Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Um Framework de Extração e Etiquetamento de Informações de Trânsito

Com o grande avanço nas tecnologias computacionais, está cada vez mais possı́vel usar as redes sociais para a coleta e análise de informações de indivı́duos, comunidades e a respeito da dinâmica das cidades em tempo real. O excesso de informação, porém, é um desafio até mesmo no contexto das cidades, onde muitos eventos ocorrem em paralelo. Neste contexto, este trabalho propõe um framework que tem como função facilitar a extração, tratamento e identificação de eventos e suas localidades em tweets escritos na Lı́ngua Portuguesa utilizando a técnica Conditional Random Fields para realizar a tarefa de Reconhecimento de Entidades Nomeadas. Os resultados obtidos demonstram o potencial da ferramenta em identificar eventos de trânsito em uma dada localidade de interesse.
Deep Reinforcement Learning for Partially Observable Data Poisoning Attack in Crowdsensing Systems

Crowdsensing systems collect various types of data from sensors embedded on mobile devices owned by individuals. These individuals are commonly referred to as workers that complete tasks published by crowdsensing systems. Because of the relative lack of control over worker identities, crowdsensing systems are susceptible to data poisoning attacks which interfering with data analysis results by injecting fake data conflicting with ground truth. Frameworks like TruthFinder can resolve data conflicts by evaluating the trustworthiness of the data providers. These frameworks somehow make crowdsensing systems more robust since they can limit the impact of dirty data by reducing the value of unreliable workers. However, previous work has shown that TruthFinder may also be affected by the data poisoning attack when the malicious workers have access to global information. In this article, we focus on partially observable data poisoning attacks in crowdsensing systems. We show that even if the malicious workers only have access to local information, they can find effective data poisoning attack strategies to interfere with crowdsensing systems with TruthFinder. First, we formally model the problem of partially observable data poisoning attack against crowdsensing systems. Then, we propose a data poisoning attack method based on deep reinforcement learning, which helps malicious workers jeopardize with TruthFinder while hiding themselves. Based on the method, the malicious workers can learn from their attack attempts and evolve the poisoning strategies continuously. Finally, we conduct experiments on real-life data sets to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Serum Levels and Placental Expression of NGAL in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Objectives The aim was to investigate neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) levels in the serum and term placentas and its potential role in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods A total of 49 GDM subjects and 39 age-matched women with normal pregnancies were recruited. We examined serum concentrations of NGAL and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in maternal blood and cord blood and their expression levels in the term placentas and umbilical cord. Results Serum NGAL levels were significantly higher in GDM patients than in normal pregnant controls both in the maternal blood (4.80 ± 1.99 vs. 3.66 ± 1.13, P=0.001) and the cord blood (4.70 ± 2.08 vs. 3.85 ± 1.44, P=0.027). Moreover, serum NGAL levels exhibited a positive correlation with various parameters of insulin resistance. Maternal serum NGAL levels positively correlated with the NGAL levels found in the cord blood of the control (r = 0.399, P=0.012) and the GDM subjects (r = 0.349, P=0.014). Finally, the expression of NGAL protein levels in the placenta (1.22 ± 0.39 vs. 0.65 ± 0.23, P < 0.001) and umbilical cord (0.65 ± 0.23 vs. 0.25 ± 0.10, P < 0.001) were higher in GDM women than those noted in the control subjects. In the GDM group, maternal serum NGAL levels exhibited a positive correlation with placental NGAL mRNA and protein levels (r = 0.848, P=0.008; r = 0.636, P=0.011, respectively). Conclusions NGAL may be an important adipokine involved in GDM and fetal development. The oversecretion of NGAL from the placenta may contribute to the elevated levels of serum NGAL in gestational diabetes mellitus.
Abstract 2942: TRAIL pathway inducer ONC201/TIC10 primes multiple myeloma cells (MM) for apoptosis by downregulating X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis

MM cells inherently have a high protein turnover rate that makes them heavily dependent on the proteasome and uniquely sensitive to ER stress induction. Proteasome inhibitors, such as bortezomib, are used in front-line therapy for MM to elicit the ER stress response that results in apoptosis of MM cells. Despite significantly improved clinical outcomes in MM patients treated with proteasome inhibitors, resistance to therapy invariably emerges and MM remains an incurable disease. The objective of this study is to assess the utility of the TRAIL pathway inducer ONC201/TIC10 in MM due to preliminary evidence that suggests ONC201/TIC10 activates the integrated stress response (ISR) in tumor cells. We found that MM cells are uniquely sensitive to ONC201/TIC10, with EC50 values in the nanomolar range. In addition, ONC201/TIC10 was effective as a single agent against bortezomib-resistant MM cells and exhibited an additive effect with bortezomib against these cells. Sub-G1 analyses of MM cells co-treated with ONC201/TIC10 and a pan-caspase inhibitor indicated that MM cells undergo ONC201/TIC10-induced apoptosis in a caspase-dependent manner. Given that ONC201/TIC10 can inactivate both Akt and ERK signaling pathways, we assessed Akt and ERK phosphorylation in ONC201/TIC10-treated KMS18 and MM1S MM cells. These MM cell lines showed no inhibition of Akt and ERK phosphorylation or decrease in the downstream phosphorylation of Fox3a in response to ONC201/TIC10 treatment. These results suggested that alternative mechanisms of cytotoxicity are operative in myeloma cells treated with ONC201/TIC10. Given that downregulation of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP) has been linked to the ISR, we assessed the effect of ONC201/TIC10 treatment on XIAP expression. In agreement with ISR activation, XIAP levels were significantly downregulated in MM cells in response to ONC201/TIC10. Ongoing experiments are unraveling the mechanistic basis for lowered XIAP expression in ONC201/TIC10-treated MM cells. In summary, our results indicate that ONC201/TIC10 is highly effective in preclinical MM models by engaging antitumor mechanisms that include the ISR and downstream attenuation of XIAP expression. ONC201/TIC10 appears to have significant therapeutic potential in MM as a monoagent and in combination with bortezomib. Citation Format: Christina Leah Kline, Amriti R. Lulla, David Dicker, Joshua E. Allen, Wafik El-Deiry. TRAIL pathway inducer ONC201/TIC10 primes multiple myeloma cells (MM) for apoptosis by downregulating X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2942. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2942
Antibiotic resistance patterns in human, animal, food and environmental isolates in Ghana: a review

Many articles have been published on resistant microorganisms isolated from humans, animals, foods and the environment in Ghana. However, there are no reviews that summarize the information on the isolates and antibiotics tested so far in the country. This literature review was completed through “PubMed” and “Google Scholar” searches. We included publications from the period 1975-2015 with a laboratory-based methodology to determine antibiotic resistance of strains isolated in Ghana. In total, 60 articles were included in the analysis with 10% of the articles carrying out nationwide research on antibiotic resistance. The regions of Ghana with the highest published articles were Greater Accra (40%), Ashanti (21.7%) and Northern Region (10%). Most of the studies (86.7%) were related to isolates collected from human samples followed by environmental (5%), animal (3%) and food samples (2%). Ten different bacteria genera were observed in the studies. The most common was Escherichia coli, followed by Staphylococcus spp. , Mycobacterium spp. and Streptococcus spp. The highest mean resistance rate was encountered in Escherichia coli (62.2%) followed by Klebsiella spp. (60.4%) and Pseudomonas spp. (52.1%). High resistance rates have been found in Ghana, however, the data are skewed and some regions of the country have been neglected. There is a need for higher quality research to establish and monitor resistance patterns in Upper West, Brong-Ahafo, Volta and Eastern Regions of Ghana.
The role of DNA methyltransferases in smooth muscle cell phenotypic switch

Phenotypic switching of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is a common pathological process of multiple cardiovascular diseases. DNA methylation plays a key role in atherosclerosis, but its mechanism is not clear. DNA methyltransferases (DNMT3a and DNMT1) could be involved in the development of phenotypic switching process of VSMCs. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to probe the action of DNA methyltransferases on phenotypic switching process of VSMCs. First, Treatment with platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) induced human aorta VSMC (HA-VSMC) morphological changes from contractile to synthetic phenotype. EdU staining confirmed that PDGF-BB could induce HA-VSMC proliferation. PDGF-BB remarkably augmented the mRNA and protein level of proliferation marker gene CyclinDl and osteopontin (OPN) in HA-VSMCs. The mRNA and protein level of differentiation marker SM22 and SM-α-actin were obviously upregulated in HA-VSMCs after PDGF-BB treatment. Next, the level of DNMT1 and DNMT3a were examined in PDGF-BB-treated HA-VSMCs by RT-PCR and western blotting. The high level of DNMT1 and DNMT3a was observed in PDGF-BB-induced proliferation model. Therefore, DNMT3a and DNMT1 could be involved in phenotypic switch of vascular smooth muscle cells.
Thermal Assessment and In-Situ Monitoring of Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors in Power Electronic Modules

Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power modules are devices commonly used for high-power applications. Operation and environmental stresses can cause these power modules to progressively degrade over time, potentially leading to catastrophic failure of the device. This degradation process may cause some early performance symptoms related to the state of health of the power module, making it possible to detect reliability degradation of the IGBT module. Testing can be used to accelerate this process, permitting a rapid determination of whether specific declines in device reliability can be characterized. In this study, thermal cycling was conducted on multiple power modules simultaneously in order to assess the effect of thermal cycling on the degradation of the power module. In-situ monitoring of temperature was performed from inside each power module using high temperature thermocouples. Device imaging and characterization were performed along with temperature data analysis, to assess failure modes and mechanisms within the power modules. While the experiment aimed to assess the potential damage effects of thermal cycling on the die attach, results indicated that wire bond degradation was the life-limiting failure mechanism.
Adaptive Neural Fault-Tolerant Control for the Yaw Control of UAV Helicopters with Input Saturation and Full-State Constraints

In this paper, an adaptive neural fault-tolerant tracking control scheme is presented for the yaw control of an unmanned-aerial-vehicle helicopter. The scheme incorporates a non-affine nonlinear system that manages actuator faults, input saturation, full-state constraints, and external disturbances. Firstly, by using a Taylor series expansion technique, the non-affine nonlinear system is transformed into an affine-form expression to facilitate the desired control design. In comparison with previous techniques, the actuator efficiency is explicit. Then, a neural network is considered to approximate unknown nonlinear functions, and a time-varying barrier Lyapunov function is employed to prevent transgression of the full-state variables using a backstepping technique. Robust adaptive control laws are designed to handle parameter uncertainties and unknown bounded disturbances to cut down the number of learning parameters and simplify the computational burden. Moreover, an auxiliary system is constructed to guarantee the pitch angle of the UAV helicopter yaw control system to satisfy the input constraint. Uniform boundedness of all signals in a closed-loop system is ensured via Lyapunov theory; the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood near zero. Finally, when the numerical simulations are applied to a yaw control of helicopter, the adaptive neural controller demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
ESTIMATION OF THREE-PHASE CURRENTS IN OVERHEAD POWER LINE CONDUCTORS USING NUMERICAL MODEL OF MAGNETIC FIELDS

This paper proposes a new method of calculating currents in three-phase overhead medium and high voltage networks by measuring the magnetic fields generated in the close vicinity of the power line conductors. A mathematical model for magnetic fields is presented in the form of second order partial differential equations that are derived from Maxwell’s equation. The analysis of the magnetic field surrounding overhead conductors is performed using Finite Element Method. The least squares method is used for the formulation of equations for estimating currents from the measured magnetic fields for each phase. A computational program for detail analysis is developed in MATLAB. A plan for measurement points is developed for triangular arrangement of conductors. Field measurement with increased number of measuring points gives better results than those with the single points.
Perbandingan Ekstrak Jahe Merah (Zingiber Officinale Roscoe. Var. Rubrum), Gingerol dan Shogaol sebagai Anti-Toksoplasma terhadap Parasit Toxoplasma Gondii Secara In-Vitro

Metode ekstraksi dan jenis pelarut yang digunakan akan berdampak pada proses penarikan komponen aktif sehingga akan berpengaruh juga pada aktivitasnya. Jahe merah (Zingiber officinale var. Rubrum) merupakan salah satu bahan rempah yang juga berpotensi sebagai tanaman obat. Salah satu khasiat ekstrak jahe merah adalah sebagai anti toksoplasma. Pada penelitian ini telah dilakukan pembuatan ekstrak jahe merah dengan dua jenis metode yaitu maserasi dan sokhletasi masing-masing menggunakan tiga jenis pelarut (etanol 30%, etanol 70% dan etanol 96%) sehingga diperoleh enam jenis ekstrak. Kemudian masing-masing ekstrak ditentukan kadar senyawa pencirinya meliputi 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol, 10-gingerol dan 6-shogaol dengan Kromatografi Cair Kinerja Tinggi (KCKT). Selanjutnya ekstrak diuji aktivitas antitoksoplasma secara in vitro terhadap parasit Toksoplasma gondii pada fase takhizoit yang ditumbuhkan pada sel vero. Penentuan aktivitas antitoksoplasma juga dilakukan pada senyawa murni 6, 8, 10-gingerol dan 6-shogaol serta kontrol positif antibiotik spiramisin. Hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa ekstrak etanol 96% dengan metode maserasi adalah yang paling baik aktivitasnya dan 6-gingerol adalah senyawa penciri yang paling berperan sebagai anti-toksoplasma.
The Effect of Power Distance Orientation on the Willingness to Share Parody Advertisements

The parody advertisement is a unique communication strategy to attract consumers. Three studies confirmed that power distance orientation had a negative effect on the willingness to share parody advertisements. This black humor effect could be attenuated by the degree of offensiveness (Study 1). When the parody ad with low degree of offensiveness was presented to participants, compared to the parody ad with high degree of offensiveness, power distance orientation no longer had an impact on the willingness to share. Impression management was confirmed the underlying mechanism of the black humor effect (Study 2).
Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion Using Anterior Iliac Crest Autologous Bone, Anterior Cages, and Anterior Spinal Instrumentation: Outcomes in Private Practice Application

Study Design. Retrospective review. Objective. To evaluate private practice application of anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery using autologous anterior iliac crest bone, anterior cage, and anterior spinal instrumentation for treatment of symptomatic cervical disc disease. Summary of Background Data. ACDF using autologous iliac crest bone is frequently used to treat patients with cervical disc disease. However, there are limited data on outcomes of private practice use of ACDF with autologous bone, cage, and plate, and few studies that included 3and 4-level fusions. Methods. 308 consecutive patients with cervical radiculopathy and/or spondylosis underwent ACDF with autograft, cage, and plate via a modified Smith-Robinson technique, including one-, two-, three-, and four-level fusions. Results. Clinical and radiographic follow-up showed that the fusion rate was 99.4% (467 out of 470 total levels). Mortality rate was 0%, and overall morbidity was 4.5%. Complications included three non-unions, two instrumentation failures, two isolated pelvic fractures that healed spontaneously, and residual hip pain in one patient. Conclusions. The private practice use of ACDF with autologous bone graft, cage, and instrumentation can provide high success rates and few complications.
DESOLATION OF STRESS: CAUSES WHICH TRANSFORM STRESS INTO EXTREMISM AND VIOLENCE

According to the medical term, stress is a physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension and brings a person to a point of "fight or flight" response, which is a complex reaction of neurologic and endocrinology system. In common terminology, stress is a pressure or a feeling that people have when they are overloaded and struggling to cope with internal or external demands. Stress is like increasing pressure on a spring or trying to pore something into the already filled pot. Bearing pressure by a spring depends upon its strength, flexibility or structure. In the same way, resisting or tolerating stress by a person depends on his or her building blocks, those are family, culture, religion, social environment as well as personal strength. Stress bearing power increases with positive support of these factors. But how much a person can absorb, tolerate, and convert stress into positive vibes has certain limits. In eastern culture, it is expected that a girl or woman should exhibit extreme tolerance under every circumstances. These expectations sometimes bring them to a point where their tolerance was exhausted or burst and brought them to a point of violence or terrorism, destruction to herself and to the society. According to Lee K, Lee HK, Kim S.H(2017), people can go to any extreme, they can kill others, or bring destruction to the society, culture, traditions, norms, and morals. How and when do people touch that level especially women? How can these situations be avoided, controlled or modified? How to keep stress under control Is the topic of this research. A qualitative strategy is used to explore how stress is managed, through a deductive method, the data were collected through purposive sampling from the population of five strata's, academia, psychologists, sociologists, criminologists and housewives to collect in-depth information. From fifteen respondent’s data was collected and recorded through unstructured two hours' interview questions, analyses of the responses were done through coding and developing themes. Results reveal that expectations of the people around, social norms, lack of personal strength, dis-encouragement and taking for granted behavior, lack of communication and fear of losing respect and relationship are important factors which bring stress to its height. It is suggested that keeping good friends, economic independence, good communication skills, religious practices, identifying your own de-stressors, establishing a support network, and prioritizing skills can help in controlling the outburst of stress and any move towards violence and terrorism.
Understanding the Impact and Implications of Fiscal Austerity for the Implementation of Ghana’s School Feeding Programme and Social Investment Strategy

Following the 2008 US banking and financial crisis, the global economy was thrown into a recession. Ultimately, the crisis resulted in many governments in both the North and South adopting austerity programmes. In the case of Ghana, the country’s economy contracted, following which the government adopted fiscal austerity programmes. Although the discourse on austerity has blanketed news headlines and the academe of the Global North, such discussions are almost non-existent in many countries in the Global South, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. At best, the extant literature on the impact of austerity has focused on macroeconomic issues for example. There has been less scholarly attention paid, however, to the impact of austerity for the delivery of public services and the implication this has at the micro level such as schools. This thesis thus aims to understand the impacts of Ghana’s fiscal austerity for the delivery of the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) and the implications this has for schoolchildren. A qualitative case study of two state primary schools in northern Ghana is the research strategy adopted by this thesis. The data analysis is based on three main sets of data: 1. In-depth semi-structured interviews with frontline service providers of the GSFP, head teachers of two primary schools, parents, students and experts; 2. Focus Group Discussions with teachers in both schools; and 3. Field observation. Based on these data, the findings suggest that fiscal austerity has defined and conditioned the service delivery environment, with service providers relying on their discretion to adopt unsanctioned coping strategies as they deliver the service within austerity. The findings also suggest that these coping strategies ultimately undermine the school feeding policy intent and goals. Moreover, the results show that schoolchildren in northern Ghana routinely experience food insecurity in the school, with significant implications for teaching and learning as these students rely on their thinned agency to resist school and refuse the meals served.