Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wheel slip control using energy shaping

A passivity-based wheel slip controller is presented that is robust against tyre-road friction uncertainties. Using a port-Hamiltonian form of a quarter-car with LuGre tyre model, an energy shaping controller is constructed that stabilizes some desired relative (sliding) velocity. The measured variables are the friction force and the relative velocity. A stability analysis shows that this controller is robust against tyre-road friction uncertainties. A simplified control law is proposed that inherits the robustness characteristics of the original controller. Finally, this simplified controller is tested in a simulation environment, showing that the desired relative velocity is stabilized for different friction parameter values.
Inflation from D-\bar{D} brane annihilation

We demonstrate that the initial conditions for inflation are met when D5 and \bar{D}5 branes annihilate. This scenario uses Sen's conjecture that a co-dimension two vortex forms on the worldvolume of the annihilated 5-brane system. Analogous to a "Big Bang", when the five branes annihilate, a vortex localized on a 3-brane forms and its false vacuum energy generates an inflationy space-time. We also provide a natural mechanism for ending inflation via the motion of the vortex in the bulk due to its extrinsic curvature. We also suggest a consistent way to end inflation and localize matter on our space-time.
Health status after traumatic injury

BACKGROUND This study explored the relationships between health-related quality of life and postacute factors such as patients’ perceived access to information and support, perceptions of illness and ability to provide self-care after traumatic injury. METHODS Adults (18 years or older) admitted to hospital for ≥24 hours for the acute treatment of trauma in two hospitals in Queensland, Australia, were enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Questionnaires completed at hospital discharge and 3 months and 6 months incorporated the following: demographic data; psychological factors (Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire, Information, Autonomy and Support Scale, and Therapeutic Self-Care Scale); and outcome data (medical short form-36). Data on injury and hospital stay were obtained from health care records and the Queensland Trauma Registry. RESULTS One hundred ninety-four patients with a median Injury Severity Score 9 (interquartile range, 5–14) were enrolled, with 125 (64%) completing questionnaires at 6 months. More than half the cohort reported symptoms of pain, fatigue, stiff joints, sleep difficulties, and loss of strength. All subscale scores on the short form-36 were below Australian norms 6 months after injury. Predictors of poor physical health included older age, lower extremity injury, and increased perceived consequences of their injuries, whereas predictors of poor mental health included younger age, female gender, and lower perceived control over their environment. CONCLUSIONS Patients with minor to moderate injury based on anatomic injury scoring systems have ongoing challenges with recovery including problematic symptoms and low quality of life. Interventions aimed toward assisting recovery should not be limited to trauma patients with major injury. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Prognostic study, level III.
Factors Influencing Pap Screening Use Among African Immigrant Women

Purpose: Papanicolau (Pap) screenings disparities exist for immigrant women in the United States. This study sought to have an understanding of factors influencing Pap screening among sub-Saharan African immigrant women. Method: This is a qualitative descriptive study. Women were recruited from the community and by word of mouth following institutional review board approval. Data were gathered through in-depth focus group and demographic questionnaires. Interview sessions were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analyzed for themes. Findings: Twenty-two women aged 24 to 65 years were interviewed. Barriers to screening included low knowledge of screening, cost, cultural beliefs, fear and communication issues. Motivators to improve Pap use include provider’s recommendations, enlightenment, and family support. Discussion: Interventions addressing the barriers peculiar to this population may alleviate these barriers and improve Pap screening use in this population. Providers have the opportunity to influence screening attitudes of African-born women by providing awareness and patient-targeted interventions.
Pursuing paradoxical proconvulsant prophylaxis for epileptogenesis

There are essentially two potential treatment options for any acquired disorder: symptomatic or prophylactic. For acquired epilepsies that follow a variety of different brain insults, there remains a complete lack of prophylactic treatment options, whereas at the same time these epilepsies are notoriously resistant, once they have emerged, to symptomatic treatments with antiepileptic drugs. The development of prophylactic strategies is logistically challenging, both for basic researchers and clinicians. Nevertheless, cannabinoid‐targeting drugs provide a very interesting example of a system within the central nervous system (CNS) that can have very different acute and long‐term effects on hyperexcitability and seizures. In this review, we outline research on cannabinoids suggesting that although cannabinoid antagonists are acutely proconvulsant, they may have beneficial effects on long‐term hyperexcitability following brain insults of multiple etiologies, making them promising candidates for further investigation as prophylactics against acquired epilepsy. We then discuss some of the implications of this finding on future attempts at prophylactic treatments, specifically, the very short window within which prevention may be possible, the possibility that traditional anticonvulsants may interfere with prophylactic strategies, and the importance of moving beyond anticonvulsants—even to proconvulsants—to find the ideal preventative strategy for acquired epilepsy.
Improving multitarget tracking using orientation estimates for sorting bulk materials

Optical belt sorters can be used to sort a large variety of bulk materials. By the use of sophisticated algorithms, the performance of the complex machinery can be further improved. Recently, we have proposed an extension to industrial optical belt sorters that involves tracking the individual particles on the belt using an area scan camera. If the estimated behavior of the particles matches the true behavior, the reliability of the separation process can be improved. The approach relies on multitarget tracking using hard association decisions between the tracks and the measurements. In this paper, we propose to include the orientation in the assessment of the compatibility of a track and a measurement. This allows us to achieve more reliable associations, facilitating a higher accuracy of the tracking results.
Relationship between patient pre-treatment object relations functioning and psychodynamic techniques early in treatment.

UNLABELLED This study explored the relationship between patient pre-treatment object relations (OR) functioning and psychodynamic techniques employed during two early sessions (third and ninth). The sample consisted of 76 outpatients engaged in short-term psychodynamic psychotherapy. Results showed that lower levels of patient pre-treatment OR functioning, particularly in the identity and affective domains, were related to a greater use of psychodynamic-interpersonal techniques in sessions. Patients who had more adaptive management of aggressive impulses were related to a greater use of cognitive-behavioural techniques by therapists. In addition, exploratory analyses between OR functioning and specific psychodynamic-interpersonal and cognitive-behavioural techniques showed that lower OR functioning in terms of affect, self-esteem, identity coherence, social causality, emotional investment in relationships as well as Global OR were significantly related to therapist focus on avoidance of important topics and affective changes during the session. Implications for clinical practice and Q1 future research are discussed. KEY PRACTITIONER MESSAGE Consider more frequent use of psychodynamic techniques early in treatment with patients expressing more pathological object representations, particularly when these deficits are in the affective and identity domains. Lower patient object relations functioning may necessitate an in session focus on issues that are avoided or uncomfortable early in treatment. Lower patient object relations functioning may necessitate the need to address and explore labile affective expressions in session as they occur early in treatment. When patients are able to more adaptively express or manage aggressive impulses early within psychodynamic psychotherapy consider the integration of problem solving, goal oriented, future focused (i.e., CB) techniques.
Plant biomass-degrading microbial consortia: Ecology, lignocellulolytic machinery and biotechnological potential

De productie van hernieuwbare ‘bio-based’ verbindingen uit suikers verkregen uit plantaardige biomassa is de afgelopen tien jaar sterk toegenomen. Een belangrijke drempel in dergelijke processen is dikwijls de lage efficientie van versuikering, veroorzaakt door de recalcitrante aard van de lignocellulose matrix. Microbiele consortia zijn wel voorgesteld als aantrekkelijke alternatieven voor een efficientere afbraak van deze materialen. In deze studie beschrijven wij verschillende microbiele consortia die op tarwestro, maisstro en switchgrass werden gekweekt als enige bronnen van koolstof en energie. Met name zijn metataxonomische (gestoeld op 16S rRNA gen/ ITS1 basevolgordebepalingen) en metagenomische analyses (via DNA basevolgordebepaling en screening van bibliotheken) uitgevoerd, waardoor gegevens over de gekweekte microbiele consortia werden verkregen. In deze consortia werden leden van de Enterobacteriales, Pseudomonadales, Flavobacteriales en Sphingobacteriales als dominante soorten waargenomen. Daarnaast zijn de totale uitgeschieden eiwitten onderzocht via vloeistofchromatografie-tandem massaspectrometrie, waarna de enzymatische activiteiten geevalueerd werden met behulp van een nieuwe generatie van chromogene substraten. De ecofysiologie van de systemen kan worden gekenmerkt als verrassend complex en ingewikkeld. Bijvoorbeeld waren de consortiumsamenstellingen complex, waarbij ook is aangetoond dat de verschillende consortiumleden invloed hadden op het lignocellulose-afbraakproces. Het enzymatische complement van de consortia bleek uitgescheiden xylanasen, glucosidases, arabinofuranosidasen, galactosidasen, mannosidases en fucosidases te bevatten. Een analyse van de metagenomische bibliotheken onthulde de aanwezigheid van verschillende genen voor nieuwe hitte-alkali-tolerante enzymen. De verkregen metagenomen en metasecretomen vormen een waardevolle bron voor enzymcocktails die bruikbaar zijn in de processen voor versuikering van lignocellulose.
Outcomes in women undergoing robotic‐assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy compared to conventional laparoscopic hysterectomy at a tertiary hospital in Western Australia

Robotic‐assisted laparoscopic hysterectomy (RALH) is associated with improved outcomes compared to open surgery in patients with endometrial cancer but data are conflicting when comparing RALH to conventional total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH). In October 2014, a RALH program was established in Perth, Western Australia.
Issues and recommendations in evaluating and managing the benefits of public sector IS/IT outsourcing

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is threefold: to understand public‐sector outsourcing in Australia; to examine the linkage between IS/IT outsourcing and the use of evaluation methodologies; and to identify issues that are critical in evaluating and managing IS/IT outsourcing contracts in public‐sector organizations.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of the top 500 Australian organizations and two in‐depth case studies of two Australian public‐sector organizations were conducted.Findings – Several key issues for IS/IT outsourcing were identified – problems in evaluating outsourcing contracts, embedded contract mentality, ability to manage contracts, and staff transition management.Practical implications – Outsourcing organizations need to implement changes carefully and assess their in‐house capabilities. They also need to fully understand and apply the IS/IT investment evaluation and benefits realization processes. In order to reach the magnitude of improvements ascribed to IS/IT outsourcing .
Purinergic receptors in human placenta : evidence for functionally active P 2 X 4 , P 2 X 7 , P 2 Y 2 , and P 2 Y 6

Roberts, V. H. J., S. L. Greenwood, A. C. Elliott, C. P. Sibley, and L. H. Waters. Purinergic receptors in human placenta: evidence for functionally active P2X4, P2X7, P2Y2, and P2Y6. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 290: R1374–R1386, 2006. First published December 22, 2005; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00612. 2005. —Appropriate regulation of ion transport by the human placental syncytiotrophoblast is important for fetal growth throughout pregnancy. In nonplacental tissues, ion transport can be modulated by extracellular nucleotides that raise intracellular calcium ([Ca ]i) via activation of purinergic receptors. We tested the hypothesis that purinergic receptors are expressed by human placental cytotrophoblast cells and that their activation by extracellular nucleotides modulates ion (K ) efflux and [Ca ]i. P2X/P2Y receptor agonists 5-bromouridine 5 -triphosphate (5-BrUTP), ADP, ATP, 2 ,3 -O-(4-benzoyl-benzoyl)adenosine 5 triphosphate (BzATP), and UTP stimulated Rb (K tracer) efflux from cultured cytotrophoblast cells at early (mononuclear) or later (multinucleate syncytiotrophoblast-like) stages of differentiation, with ATP and UTP particularly potent. 2-Methylthioadenosine 5 -triphosphate (2-MeS-ATP), and UDP elevated Rb efflux only from multinucleated cells. All agonists caused a significant peak and plateau increase in [Ca ]i, although the magnitude of responses was variable. The effect of BzATP, UTP, and UDP in multinucleated cells was unaffected, and that of ATP partially inhibited, by removal of extracellular Ca , implicating P2Y receptor activation. mRNA encoding P2X1, P2X2, P2X4, and P2X7 and P2Y1, P2Y2, P2Y4, P2Y6, and P2Y11 were identified in monoand multinucleated cells, whereas P2X3 and P2X5 mRNA were absent from all samples. Western blot analysis revealed P2X4, P2X7, P2Y2, and P2Y6 protein in cytotrophoblast cells, but P2Y4 was not detected. On the basis of published agonist selectivity, the data indicate the presence of functionally active P2X4, P2X7, P2Y2, and P2Y6 receptors in cytotrophoblast cells. We propose that activation of these receptors, and subsequent elevation of [Ca ]i, modulates syncytiotrophoblast homeostasis and/or maternofetal ion exchange in response to extracellular nucleotides.
RS3PE in Association With Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitor: Report of Two Cases

Remitting seronegative symmetrical synovitis with pitting edema (RS3PE), first described by McCarty (1), is characterized by symmetrical pitting edema of the hands and feet; tenderness, swelling, and/or limited motion of the joints; fatigue; and fever (1,2). It commonly occurs in elderly people (1,2). We have recently encountered two cases of RS3PE that developed shortly after the initiation of a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4) inhibitor and resolved markedly upon cessation of it. Case 1 was a 74-year-old woman with a 30-year history of type 2 diabetes who presented with edema of the hands, low grade fever, and malaise, which developed 5 weeks after switching from 20 mg gliclazide to 50 mg sitagliptin. Physical examination revealed severe pitting edema …
Seasonal Changes of Jumping Performance and Knee Muscle Strength in Under-19 Women Volleyball Players

Abstract Rousanoglou, EN, Barzouka, KG, and Boudolos, KD. Seasonal changes of jumping performance and knee muscle strength in under-19 women volleyball players. J Strength Cond Res 27(4): 1108–1117, 2013—The purpose of the study was to compare the seasonal changes (preparation period [PP] and competition period [CP]) of vertical jumping performance and knee muscle strength in a team of under-19 women volleyball players (N = 12, 16.2 ± 1.5 years). The countermovement jump was used to evaluate jumping performance. The isometric knee extension moment at 150 ms from the onset of contraction (T150) and at a maximum of contraction (TMAX) were determined at 9 knee angles (from 10° to 90°, full knee extension = 0°). The peak isokinetic knee extension (TISOK-EXT) and flexion (TISOK-FLEX) moment were determined at 60, 180, and 240°·s−1. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was applied to the differences between PP and CP (p ⩽ 0.05). Significant increases in jumping performance were found for jump height, peak impulse, total impulse, peak power, and takeoff velocity (p ⩽ 0.05). At the knee flexion angles from 40° to 90°, T150 was significantly increased (p ⩽ 0.05), whereas the increase was not significant at the rather extended knee angles of 10°, 20°, and 30° (p > 0.05). Only at 90° of knee flexion (p ⩽ 0.05), TMAX was significantly increased. With the exception of TISOK-FLEX at 60°·s−1 (p ⩽ 0.05), the increases of TISOK-EXT and TISOK-FLEX were not significant (p > 0.05). The TISOK-EXT/TISOK-FLEX ratios were not significantly changed (p > 0.05). The main application of the study is that it provides performance standards and potential criteria for variable selection for jumping performance and knee muscle strength seasonal evaluation.
“Decadose” Effects of Cisplatin on Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Upper Aerodigestive Tract. I. Histoculture Experiments

There is substantial laboratory and clinical evidence that solid tumors rapidly acquire cellular resistance to cisplatin. Experiments with human carcinoma cell lines and clonogenic assays indicate that resistance is usually mild to moderate and can be circumvented with higher concentrations of drug. The purpose of this investigation was to test this hypothesis with a histoculture assay of human upper aerodigestive tract (UADT) carcinomas.
Auditory Separation of a Conversation from Background via Attentional Gating

We present a model for separating a set of voices out of a sound mixture containing an unknown number of sources. Our Attentional Gating Network (AGN) uses a variable attentional context to specify which speakers in the mixture are of interest. The attentional context is specified by an embedding vector which modifies the processing of a neural network through an additive bias. Individual speaker embeddings are learned to separate a single speaker while superpositions of the individual speaker embeddings are used to separate sets of speakers. We first evaluate AGN on a traditional single speaker separation task and show an improvement of 9% with respect to comparable models. Then, we introduce a new task to separate an arbitrary subset of voices from a mixture of an unknown-sized set of voices, inspired by the human ability to separate a conversation of interest from background chatter at a cafeteria. We show that AGN is the only model capable of solving this task, performing only 7% worse than on the single speaker separation task.
Rapamycin inhibition of mTORC 1 reverses lithium-induced proliferation of renal collecting duct cells

Gao Y, Romero-Aleshire MJ, Cai Q, Price TJ, Brooks HL. Rapamycin inhibition of mTORC1 reverses lithium-induced proliferation of renal collecting duct cells. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 305: F1201–F1208, 2013. First published July 24, 2013; doi:10.1152/ajprenal.00153. 2013. —Nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) is the most common renal side effect in patients undergoing lithium therapy for bipolar affective disorders. Approximately 2 million US patients take lithium of whom 50% will have altered renal function and develop NDI (2, 37). Lithiuminduced NDI is a defect in the urinary concentrating mechanism. Lithium therapy also leads to proliferation and abundant renal cysts (microcysts), commonly in the collecting ducts of the cortico-medullary region. The mTOR pathway integrates nutrient and mitogen signals to control cell proliferation and cell growth (size) via the mTOR Complex 1 (mTORC1). To address our hypothesis that mTOR activation may be responsible for lithium-induced proliferation of collecting ducts, we fed mice lithium chronically and assessed mTORC1 signaling in the renal medulla. We demonstrate that mTOR signaling is activated in the renal collecting ducts of lithium-treated mice; lithium increased the phosphorylation of rS6 (Ser240/Ser244), p-TSC2 (Thr1462), and p-mTOR (Ser2448). Consistent with our hypothesis, treatment with rapamycin, an allosteric inhibitor of mTOR, reversed lithium-induced proliferation of medullary collecting duct cells and reduced levels of p-rS6 and p-mTOR. Medullary levels of p-GSK3 were increased in the renal medullas of lithium-treated mice and remained elevated following rapamycin treatment. However, mTOR inhibition did not improve lithium-induced NDI and did not restore the expression of collecting duct proteins aquaporin-2 or UT-A1.
Adsorption Kinetics of Alcohols over MCM-41 Materials

Adsorption of methanol and ethanol over mesoporous siliceous material are studied in the current paper . The pure mesoporous silica is prepared using tetraethylortho silicate (TEOS) as silica source and dodecylamine as template at low p H. The prepared material was characterized using nitrogen adsorptio n,nX-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The adsorption kinetics of methanol and ethanol from aq ueous solution were studied over the prepared mesoporous silica ma terial. The percent removal of alcohol was calculated per unit mass of adsorbent used. The 1 st order model is found to be in agreement with both adsorbates while the 2 nd order model fit the adsorption of methanol only. Keywords—Adsorption, Kinetics, Mesoprous silica, Methanol