Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adoptive Autologous Vascular Stem Cell Therapy for Diabetic FootPatients

Ischemic diabetic foot patients with peripheral vascular disease are difficult to cure once all conventional treatment modalities are exhausted, amputation is the final solution. The major concern for diabetic foot amputation is that five year mortality rates after lower extremity amputation for diabetics, critical limb ischemia and peripheral artery disease range from 39% to 68% [1]. Furthermore, the economic burden of diabetic foot ulcer is estimated to be 98 billion per year [2]. In order to overcome these difficulties, many researchers and clinicians have been looking into an alternative new therapy to successfully cure these patients. After the discovery of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) by Asahara`s group in 1997, these vascular stem cells became the subject of intense experimental and clinical investigation for angiogenesis and wound healing [3]. Preliminary studies supports the potential of stem/ progenitor cells for angiogenesis and wound and its cell based therapy has become an alternative therapeutic option for peripheral vascular disease and diabetic ulcers [4]. Clinical studies involving patients with diabetic ulcer and peripheral vascular disease with application of bone marrow or peripheral blood EPCs have started world-wide. However, ours and reports from other researchers have demonstrated the limitations of autologous diabetic EPC therapy [5].
Atomic-scale magnetism of cobalt-intercalated graphene

Using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory, we have studied the structural and magnetic properties of cobalt-intercalated graphene on Ir(111). The cobalt forms monolayer islands being pseudomorphic with the Ir(111) beneath the graphene. The strong bonding between graphene and cobalt leads to a high corrugation within the Moiré pattern which arises due to the lattice mismatch between the graphene and the Co on Ir(111). The intercalation regions exhibit an out-of-plane easy axis with an extremely high switching field, which surpasses the significant values reported for uncovered cobalt islands on Ir(111). Within the Moiré unit cell of the intercalation regions, we observe a site-dependent variation of the local effective spin polarization. State-of-the-art first-principles calculations show that the origin of this variation is a site-dependent magnetization of the graphene: At top sites the graphene is coupled ferromagnetically to the cobalt underneath, while it is antiferromagnetically coupled at fcc and hcp sites.
Quantifying Criminal Procedure: How to Unlock the Potential of Big Data in Our Criminal Justice System

Big data’s predictive algorithms have the potential to revolutionize the criminal justice system. They can make far more accurate determinations of reasonable suspicion and probable cause, thus increasing both the efficiency and the fairness of the system, since fewer innocent people will be stopped and searched. However, three significant obstacles remain before the criminal justice system can formally use predictive algorithms to help make these determinations. First, we need to ensure that neither the algorithms nor the data that they use are basing their decisions on improper factors, such as the race of the suspect. Second, under Fourth Amendment law, individualized suspicion is an essential element of reasonable suspicion or probable cause. This means that either the predictive algorithms must be designed to take individualized suspicion into account, or the predictive algorithms can only be used as one factor in determining whether the legal standard has been met, forcing police and judges to combine the algorithm’s results with individualized factors. And finally, the legal standards themselves must be quantified so that police and judges can use the numerical predictions of big data in their reasonable suspicion and probable cause determinations. These obstacles are not insurmountable. And if the necessary changes are made, the criminal justice system will become far more transparent, since the factors the algorithms take into consideration will necessarily be open for judges and the general public alike. Furthermore, setting a quantified likelihood for reasonable suspicion and probable cause will allow us to engage in a healthy debate about what those numbers ought to be, and it will also ensure conformity across different jurisdictions.
BotGrep : Finding Bots with Structured Graph Analysis

A key feature that distinguishes modern botnets from worms or other malicious hosts is their increasing use of structured overlay topologies. This lets them carry out sophisticated coordinated activities, but it can also be used as a point of detection. In this work, we devise techniques to localize botnet members based on the unique communication patterns arising from their overlay topologies used for command and control. Experimental results on synthetic topologies embedded within Internet traffic traces from an ISP’s backbone network indicate that our techniques (i) can localize the majority of bots with low false positive rate, and (ii) are resilient to the partial visibility arising from partial deployment of monitoring systems, and measurement inaccuracies arising from partial visibility and dynamics of background traffic.
Does Cardiac Exercise Stress Testing Still Exist?

Exercise Treadmill Testing to identify CAD is now a widely available and relatively low-cost examination that has been used for more than 60 years. The use of the ETT has expanded to include testing for functional capacity, chronotropic incompetence, assess the effects of therapy and also useful for risk stratification of patients with known CAD. The test sensitivity ranges from 61% to 73%, as reported by various analysts, and Specificity ranges from 59% to 81%, depending on the study or article referenced. Due to the various criteria set for the exercise stress test interpretation and reporting, we have outlined the criteria needed to support high quality exercise stress testing practice throughout Health facilities.
A novel mutation in BRCA 1 linked to breast and ovarian cancer and a genotype-phenotype correlation

We report a novel BRCA1 germline 4156delAA mutation detected in a 41-year-old woman with breast and ovarian cancer. Genomic DNA was obtained from peripheral blood. Standard polymerase chain reactions and direct sequencing were performed. This mutation originates a premature stop at codon 1354 of BRCA1 protein and has not been documented in any published report to the best of our knowledge. The mutation was not observed in any other family studied. Since this novel mutation was associated with both breast and ovarian cancer, the genotype-phenotype correlation was investigated in a patient base of 30 families.
A Revised Conceptual Framework for Payments for Environmental Services

Over the past decade, "Payments for Environmental Services" (PES) have received a great deal of attention as a natural-resource management approach. We propose a revised definition and framework for PES implementation that focuses on the use of positive incentives as the philosophy behind PES and conditionality as the method for influencing behaviors. We note the importance of additionality of PES interventions to justify their value in a wider context. Finally, we highlight the need to understand the local institutional context in terms of the characteristics of buyers, sellers, and their relationship for implementation to be effective. Our framework acts as a platform to begin examining how the variety of options for structuring PES projects can be adapted to a range of existing institutional contexts.
Simulation of Present-Day and Twenty-First-Century Energy Budgets of the Southern Oceans

Abstract The energy budget of the modern-day Southern Hemisphere is poorly simulated in both state-of-the-art reanalyses and coupled global climate models. The ocean-dominated Southern Hemisphere has low surface reflectivity and therefore its albedo is particularly sensitive to cloud cover. In modern-day climates, mainly because of systematic deficiencies in cloud and albedo at mid- and high latitudes, too much solar radiation enters the ocean. Along with too little radiation absorbed at lower latitudes because of clouds that are too bright, unrealistically weak poleward transports of energy by both the ocean and atmosphere are generally simulated in the Southern Hemisphere. This implies too little baroclinic eddy development and deficient activity in storm tracks. However, projections into the future by coupled climate models indicate that the Southern Ocean features a robust and unique increase in albedo, related to clouds, in association with an intensification and poleward shift in storm tracks that i.
Analysis of Guided Lamb Wave Propagation (GW) in Honeycomb Sandwich Panels

The paper aims to introduce the guided lamb wave propagation (GW) in a honeycomb sandwich panels to be used in the health monitoring applications. Honeycomb sandwich panels are well‐known as lightweight structures with a good stiffness behavior and a wide range of applications in different industries. Due to the complex geometry and complicated boundary conditions in such a structure, the development of analytical solutions for describing the wave propagation and the interaction of waves with damages is hardly possible. Therefore dimensional finite element simulations have been used to model GW for different frequency ranges and different sandwich panels with different geometrical properties. The waves, which are highly dispersive, have been excited by thin piezoelectric patches attached to the surface of the structure. In the first step, the honeycomb panel has been simplified as an orthotropic layered continuum medium. The required material data have been calculated by applying a numerical homogenization method for the honeycomb core layer. The wave propagation has been compared in the homogenized model with the real geometry of a honeycomb sandwich panel. Such calculations of high frequency ultrasonic waves are costly, both in creating a proper finite element model as well as in the required calculation time. In this paper the influence of changes in the geometry of the sandwich panel on the wave propagation is presented. (© 2010 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
Maternal anaemia during pregnancy and its impact on perinatal outcome

Back ground: Severe anaemia is associated with negative impact on both the mother and the newborn. Foetal anaemia, low birth weight, preterm birth and still birth have been associated with anaemia. Women with iron deficiency are particularly susceptible to iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy. Apart from that there was no consistency in the timing of haemoglobin considered for analysis. So we designed a study to look into these aspects. Material and methods: The study was carried out in obstratics and gynaecology department of B. J. Medical College, Ahmedabad. A total number of 105 pregnant women, attending OPD were taken. 90 of them registered for antenatal clinic in the first trimester. The remaining 15 reported for registration only in 3rd trimester. Blood was collected from all the subjects to measure the haemoglobin concentration between 16-18 weeks, 22-24 weeks and 34-36 weeks of pregnancy. Hematocrit and RBC were measured between 34-36 weeks and all the haemoglobin indices were calculated. Results: The prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women in this study was 71.43% with severity of anaemia higher in age between 25-30 years. The severity of anaemia that developed in the last trimester was closely related to haemoglobin levels found in the first trimester. Conclusion: The hematocrit, RBC count and haemoglobin indices were lower in women who did not received iron supplementation which was highly significant. Iron supplementation decrease the fall as compared to the group without iron supplementation. Antenatal care should be made available to pregnant women in both urban and rural areas.
The Stealth Budget: Unfunded Liabilities of the Federal Government

The federal budget is incomplete. Action have been taken that will require spending in the future; provision for that spending does not, however, appear in the budget accounts. As a result, stated federal spending does not reveal the total resource demands placed on the private economy and stated federal debt does not reveal the full burden that taxpayers will face in the future. The amounts involved are not trivial. Several programs had unfunded liabilities in 1989 in excess of $4 trillion, whereas the conventionally stated gross federal debt at that time was less than $3 trillion.
Long non-coding RNA ABHD11-AS1 promotes colorectal cancer development through regulation of miR-133a/SOX4 axis

Recently, lncRNA has been verified to regulate the development and progression of tumor. LncRNA ABHD11-AS1 has been proven to serve as an oncogene in several cancers. However, the role of ABHD11-AS1 in colorectal cancer remains totally unknown. In the present study, qRT-PCR assay revealed that ABHD11-AS1 expression was markedly higher in colorectal cancer tissues and cell lines. In addition, patients who displayed overexpression of ABHD11-AS1 showed a significantly poorer progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) by Kaplan–Meier analysis. Loss-of-function experiments suggested that silencing of ABHD11-AS1 expression could significantly reduce the proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells, and increase cell apoptosis. Moreover, bioinformatics analysis, biotin pull-down assay, luciferase reporter assay, and RIP assay disclosed that ABHD11-AS1 straightly interacted with miR-133a. We also found that SOX4 was a downstream target of miR-133a and ABHD11-AS1 subsequently exerted its biological effects via modulating the expression of SOX4 in colorectal cancer cells. Collectively, these findings manifested that the ABHD11-AS1/miR-133a/SOX4 axis may be a cogitable and promising therapeutic target for colorectal cancer.
Using network flow data to analyse distributed reflection denial of service (DRDoS) attacks, as observed on the South African national research and education network (SANReN): a postmortem analysis of the memcached attack on the SANReN

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks cause significant disruption on critical networks within South Africa. Timely detection and mitigation is a key concern for the SANReN Cyber Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT). This paper presents an analysis on the Memcached reflection DDoS attack which occurred in February 2018. The attack was the largest DDoS attack to date. By analysing the attack and the impact it had on the SANReN network, this paper aims to show how network flow data can be used to detect network attacks, and perform post attack analysis to prevent future network attacks. The attack time-line is divided into three main phases: pre-attack, peek attack period and post attack residue.
Up-regulation of fibroblast growth factor receptor 1 due to prenatal tobacco exposure can lead to developmental defects in new born

Abstract Introduction: Tobacco-smoking is one of the most important risk factor for preterm delivery, pregnancy loss, low birth weight, and fetal growth restriction. It is estimated that approximately 30% of growth-restricted neonates could be independently associated with maternal smoking. Methods: In this study, gene expression profile, GSE11798, was chosen from GEO database with an aim to perceive change in gene expression signature in new born due to maternal smoking. Enrichment analysis was performed to annotate differentially expressed genes (DEGs) through gene ontology and pathway analysis using DAVID. Protein–protein interactions and module detection of these DEGs were carried out using cytoscape v3.6. 0. Thirty umbilical cord tissue samples from 15 smokers and 15 non-smokers pregnant women were included in this analysis. Results: Twenty-six differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between two groups were selected using GEO2R tool. The DEGs were observed to be participating in biological processes/pathways related to growth releasing hormone, angiogenesis, embryonic skeletal, and cardiac development. Fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 (FGFR1) was identified to be the hub node with 348 interacting partners, which regulates transcription, cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis. The up-regulation of FGFR1 in umbilical cord tissue may lead to reproductive and developmental complications such as encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis, osteoglophonic dysplasia, and Pfeiffer syndrome in new-borns. Conclusion: The findings manifests the possibility of overcoming these adverse health effects in new born through FGFR1 modulating treatments during pregnancy.
A comparison of students' emotional self-reports with automated facial emotion recognition in a reading situation

This study investigated the measurement of students' emotional states during a common learning activity, digital reading of factual texts. The objective was to compare emotional self-reports with automated facial emotion recognition. The latter promises non-intrusive measurements of emotions, which could inform adaptive learning systems. We used an established facial emotion recognition software trained on experts' ratings of facial expressions (FaceReader). For basic emotions, previous studies have reported high agreement of the software with human raters. However, little evidence exists a) on its performance for the epistemic emotions of interest and boredom, b) on its agreement with self-reports, and c) in naturalistic reading situations. We compared the facial expression-based recognition of interest, boredom, and valence of affect to students' self-reports of those emotional states. Analyses of webcam recordings of 103 students revealed no relationship between facial emotion recognition and self-reports. Due to the low agreement of the facial emotion recognition software with self-reports, it remains unclear what the facial expression-based recognition of interest, boredom, and valence actually implies. We advise to wait for more comprehensive evidence a) on the agreement of facial emotion recognition software with self-reports or b) on its predictive validity for learning before applying it in educational practice (e.g., in adaptive learning systems).
An Approach to Video Compression Using Saliency Based Foveation

This research aims to increase quality of experience for video consumers by introducing an approach with saliency-based video foveation coupled with compression algorithm. This approach uses eye tracking information to build the saliency map and allows multiple usage scenarios. The approach can be used in single or multiple viewer environments. We evaluate the approach and provide results based on subjective measurements. The results confirm that the proposed approach for video compression is competitive and can deliver better quality of experience than standard video compression algorithms.
Association between Electronic Medical Record System Adoption and Healthcare Information Technology Infrastructure

Objectives The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the level of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system adoption and healthcare information technology (IT) infrastructure. Methods Both survey and various healthcare administrative datasets in Korea were used. The survey was conducted during the period from June 13 to September 25, 2017. The chief information officers of hospitals were respondents. Among them, 257 general hospitals and 273 small hospitals were analyzed. A logistic regression analysis was conducted using the SAS program. Results The odds of having full EMR systems in general hospitals statistically significantly increased as the number of IT department staff members increased (odds ratio [OR] = 1.058, confidence interval [CI], 1.003–1.115; p = 0.038). The odds of having full EMR systems was significantly higher for small hospitals that had an IT department than those of small hospitals with no IT department (OR = 1.325; CI, 1.150–1.525; p < 0.001). Full EMR system adoption had a positive relationship with IT infrastructure in both general hospitals and small hospitals, which was statistically significant in small hospitals. The odds of having full EMR systems for small hospitals increased as IT infrastructure increased after controlling the covariates (OR = 1.527; CI, 1.317–4.135; p = 0.004). Conclusions This study verified that full EMR adoption was closely associated with IT infrastructure, such as organizational structure, human resources, and various IT subsystems. This finding suggests that political support related to these areas is indeed necessary for the fast dispersion of EMR systems into the healthcare industry.
Circulating let-7 Levels in Serum Correlate With the Severity of Hepatic Fibrosis in Chronic Hepatitis C

Abstract Background Evaluating the progression of hepatic fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is critical, and identifying a predictive biomarker for fibrosis will be helpful for implementing personalized surveillance of hepatocellular carcinoma after the elimination of hepatitis C virus by antiviral therapy. This study aimed to investigate the association of circulating let-7a-5p levels with severity of hepatic fibrosis. Methods We analyzed circulating let-7a-5p levels in serum and serum-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) in 84 Japanese CHC patients who underwent a liver biopsy by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, and investigated the association of its levels with histological hepatic fibrotic stage, liver stiffness, and several hepatic fibrotic markers. Results The levels of let-7a-5p in serum and EVs were significantly lower in patients with liver cirrhosis. Additionally, the serum let-7a-5p level correlated significantly with hepatic fibrotic markers, Mac-2 binding protein glycan isomer (M2BPGi), fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index, aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), and liver stiffness, evaluated by transient elastography. Furthermore, the serum let-7a-5p level was superior to M2BPGi, FIB-4, and APRI and was comparable to liver stiffness in discriminating liver cirrhosis. Conclusions These results provide evidence that circulating let-7a-5p in serum may serve as a surrogate marker for severity of hepatic fibrosis in CHC.
LAR-CH: A Cluster-Head Rotation Approach for Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks, sensors are expected to work autonomously for a long time with a finite source of energy. Therefore, the sensors must be energy efficient in their duties to prolong the network lifetime. Cluster-based protocols are widely used in the literature to prolong the network lifetime. Clustering protocols use cluster-head rotation (CH-rotation) and re-clustering methods to rotate the energy-intensive load of CH nodes among other nodes of the network. Re-clustering is a global method, so its overhead cost is higher compared with CH-rotation. Existing clustering protocols employ an energy threshold on the residual energy of the CH for CH-rotation. This energy threshold can be static or dynamic. The static threshold does not consider the current energy load of the CH for CH-rotation. Thus, it increases premature death of CH nodes. In this paper, a load-aware rotation of CH (LAR-CH) approach is proposed, which sets a dynamic threshold for CH-rotation to reduce the premature death of CH nodes. The LAR-CH uses the current energy load of the CH to determine the dynamic threshold for CH-rotation. The simulation results show that LAR-CH reduces the premature death of CH nodes by 40% compared with the low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy protocol.