Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The New Neurometabolic Cascade of Concussion.

Since the original descriptions of postconcussive pathophysiology, there has been a significant increase in interest and ongoing research to study the biological underpinnings of concussion. The initial ionic flux and glutamate release result in significant energy demands and a period of metabolic crisis for the injured brain. These physiological perturbations can now be linked to clinical characteristics of concussion, including migrainous symptoms, vulnerability to repeat injury, and cognitive impairment. Furthermore, advanced neuroimaging now allows a research window to monitor postconcussion pathophysiology in humans noninvasively. There is also increasing concern about the risk for chronic or even progressive neurobehavioral impairment after concussion/mild traumatic brain injury. Critical studies are underway to better link the acute pathobiology of concussion with potential mechanisms of chronic cell death, dysfunction, and neurodegeneration. This "new and improved" article summarizes in a translational fashion and updates what is known about the acute neurometabolic changes after concussive brain injury. Furthermore, new connections are proposed between this neurobiology and early clinical symptoms as well as to cellular processes that may underlie long-term impairment.
Long-term enhancement of skeletal muscle mass and strength by single gene administration of myostatin inhibitors

Increasing the size and strength of muscles represents a promising therapeutic strategy for musculoskeletal disorders, and interest has focused on myostatin, a negative regulator of muscle growth. Various myostatin inhibitor approaches have been identified and tested in models of muscle disease with varying efficacies, depending on the age at which myostatin inhibition occurs. Here, we describe a one-time gene administration of myostatin-inhibitor-proteins to enhance muscle mass and strength in normal and dystrophic mouse models for >2 years, even when delivered in aged animals. These results demonstrate a promising therapeutic strategy that warrants consideration for clinical trials in human muscle diseases.
High YKL-40 is associated with poor survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma: a novel independent prognostic marker

Abstract Objective: YKL-40 is an inflammation-associated glycoprotein supposed to have a role in cell survival and angiogenesis. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is characterized by varying prognosis and risk of relapse after a disease-free period of years. Prognostic markers are critically needed. This study investigated whether YKL-40 could be a useful biomarker in RCC patients. Materials and methods: Blood samples from 82 patients with RCC were collected at the time of diagnosis and 3, 5 and 9 months and 2 and 3 years after nephrectomy. YKL-40 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Survival of patients and relapse of RCC were followed up to 15 years. Results: Circulating YKL-40 levels were increased in patients with metastatic RCC at the time of diagnosis (median 115.7 ng/ml, interquartile range 61.0–221.6 ng/ml). Among patients primarily diagnosed with non-metastatic RCC, baseline YKL-40 levels were significantly higher in patients who experienced a relapse during follow-up (103.7, 59.3–242.0 ng/ml) than in patients without relapse (50.6, 33.8–97.1 ng/ml). High baseline YKL-40 was highly associated with poor prognosis in RCC: in age-adjusted univariate analysis, YKL-40 over 120 ng/ml (highest tertile) predicted over five-fold mortality in 5 years, and in multivariate analysis high YKL-40 remained a statistically significant independent risk factor for 5 and 15 year survival. Conclusions: Increased circulating YKL-40 levels were significantly associated with poor survival in patients with RCC. The results suggest YKL-40 as a useful novel biomarker in evaluating prognosis and relapse risk in RCC, being especially beneficial in patients primarily diagnosed with non-metastatic RCC.
Lifestyle InteractionWith FatMass and Obesity-Associated ( FTO ) Genotype and Risk of Obesity in Apparently Healthy U . S . Women

RESULTS—The effect of the risk allele (A) on BMI was larger among inactive or higher intake women, with additive effects of inactivity and high intake on the associated genetic risk. Specifically, each A allele was associated with mean BMI difference of +0.73 (SE 0.08) kg/m among inactive women (#median, 8.8 MET-hours/week), compared with +0.31 (0.06) kg/m, P , 0.0001, among active women (.8.8 MET-hours/week). Similarly, each A allele was associated with mean BMI difference of +0.65 (0.07) among high intake women (.median, 1,679 kcals/ day), compared with +0.38 (0.07) kg/m, P = 0.005, among low intake women (#1,679 kcals/ day). Among inactive/high intake women, each A allele was associated with mean BMI difference of +0.97 (0.11) kg/m vs. +0.22 (0.08) kg/m among inactive/low intake women, P , 0.0001. Among inactive/high intake women, each A allele carried increased risk of obesity (odds ratio 1.39, 95% CI 1.27–1.52) and diabetes (odds ratio 1.36, 95% CI 1.07–1.73).
Methylene Tetrahydrofolate Reductase Gene Polymorphism is Associated with Severity of Liver Steatosis in Chronically Infected Patients with HCV Genotype 4.

BACKGROUND Methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism was reported as a genetic variant in liver steatosis and fibrosis. This is a study of the association between MTHFR C677T polymorphism and HCV core with severity of steatosis in HCV GT4 patients. METHODS 111 HCV patients and 112 control subjects were recruited. Polymorphism was detected by RFLP analysis, core Ag was detected by ELISA. RESULTS Combined HCV infection and MTHFR C677T polymorphism increases the risk to develop steatosis by 3.63- and 5.21-fold in subjects with single (CT) and double (TT) substitutions, respectively. Patients with chronic HCV infection had a 2.88- and 8.57-fold higher risk to develop steatosis in CT and TT genotypes, respectively, than patients with the (CC) genotype. No significant difference in core Ag titers were observed. CONCLUSIONS MTHFR C677T polymorphism is a valuable genetic marker for steatosis, while HCV core Ag titer had no association with grades of steatosis in GT4 infections.
Padrão de aleitamento e estado nutricional de crianças até os seis meses de idade

O aleitamento materno e fundamental na alimentacao das criancas menores de dois anos de idade. O leite materno reune componentes nutricionais ideais, com balanceamento adequado de nutrientes, protecoes imunologica e psicologicas, importantes na diminuicao da morbidade e mortalidade infantil. A introducao de alimentos complementares na dieta da crianca so deve ocorrer apos os seis meses de idade. Sendo assim, este trabalho objetivou comparar o estado nutricional entre criancas em aleitamento materno exclusivo e misto ate o sexto mes. Trata-se de um estudo observacional transversal e descritivo, realizado em um ambulatorio de aleitamento materno situado em uma maternidade filantropica e clinica privada, localizados no municipio de Itabaiana, Sergipe. Os dados foram coletados em tres momentos distintos (2o, 4o, 6o mes de vida) por meio de entrevista estruturada aplicada as maes e da afericao de medidas antropometricas: peso, estatura, IMC. Para a analise estatistica dos dados foi utilizado o programa SPSS, versao 20.0. A amostra foi composta por 80 criancas, 40 sob aleitamento exclusivo e 40 sob aleitamento misto, sendo 15 meninos e 25 meninas. Percebeu-se que ao longo dos seis meses as criancas sob aleitamento exclusivo tiveram um melhor estado nutricional, com um maior numero de criancas com IMC adequado para idade, menor classificacao para baixo peso e nenhuma com obesidade. E importante incentivar o aleitamento exclusivo ate o sexto mes de vida para promocao de um crescimento e desenvolvimento adequados das criancas e prevencao de doencas infecciosas, gastrointestinais e carencias nutricionais.
Health Information Technology Needs Help from Primary Care Researchers

While health information technology (HIT) efforts are beginning to yield measurable clinical benefits, more is needed to meet the needs of patients and clinicians. Primary care researchers are uniquely positioned to inform the evidence-based design and use of technology. Research strategies to ensure success include engaging patient and clinician stakeholders, working with existing practice-based research networks, and using established methods from other fields such as human factors engineering and implementation science. Policies are needed to help support primary care researchers in evaluating and implementing HIT into everyday practice, including expanded research funding, strengthened partnerships with vendors, open access to information systems, and support for the Primary Care Extension Program. Through these efforts, the goal of improved outcomes through HIT can be achieved.
Spatio-temporal Autocorrelation Analysis for Regional Land-cover Change Detection from Remote Sensing Data

Of the various applications of remote sensing data, characterizing the land-cover dynamics is of utmost significance, providing insights into science, management policy, and several regulatory actions. Recent research works indicate that there is a need to understand and monitor land-cover dynamics at regional scale rather than local scale. However, the regional change is a more generalized concept and therefore, the use of pixel based analysis alone may not be sufficient to get proper insights regarding the land-cover change in remotely sensed imagery. Moreover, higher spectral variation and mixed pixels are two key challenges imposed by satellite imagery, resulting into poor performance of existing pixel-based methods for regional land-cover change detection. In this work, we have proposed a novel approach for detecting regional land-cover changes in satellite imagery using spatio-temporal autocorrelation analysis. Autocorrelation among the neighborhood pixels at various spatio-temporal lags has been utilized here to address the problem of mixed pixel and spectral variation. An index (γ), based on the estimated autocorrelations, has been proposed to classify the regions as 'change' and 'no-change' regions. Moreover, a parameter (σ) has been introduced to provide the measure of regional change significance. The method has been evaluated with Landsat ETM+ imagery (30m resolution) of four zones in and around Kolkata (India), comprising a total of 430 sq. km area (ã 4.8 × 105 pixels). The experimental results are encouraging, with an overall accuracy of 90.66%.
Cognitively Inspired Decision Making for Software Agents: Integrated Mechanisms for Action Selection, Expectation, Automatization and Non‐Routine Problem Solving

Despite impressive advances in the past decades, autonomous agents living in dynamic and unpredictable environments are typically equipped with simple decision-making mechanisms in their sense-decide-act routines. These agents deal mostly with one goal at a time. This research aspires to model, design and/or implement a sophisticated decision making mechanism that selects the agent's next action with different levels of awareness: automatized skills, consciously mediated routine solutions, and consciously deliberated non-routine solutions. Such a decision-making mechanism is presented in a "conscious" software agent framework called IDA that implements Baars' Global Workspace Theory of consciousness. IDA integrates many computational and conceptual mechanisms, among which this research deals with its action selection, expectation, automatization and non-routine problem solving modules. The overarching continual task of an agent's intelligence is for the service of choosing, at each moment in time, the appropriate action in response to exogenous and endogenous stimuli. IDA's action selection mechanism (ASM) can interleave and prioritize actions of different and competing goal hierarchies. The ASM system is implemented as a domain independent and reusable framework for behavior networks and is tested as a controller to a khepera robot operating in a real world domain. We humans have the amazing ability to learn a procedural task (e.g. walking) so well that we do not need to think about the task consciously in order to accomplish it. This ability is what we call automatization. Once a task has been automatized there is no need for attention to be paid to its execution unless the expected result does not occur. At failure of expectation, deautomatization process temporarily disables the automatization effects and "conscious" control plays a role to deal with the failure situation. We implement the automatization and deautomatization cognitive functions as a self-organizing system in the IDA framework. Non-routine problem solving is the ability to devise unexpected, and often clever, solutions to problems that never been encountered before. We will present a detailed design and specification of a non-routine problem solving mechanism as a special goal context hierarchy that guides a deliberative solution search process, which we will discuss in IDA's cognitive cycle.
Protection of 2D face identification systems against spoofing attacks. (Protection des systèmes d'identification faciale face à la fraude par présentation de leurres)

Face identification systems are growing rapidly and invade the consumer market with security products in smartphones, computers and banking. However, these systems are easily fooled by presenting a picture of the person having legitimate access to the system. This thesis is part of the BIOFENCE project which aim to develop a certification of biometric systems in order for industrials to promote their innovations in terms of protection. Our goal is to develop new anti-spoofing countermeasures for 2D face biometric systems and to evaluate the certification methodology on protected systems. First, a general state of the art in face spoofing attack forgery and in anti-spoofing protection measures is presented. Then texture-based countermeasures and motion-based countermeasures are investigated leading to the development of two novel countermeasures. Then, the recapturing process is modelled and a new fake face detection approach is proposed based on this model. Taking advantage of enrolment samples from valid users, a first step toward the synthesis of spoofing attacks for new users is taken. Finally, the certification methodology originally developed for fingerprint technology is evaluated on face biometric systems.
Insulin delivery through nasal route using thiolated microspheres

Abstract The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential of developed thiolated microspheres for insulin delivery through nasal route. In the present study, cysteine was immobilized on carbopol using EDAC. A total of 269.93 µmol free thiol groups per gram polymer were determined. The prepared nonthiolated and thiolated microspheres were studied for particle shape, size, drug content, swellability, mucoadhesion and in vitro insulin release. The thiolated microspheres exhibited higher mucoadhesion due to formation of covalent bonds via disulfide bridges with the mucus gel layer. Drug permeation through goat nasal mucosa of nonthiolated and thiolated microspheres were found as 52.62 ± 2.4% and 78.85 ± 3.1% in 6 h, respectively. Thiolated microspheres bearing insulin showed better reduction in blood glucose level (BGL) in comparison to nonthiolated microspheres as 31.23 ± 2.12% and 75.25 ± 0.93% blood glucose of initial BGL were observed at 6 h after nasal delivery of thiolated and nonthiolated microspheres in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rabbits.
Improving Selfish Node Detection in MANETs Using a Collaborative Watchdog

Mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) are composed of mobile nodes connected by wireless links without using any pre-existent infrastructure. MANET nodes rely on network cooperation schemes to properly work, forwarding traffic unrelated to its own use. However, in the real world, most nodes may have a selfish behavior, being unwilling to forward packets for others in order to save resources. Therefore, detecting these nodes is essential for network performance. Watchdogs are used to detect selfish nodes in computer networks. A way to reduce the detection time and to improve the accuracy of watchdogs is the collaborative approach. This paper proposes a collaborative watchdog based on contact dissemination of the detected selfish nodes. Then, we introduce an analytical model to evaluate the detection time and the cost of this collaborative approach. Numerical results show that our collaborative watchdog can dramatically reduce the overall detection time with a reduced overhead.
The expanding role of the anterolateral thigh free flap in head and neck reconstruction

Purpose of reviewTo review the recent literature on the expanding use of the anterolateral thigh free flap for head and neck reconstruction. Recent findingsThe versatility of the anterolateral thigh free flap allows it to be raised as a subcutaneous, musculocutaneous, fasciocutaneous, or adipofascial flap. In recent years, it has been reported to reconstruct defects involving the scalp, skull base, pharynx, tracheal stoma, oral cavity, and oropharynx. Various techniques have also been described in its harvest and inset, including combination flaps in conjunction with other free flaps or bone grafts, chimeric flaps, double-paddled skin flaps, and sensate flaps. These reports confer good functional and aesthetic outcomes equal to or better than other fasciocutaneous free flaps. SummaryThe role of the anterolateral thigh free flap in reconstructing head and neck defects is ever expanding, with many novel harvesting and reconstructive techniques described in recent years. Because of the large surface area of the anterolateral thigh, as well as the ability to tailor variable amounts of skin, muscle, fat, or fascia associated with this flap, the reconstruction options are numerous. More importantly, good functional and aesthetic outcomes are achievable with an associated low morbidity of the donor site.
Quantum correction and phonon density of states analysis for thermal conductivity of single walled carbon nanotube with Finite Length

Though thermal conductivity of single walled carbon nanotubes has been intensively studied, the quantum correction method for the temperature dependence of thermal conductivity of the tube and phonon density of states (DOS) for different boundary conditions have been discussed very rarely. In this paper, we studied the tube ends constrained model for thermal conductivity calculation, and a simple quantum correction method is introduced and discussed in detail to analyze the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity of the SWCNTs. Moreover, by farther investigating the phonon density of states, we found the phonon boundary scattering in this model is reduced by the buffer region, thus no prominent peak appears at the very low frequency area, and both the computed thermal conductivity and phonon DOS in the tube ends constrained model are more close to that of the ends unconstrained models using the periodic boundary condition.
The role of confinement loss in highly nonlinear silica holey fibers

Small-core holey fibers (HFs) can offer tight mode confinement, and are, therefore, attractive for highly nonlinear fiber applications. However, we show here that confinement loss can significantly degrade the performance of devices based on such small core fibers. We also identify a range of fiber designs that result in high fiber nonlinearity and low confinement loss. In particular, we show that pure silica HFs can exhibit effective nonlinearities more than 50 times higher than conventional fibers, and that the confinement loss can be lowered below the loss of standard fiber types.
Real-time implementation & evaluation of grid-connected microgrid energy management systems

This paper proposes the real-time implementation of an energy management system (EMS) optimization sequence and enumerates a set of performance metrics for grid-connected microgrids. The operation and performance of the proposed microgrid EMS is validated using a real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing platform. The test system emulates the microgrid network, the distributed energy resources (DER) and their corresponding local controllers on a real-time-digital-simulator (RTDS). The microgrid EMS script under evaluation runs on a desktop computer and interfaces the RTDS through a separate digital controller. Real-time simulation results are used to quantify the performance of a grid-connected microgrid EMS in terms of power import constraints, the levelized cost of energy and fuel consumption provided by the DER scheduling algorithms. A utility 25 kV distribution test-line featuring a Type-4 wind turbine generator (WTG), battery energy storage system (BESS), diesel generator and controllable loads has been used for the benchmark test system.
Nonfermentative Thermoalkaliphilic Growth Is Restricted to Alkaline Environments

ABSTRACT Caldalkalibacillus thermarum strain TA2.A1 grew in pH-controlled batch culture containing a fermentable growth substrate (i.e., sucrose) from pH 7.5 to 10.0 with no significant change in the specific growth rate, suggesting that this bacterium was a facultative alkaliphile. However, when strain TA2.A1 was grown on a nonfermentable carbon source, such as succinate or malate, no growth was observed until the external pH was >9.0, suggesting that this bacterium was an obligate alkaliphile. Succinate transport and sucrose transport by strain TA2.A1 showed pH profiles similar to that of growth on these carbon sources, and the molar growth yield on sucrose was higher at pH 9.5 than at pH 7.5, despite the increased energy demands on the cell for intracellular pH regulation. Succinate transport, succinate-dependent oxygen consumption, and succinate dehydrogenase and F1Fo-ATPase specific activities were all significantly lower in cultures of strain TA2.A1 grown at pH 7.5 than in those cultured at pH 9.5. No significant ATP synthesis via the F1Fo-ATP synthase was detected until the external pH was >8.5. On the basis of these results, we propose that nonfermentative thermoalkaliphilic growth is specialized to function at high pH values, but not at pH values near neutral pH.
Conceptual design of a pure electric vehicle

As part of this paper, a concept for a purely electric vehicle was developed. The idea is to develop the vehicle from scratch and to optimize the drive train using a structured approach. Therefore it is necessary to come undone from properties of conventional vehicles and design a new concept independently. So the aim of that is to develop an energetically efficient design of the vehicle. The main focus lies on the drive train and its respective components.
Mapeamento de processos e simulação como procedimentos de apoio à gestão de custos: uma aplicação para o processo de registros e matrículas da universidade de Cruz Alta

O tema desta dissertacao consiste em associar a gestao de custos com duas ferramentas de analise que sao: mapeamento de processos e simulacao. Neste sentido, o objetivo principal foi de verificar a contribuicao do mapeamento de processos e da simulacao como procedimentos de apoio a gestao de custos no processo de registros e matriculas da Universidade de Cruz Alta - UNICRUZ. Trata-se de um estudo aplicado e quantitativo, pois foram coletados dados, como por exemplo, taxa de atendimento e taxa de chegada, analisados estatisticamente e, posteriormente, foram construidos os modelos de simulacao e dois cenarios de cada modelo para a analise final. Ao final se comprova a contribuicao do mapeamento de processos e da simulacao como ferramenta de apoio a gestao de custos, na medida em que a metodologia utilizada contribuiu na melhoria da qualidade, no alinhamento dos processos e na gestao dos custos.