Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Differential Dual-Band Dual-Polarized Dielectric Resonator Antenna

This communication presents a differential dual-band dual-polarized dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) with high isolation and low cross polarization using a cross-shaped DR. In the differential DRA, some of the higher order modes are eliminated and electromagnetic fields of each excited mode have no interaction with its corresponding orthogonal mode. Two groups of modes are utilized to realize dual-band characteristic and each group with two orthogonal modes is used to supply dual-polarized function. Differential feeding provides the DRA with suppression of unwanted modes, much higher isolation and lower cross-polarization in both frequency bands, compared with the traditional single-end feeding. The experimental prototypes of the proposed differential DRA and its single-ended counterpart are designed and implemented. The comparison between them is also made in reflection coefficient, isolation, and radiation properties. Both simulated and measured results show significantly improved performance of the proposed differential DRA.
Muscle Activity Levels in Upper-Body Push Exercises With Different Loads and Stability Conditions

Abstract Background: Exercises that aim to stimulate muscular hypertrophy and increase neural drive to the muscle fibers should be used during rehabilitation. Thus, it is of interest to identify optimal exercises that efficiently achieve high muscle activation levels. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the muscle activation levels during push-up variations (ie, suspended push-ups with/without visual input on different suspension systems, and push-ups on the floor with/without additional elastic resistance) with the bench press exercise and the standing cable press exercise both performed at 50%, 70%, and 85% of the 1-repetition maximum. Methods: Young fit male university students (N = 29) performed 3 repetitions in all conditions under the same standardized procedures. Average amplitude of the electromyogram (EMG) root mean square for the rectus abdominis, external oblique, sternocostal head of the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, long head of the triceps brachii, upper trapezius, anterior serratus, and posterior deltoid was recorded. The EMG signals were normalized to the maximum voluntary isometric contraction. The EMG data were analyzed with repeated-measures analysis of variance with a Bonferroni post hoc. Results and Conclusions: Elastic-resisted push-ups induce similar EMG stimulus in the prime movers as the bench press at high loads while also providing a greater core challenge. Suspended push-ups are a highly effective way to stimulate abdominal muscles. Pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and anterior serratus are highly elicited during more stable pushing conditions, whereas abdominal muscles, triceps brachii, posterior deltoid, and upper trapezius are affected in the opposite manner.
Memory-Reduced Look-Up Tables for Efficient ADMM Decoding of LDPC Codes

The Euclidean projection involved in the decoding of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes with the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) can be simplified by jointly using uniform quantization and look-up tables (LUTs). However, the memory requirement for the original LUT-based ADMM decoding is comparatively large. In this letter, a nonuniform quantization method is proposed to save the memory cost by minimizing the mean square error of the outputs of Euclidean projections during quantization. Simulation results over two exemplified LDPC codes show that the proposed method can achieve similar error-rate performances when compared with the original LUT-based ADMM decoding by using significantly less memory units.
An optimal degree approximation of the surface control for photovoltaic maximum power point tracking system

A new method to estimate a position of PV maximum power point based on universal approximation of experimental data as a function of temperature and irradiance has been represented in the paper. An optimal polynomial degree for the proposed correction function of universal approximation has been found. The control surface for industrial KVAZAR KV-250M PV panel has been obtained by numerical analysis. Relative tolerance of the proposed method is less then 1.6% in the operation range of temperature and irradiance and not exceeds 6.3% outside the range of PV reasonable use. The obtained control surface can be used in ANFIS controller design for PV maximum power point tracking.
[Risk factors for injuries caused by traffic accidents and the impact of an intervention on the road].

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of interventions at a highway, in the occurrence and severity of injuries by traffic accidents. METHOD It was made a comparative analysis of two cross-sectional studies in 1994 and 1996. RESULTS In 1994 the rate was 7.96 accidents/ 100,000 vehicles and in 1996 8.49 / 100,000 vehicles. The increase was not significant (p>0.05). The rate of injured drivers in 1994 was of 2.10 / 100,000 vehicles and of 1.35 / 100,000 vehicles in 1996, which was a significant decrease (p<0.000). The self-report of use of seat belt (63.46% versus 76.6%), the small vehicles involved in accidents (7.9% versus 37.7%), nocturnal schedule (23.7% versus 31.8%) and in Mexico-Cuernavaca direction (45% versus 66.7%), were more frequent in 1996 (p<0.05). The risk of injury, using a logistic regression model, between drivers exposed to the interventions (1996) and those that were not exposed (1994) adjusted by: age, speed, use of seat belt, alcohol intake and external cause, showed a protective effect of the interventions at the highway (OR 0.42 CI95% 0.27-0.66). CONCLUSION There is an evident need of multisectorial approaches in the study and evaluation of the interventions in the field of the traffic accidents. The present research is a clear example of the repercussions over health of interventions developed by the transportation sector at the highway.
Real-Time Non-Invasive Detection and Classification of Diabetes Using Modified Convolution Neural Network

Non-invasive diabetes prediction has been gaining prominence over the last decade. Among many human serums evaluated, human breath emerges as a promising option with acetone levels in breath exhibiting a good correlation to blood glucose levels. Such correlation establishes acetone as an acceptable biomarker for diabetes. The most common data analysis strategies to analyze the biomarkers in breath for disease detection use feature extraction and classification algorithms. However, snags such as computational cost and lack of optimal feature selection on application to real-time signals reduce the efficiency of such analysis. This paper explores the use of a one-dimensional (1-D) modified convolution neural network (CNN) algorithm that combines feature extraction and classification techniques. The approach proposed in this paper is found to significantly reduce the limitations associated with using these techniques individually and thereby improving the classifier's performance further. This paper proposes to apply a modified 1-D CNN on real-time breath signals obtained from an array of gas sensors. The experimentation and the performance of the system is carried out and evaluated.
WNT1 gene expression alters in heterogeneous population of prostate cancer cells; decreased expression pattern observed in CD133+/CD44+ prostate cancer stem cell spheroids.

PURPOSE Established cancer cell lines contain cancer stem cells (CSCs) which can propagate to form three dimensional (3D) tumor spheroids in vitro. Aberrant activation of WNT signaling is strongly implicated in the progression of cancer and controls CSCs properties. In this study we hypothesized that when cells were maintained as spheroids, the structure of CSCs could show differentiation between CSCs and non- CSCs. METHODS CD133+/CD44+ cancer-initiating cells were isolated from DU-145 human prostate cancer cell line monolayer cultures, propagated as tumor spheroids and compared with the remaining heterogeneous cancer cells bulk population. The expression levels of WNT1, FZD1, ADAR, APC, AXIN, BTRC, FRAT1 and PPARD genes were measured by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) array assay and the protein expression levels of WNT1, FZD and AXIN by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS The expression levels of WNT pathway-related molecules were found to increase in both CSCs and non- CSCs when CSCs were maintained as spheroids. However, different expression profiles were observed when CSCs and non-CSCs were compared. In spheroids, the expression levels of FZD1, APC, ADAR, WNT1, PPARD genes in CSCs decreased when compared to non-CSCs. Interestingly, when CSCs from spheroids were compared with CSCs from monolayers the most significant decrease was observed in FZD1 and increase in APC genes. CONCLUSION It is possible to assume that intracellular signaling of WNT-related molecules in the nucleus and/or cytoplasm might play an important role but it is independent from increased ligand expression and this expression strongly differentiate CSCs and non-CSCs population. This unexpected expression could be important for CSCs behavior and targeting this pathway could have therapeutic implications in cancer.
Optimized Bi-Objective EEG Channel Selection and Cross-Subject Generalization With Brain–Computer Interfaces

Electroencephalography (EEG) signal processing to decode motor imagery (MI) involves high-dimensional features, which increases the computational complexity. To reduce this computational burden due to the large number of channels, an iterative multiobjective optimization for channel selection (IMOCS) is proposed in this paper. For a given MI classification task, the proposed method initializes a reference candidate solution and subsequently finds a set of the most relevant channels in an iterative manner by exploiting both the anatomical and functional relevance of EEG channels. The proposed approach is evaluated on the Wadsworth dataset for the right fist versus left fist MI tasks, while considering the cross-validation accuracy as the performance evaluation criteria. Furthermore, 12 other dimension reduction and channel selection algorithms are used for benchmarking. The proposed approach (IMOCS) achieved an average classification accuracy of about 80% when evaluated using 35 best-performing subjects. One-way analysis of variance revealed the statistical significance of the proposed approach with at least 7% improvement over other benchmarking algorithms. Furthermore, a cross-subject generalization of channel selection on untrained subjects shows that the subject-independent channels perform as good as using all channels achieving an average classification accuracy of 61%. These results are promising for the online brain-computer interface (BCI) paradigm that requires low computational complexity and also for reducing the preparation time while conducting multiple session BCI experiments for a larger pool of subjects.
Cardiac features of a novel autosomal recessive dilated cardiomyopathic syndrome due to defective importation of mitochondrial protein

Dilated cardiomyopathy as seen in children is clinically and genetically heterogeneous, with an increasing proportion of cases known to be caused by disorders of single genes. An autosomal recessive syndrome with a high incidence of dilated cardiomyopathy was recently described in the Canadian Dariusleut Hutterite population. It is caused by homozygous mutations in a novel gene, DNAJC19, presumed to play a role in importation of mitochondrial proteins. We discuss the cardiac features of this syndrome, and its relationship to cardiac mitochondrial function.
Cardiac Nitric Oxide Synthase 1 Regulates Basal and &bgr;-Adrenergic Contractility in Murine Ventricular Myocytes

Background—Evidence indicates that myocardial NO production can modulate contractility, but the source of NO remains uncertain. Here, we investigated the role of a type 1 NO synthase isoform (NOS1), which has been recently localized to the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum, in the regulation of basal and &bgr;-adrenergic myocardial contraction. Methods and Results—Contraction was assessed in left ventricular myocytes isolated from mice with NOS1 gene disruption (NOS1−/− mice) and their littermate controls (NOS1+/+ mice) at 3 stimulation frequencies (1, 3, and 6 Hz) in basal conditions and during &bgr;-adrenergic stimulation with isoproterenol (2 nmol/L). In addition, we examined the effects of acute specific inhibition of NOS1 with vinyl-l-N-5-(1-imino-3-butenyl)-l-ornithine (L-VNIO, 500 &mgr;mol/L). NOS1−/− myocytes exhibited greater contraction at all frequencies (percent cell shortening at 6 Hz, 10.7±0.92% in NOS1−/− myocytes versus 7.21±0.8% in NOS1+/+ myocytes;P <0.05) with a flat frequency-contraction relationship. Time to 50% relaxation was increased in NOS1−/− myocytes at all frequencies (at 6 Hz, 26.53±1.4 ms in NOS1−/− myocytes versus 21.27±1.3 ms in NOS1+/+ myocytes;P <0.05). L-VNIO prolonged time to 50% relaxation at all frequencies (at 6 Hz, 21.28±1.7 ms in NOS1+/+ myocytes versus 26.45±1.4 ms in NOS1+/++L-VNIO myocytes;P <0.05) but did not significantly increase basal contraction. However, both NOS1−/− myocytes and NOS1+/+ myocytes treated with L-VNIO showed a greatly enhanced contraction in response to &bgr;-adrenergic stimulation (percent increase in contraction at 6 Hz, 25.2±10.8 in NOS1+/+ myocytes, 68.2±11.2 in NOS1−/− myocytes, and 65.1±13.2 in NOS1+/++L-VNIO myocytes;P <0.05). Conclusions—NOS1 disruption enhances basal contraction and the inotropic response to &bgr;-adrenergic stimulation in murine ventricular myocytes. These findings indicate that cardiac NOS1-derived NO plays a significant role in the autocrine regulation of myocardial contractility.
Pathogenic mechanisms and experimental models of multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a devastating autoimmune disease that affects more than 1 million people worldwide and severely compromises motor and sensory function through demyelination and axonal loss. This review covers current therapies, lessons learned from failed clinical trials, genetic susceptibility, key cell types involved, animal models, gene expression, and biomarker information. The current first-line therapies for MS include the type I interferons (IFN-I) and glatiramer acetate (GA) but because of their limited effectiveness new therapeutic modalities are required. Tysabri is an anti very late antigen-4 antibody that antagonizes the migration of multiple cell types and appears more efficacious as compared to the IFNs or GA. Tysabri blocks the transmigration of T cells and monocytes, which indicates that blocking multiple cell types may increase the effectiveness of the therapy. However, this therapy may increase the risk of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. The major cell types hypothesized to be pathogenic include T cells and antigen-presenting cells, including B cells. The correlation of the animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) of MS and its predictive value to determine efficacy in the clinic appears limited. However, all current therapies do demonstrate efficacy in EAE models. There are also examples of mechanisms that have worked in EAE but have failed in the clinic, such as the TNFα antagonists and anti-p40 (a subunit of IL-12 and IL-23). The MS field would benefit if clinical biomarkers were available to monitor clinical efficacy. The etiology of MS remains elusive but additional understanding of mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of MS may guide us to more effective treatment and management of this autoimmune disease.
Effect of a Small, Acid-Soluble Spore Protein from Clostridium perfringens on the Resistance Properties of Bacillus subtilis Spores

ABSTRACT α/β-type small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASP) are essential for the resistance of DNA in spores of Bacillus species to damage. An α/β-type SASP, Ssp2, from Clostridium perfringens was expressed at significant levels in B. subtilis spores lacking one or both major α/β-type SASP (α− and α− β− strains, respectively). Ssp2 restored some of the resistance of α− β− spores to UV and nitrous acid and of α− spores to dry heat. Ssp2 also restored much of the resistance of α− spores to nitrous acid and restored full resistance of α− spores to UV and moist heat. These results further indicate the interchangeability of α/β-type SASP in DNA protection in spores.
Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and the risk of cardiovascular disease: dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.

Background: During the past decade, an increasing number of prospective studies have focused on the association between vitamin D and cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the evidence on the relation between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and the risk of overt CVD is inconclusive.Objective: We performed a dose-response meta-analysis to summarize and prospectively quantify the RR of low serum 25(OH)D concentration and total CVD (events and mortality). Design: We identified relevant studies by searching PubMed and EMBASE up to December 2015 and by hand-searching reference lists. Prospective studies based on the general population and reported RRs and 95% CIs were included. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled RRs. Nonlinear association was assessed by using restricted cubic spline analyses.Results: A total of 34 publications with 180,667 participants were eligible for the meta-analysis. We included 32 publications (27 independent studies) for total CVD events and 17 publications (17 independent studies) for CVD mortality. We observed an inverse association between serum 25(OH)D and total CVD events and CVD mortality, and the pooled RRs per 10-ng/mL increment were 0.90 (95% CI: 0.86, 0.94) for total CVD events and 0.88 (95% CI: 0.80, 0.96) for CVD mortality. A nonlinear association was detected for total CVD events (P-nonlinear < 0.001) and CVD mortality (P-nonlinear = 0.022). Conclusion: Serum 25(OH)D concentration was inversely associated with total CVD events and CVD mortality from the observed studies.
Evaluation of Action Thresholds and Spinosad for Lepidopteran Pest Management in Minnesota Cabbage

Abstract Action thresholds, based on the percentage of plants infested, for the lepidopteran pest complex in fresh-market cabbage Brassica oleracea variety capitata were evaluated in 1996 and 1997 in southern Minnesota. Three lepidopteran pests are common in Minnesota, including the imported cabbageworm, Pieris (=Artogeia) rapae (L.), diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), and the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hübner). Most of the thresholds tested included all three pests. However, because T. ni is often the most consistent and damaging pest in Minnesota, two thresholds were based solely on the percentage of plants infested with T. ni eggs and larvae. Action thresholds were also evaluated for their compatibility with a recently labeled biologically based insecticide, spinosad, and a conventional pyrethroid, permethrin. Although all three lepidopteran pests were present in both years of the study, P. rapae provided most of the pest pressure in 1996, and T. ni was most abundant in 1997. Compared with the 0% larval infestation treatment (approximately weekly sprays from early heading to harvest), all action thresholds resulted in less insecticide use (17–80%), while maintaining high levels of marketability. Despite variable pest pressure between years, one of the thresholds based solely on T. ni (10% of plants infested with eggs or larvae) performed as well as each of the thresholds based on all three species combined. For both years, and compared with a weekly spray schedule from early heading to harvest (average of 5.5 sprays per year), use of the 10% T. ni egg or larval threshold resulted in an average of 36.5% (3.5 sprays) and 65% (2.0 sprays) fewer applications of spinosad and permethrin, respectively, with no significant loss in marketability. The results indicate that a variety of incidence-based action thresholds can be used to ensure the production of high-quality cabbage in the midwestern United States with only minimal applications of spinosad or permethrin.
Biochemical Parameters and Histopathological Findings in the Forced Molt Laying Hens

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of forced molting using biochemical parameters and histopathological findings in laying hens. 36 Hyline W36 strain laying hens, 90 weeks old were chosen for this research. Eight of these chickens were randomly selected and placed in a cage as the control group before the molting program began. All the others 28 chickens were used for the forced molting program. Eight laying hens were slaughtered at the end of the molting program named as molting group. The remaining 20 hens were fed for 37 days, weighted and slaughtered when they reached the maximum egg production (80%) as postmolting group. Then, blood was analyzed for malondialdehyde, glutathione, catalase, glucose, calcium, phosphorus, albumin, globulin, total protein, triiodothyronine, thyroxine and Vitamin C. The malondialdehyde and glutathione levels of the thyroid and liver tissues were also analyzed along with an examination of the histopathological changes of the liver, ovarium and thyroid glands; and live body, liver, ovarium, thyroid weights and thyroid lengths. In conclusion, it was found that forced molting produces stress and notable side effects in hens, like the oxidant and antioxidant status of the organs, tissue weights and sizes, hormon profiles, blood biochemical and histopathological parameter changes. The activities of thyroid malondialdehyde (p<0.05), liver glutathione (p<0.01), plasma catalase (p<0.001) were significantly decreased in molting group compared to control values, while liver malondialdehyde levels were significantly increased (p<0.001) and thyroid glutathione levels had nonsignificant effect. These levels in molting hens were the first study for veterinary science.
Medetomidine immobilisation and atipamezole reversal in large estuarine crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) using metabolically scaled dosages.

BACKGROUND Restraint of large estuarine crocodiles is potentially dangerous. Neuromuscular blockers and other immobilising drugs have been used with variable results. Medetomidine has been reported as a reliable, repeatable and reversible immobilisation agent in small estuarine crocodilians. METHODS AND RESULTS Two wild and two farmed male animals, between 3.05 and 4.6 m long, were hand-injected into a triceps muscle with a metabolically scaled medetomidine dosage. Immobilisation occurred within 30 min. At the conclusion of the procedures, 70 min after medetomidine administration, three animals were injected with atipamezole IM into the opposite triceps muscle at a dosage based on body surface area. Reversal occurred within 5 min. The fourth animal was intubated prior to reversal of medetomidine and maintained on isoflurane anaesthesia for a gastrotomy. All animals were monitored closely post recovery and then regularly for at least 1 week. CONCLUSIONS Medetomidine at a metabolically scaled dosage delivered IM into the forelimb was effective for immobilising large estuarine crocodiles for at least 40 min. Atipamezole administered at a dosage calculated as a function of surface area effectively reversed this immobilisation.
Tunable circular-polarization antenna for RFID applications

This paper presents a tunable circular polarization antenna operating at RFID band. The proposed antenna is asymmetric square shaped slotted microstrip patches. The proposed antenna operates at the band from 908 to 915 MHz for radio frequency identification reader antenna. A resonance frequency is tunable by changing the length or width of the slots.