method for making the input sequence has fixed length during training, validation, and testing the model. As this methodology uses different sizes of datasets, various input word-embedding matrices of n-gram features of the review's text are developed and created with help of word-embedding layer that is one component of the proposed model. Convolutional and max-pooling layers of the CNN technique are implemented for dimensionality reduction and feature extraction, respectively. Based on gate mechanisms, the LSTM layer is combined with the CNN technique for learning and handling the contextual information of n-gram features of the review's text. Finally, a sigmoid activation function as the last layer of the proposed model receives the input sequences from the previous layer and performs binary classification task of review text into fake or truthful. In this paper, the proposed CNN-LSTM model was evaluated in two types of experiments, in-domain and cross-domain experiments. For an in-domain experiment, the model is applied on each dataset individually, while in the case of a cross-domain experiment, all datasets are gathered and put into a single data frame and evaluated entirely. The testing results of the model in-domain experiment datasets were 77%, 85%, 86%, and 87% in the terms of accuracy for restaurant, hotel, Yelp, and Amazon datasets, respectively. Concerning the cross-domain experiment, the proposed model has attained 89% accuracy. Furthermore, comparative analysis of the results of in-domain experiments with existing approaches has been done based on accuracy metric and, it is observed that the proposed model outperformed the compared methods.
Pheochromocytoma Presenting as Testicular Pain: An Unusual Case Report

Pheochromocytoma (PCC) is a rare catecholamine-secreting tumor that arises from chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla which are derived from the neural crest. This report illustrates a 51-year-old Caucasian male with a history of hypertension diagnosed two years ago who presented to the hospital due to acute onset of right testicular pain of 3-day duration. Laboratory results and imaging revealed a presumptive diagnosis of PCC. The patient had undergone robot-assisted laparoscopic right adrenalectomy 14 days after being diagnosed with PCC due to perioperative management with phenoxybenzamine. The final pathology report revealed a PCC. At follow-up two weeks after discharge, the patient reported complete resolution of his testicular pain.
Natural resources to control COVID-19: could lactoferrin amend SARS-CoV-2 infectivity?

The world population is still facing the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a challenge requires complicated tools to control, namely vaccines, effective cures, and complementary agents. Here we present one candidate for the role of an effective cure and/or complementary agent: lactoferrin. It is the cross-talking mediator between many organs/cellular systems in the body. It serves as a physiological, immunological, and anti-microbial barrier, and acts as a regulator molecule. Furthermore, lactoferrin has receptors on most tissues cells, and is a rich source for bioactive peptides, particularly in the digestive system. In the past months, in vitro and in vivo evidence has accumulated regarding lactoferrin’s ability to control SARS-CoV-2 infectivity in different indicated scenarios. Also, lactoferrin or whey milk (of human or other mammal’s origin) is a cheap, easily available, and safe agent, the use of which can produce promising results. Pharmaceutical and/or food supplementary formulas of lactoferrin could be particularly effective in controlling the gastrointestinal COVID-19-associated symptoms and could limit the fecal-oral viral infection transmission, through mechanisms that mimic that of norovirus infection control by lactoferrin via induction of intestinal innate immunity. This natural avenue may be effective not only in symptomatic patients, but could also be more helpful in asymptomatic patients as a main or adjuvant treatment.