Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gomisin A Suppresses Colorectal Lung Metastasis by Inducing AMPK/p38-Mediated Apoptosis and Decreasing Metastatic Abilities of Colorectal Cancer Cells

Gomisin A (G.A) is a dietary lignan compound from Schisandra chinensis. In this study, the effect of G.A on the proliferation and metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells was investigated using several CRC cell lines and a lung metastasis mouse model. Both oral and intraperitoneal administration of G.A (50 mg/kg) inhibited lung metastasis of CT26 cells. Various concentrations of G.A were incubated with CRC cell lines and their viability was determined using a cell counting kit-8 assay. G.A significantly decreased the viability of various CRC cell lines, whereas it did not change the proliferation of normal colon cells. G.A induced G0/G1 phase arrest and apoptosis of CT26 and HT29 cells by regulating cyclin D1/cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (CDK4) expression and apoptotic proteins such as caspases and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) family proteins, respectively. G.A-induced apoptosis was mediated by AMPK/p38 activation in CRC cells. A non-cytotoxic concentration of G.A inhibited epithelial–mesenchymal transition of CRC cells by modulating E-cadherin and N-cadherin expression levels. Moreover, the migration and invasion of CRC cells were reduced by G.A treatment. Especially, G.A decreased matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and MMP-9 expressions and activities. G.A ameliorated lung metastasis of CRC cells by decreasing cell survival and metastatic abilities of CRC cells. Thus, G.A might be a potential novel therapeutic agent for metastatic CRC.
Delay-Constrained Communication in Edge Computing Networks

In this paper, we consider an edge computing network supporting ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) operating with finite blocklength codes. We derive the end-to-end (E2E) reliability, while both the delay violation probability and the decoding error probability are considered. In addition, we propose an optimal system design to minimize the E2E error probability by optimally setting the target decoding error probability for preserving blocklength/time for each transmission link. In particular, we solve the corresponding optimization problem by proving its convexity. Via simulations, we validate our analytical mode. In addition, we evaluate the considered network, and characterize the impact of delay constraint, target decoding error probability and packet size on the E2E reliability of the considered edge computing network.
Digital Fast Charging System with Positive and Negative Pulse

In order to overcome the shortcomings of conventional chargers for electrical vehicles (EVs), a digital fast charging system with positive and negative pulse was developed. Phase-shift full-bridge topology was used in the charger which was operated at soft-switching mode, resulting in higher efficiency. In order to acquire an actual charging curve that is consistent with the ideal one, a four-phase charging scheme which includes positive and negative pulse was adopted. Consequently, the charging speed was increased, while the overcharging and gassing were reduced. Issues in the pulse switching process were solved by specific measures. Experimental results showed that positive and negative pulse was steadily achieved and fast charging was effectively realized in the proposed digital fast charging system.
Design of an SSVEP-based BCI System with Vision Assisted Navigation Module for the Cooperative Control of Multiple Robots

Conventional brain-computer interface (BCI) systems can control a robot to execute a certain task according to human intention. However, in the actual application, it is still difficult for users to control multiple robots to execute the cooperative service tasks, including mobility, manipulation and delivery. At the same time, using BCI to control robots for a long time may bring users inevitable fatigue. To solve these dilemmas, we design an SSVEP-based BCI system for a manipulator and a mobile robot to work cooperatively. To reduce the user's fatigue, a ceiling feature based vision assisted navigation module is developed to facilitate the robot moving process. Considering characteristics of electroencephalograph signals, steady-state visual evoked potentials (SSVEP) are employed as input signals for the BCI system, and seven visual stimuli are modulated as control commands. Consequently, this SSVEP-based BCI system can generate four commands to control the movement of Turtlebot mobile robot, one switch command for the visual assisted navigation module, and two commands for the grasp task of UR5 manipulator. Due to the ceiling feature based vision assisted navigation module, the mobile robot can move effectively without human interference, which may reduce the user's fatigue. To evaluate the performance of this system, three subjects were recruited to participate in the experiments. All the subjects succeeded to execute the cooperative control of multiple robots with the vision assisted navigation module. According to the experimental results, the developed BCI system can effectively realize the cooperative control of multiple robots without much fatigue.
A Numerical Method for Nonlinear Systems Observability Calculation

Based on the theoretical calculation of the observability of nonlinear dynamical systems proposed in literature [1], a new numerical method to calculate degree observability is developed, which connected the observability conception to time delay embedding by numerical approximation. This method solves the problem that the original method can not be employed without system equation. It expands the applied field of degree observability and takes into account the impact of noise. Simulation results show that, when only the measurement data is presented and the system equation is unknown, the new method is still able to achieve the right result.
Supporting Expertise Location in Coding Phase of Software Development Process

Software organizations attempt to reduce the time and cost of software projects to maintain competition between organizations, one way to achieve this goal is by applying knowledge gained from previous projects or resources used by members of the organization. However, software developer teams generally do not benefit from this knowledge as it is rarely stored. This is a problem since to solve problems or doubts developers need to seek expertise (knowledge of the best level at the right time) to maintain the level of competition and the fact of not having information of this knowledge makes it difficult to identify and in some cases this is lost when the provider leaves the company. This work addresses the expertise location problem through an agent-based architecture for coding phase of software development process, which was designed from the information obtained by a focal group and with a case study of the search for expertise in software development organizations.
Interleaved converter for fast charge of battery system

The paper deals with a high performance fast charger system for Zero Electric Vehicles (ZEVs). The proposed converter, which is built upon two interleaved three-leg two-level Voltage Source Converters (VSC), allows for a substantial increase of the total output power, thus leading to a high reliable topology. Furthermore, this approach allows a strong reduction of the output voltage ripple while exhibiting excellent dependability characteristics. The performance of the proposed DC/DC converter is validated by an extended numerical analysis, which confirms the effectiveness of both the control strategy and the system topology.
Toward Cochlear Therapies.

Sensorineural hearing impairment is the most common sensory disorder and a major health and socio-economic issue in industrialized countries. It is primarily due to the degeneration of mechanosensory hair cells and spiral ganglion neurons in the cochlea via complex pathophysiological mechanisms. These occur following acute and/or chronic exposure to harmful extrinsic (e.g., ototoxic drugs, noise.) and intrinsic (e.g., aging, genetic) causative factors. No clinical therapies currently exist to rescue the dying sensorineural cells or regenerate these cells once lost. Recent studies have, however, provided renewed hope, with insights into the therapeutic targets allowing the prevention and treatment of ototoxic drug- and noise-induced, age-related hearing loss as well as cochlear cell degeneration. Moreover, genetic routes involving the replacement or corrective editing of mutant sequences or defected genes are showing promise, as are cell-replacement therapies to repair damaged cells for the future restoration of hearing in deaf people. This review begins by recapitulating our current understanding of the molecular pathways that underlie cochlear sensorineural damage, as well as the survival signaling pathways that can provide endogenous protection and tissue rescue. It then guides the reader through to the recent discoveries in pharmacological, gene and cell therapy research towards hearing protection and restoration as well as their potential clinical application.
Highlighting a valuable dimension in health care librarianship: A systematic review

Background: Educational role is one of the most important roles of librarians, which has taken on wider dimensions. A review of the literature on the training programs provided by librarians revealed an evolution of the ideas and trends in this area. This systematic review aimed at providing a clear image of the available educational programs, their target groups, and the way they are performed. Methods: This systematic review was done to identify different aspects of the educational role of medical librarians. It was conducted on the studies published in PubMed database during 2005 and 2015. All the studies that described the educational activities of medical librarians were considered for inclusion. All the studies were evaluated by 2 researchers using a checklist, which was developed as an assessment tool. Variables that were considered were as follow: skills taught by librarians, target group, providing training on information resource, teaching method, and session location. After data extraction process and appraisal, the mentioned variables were classified into main categories. Results: A total of 24 studies met the inclusion criteria. The training skills taught by librarians were classified into 3 main groups: information literacy, evidence-based practice, and health literacy. The target groups were library users, patients, and health professionals. Group training was provided, and if necessary, personal training was also offered. Recently, synchronous online training has also been added to the training methods. Most of the training programs are held in classrooms. Conclusion: By categorizing different aspects of training programs, this study aimed at providing a basis for designing a framework to identify the tasks of educational librarians in health sciences.
Recipient Age and Mortality After Liver Transplantation: A Population-based Cohort Study

Background The feasibility of liver transplantation (LT) in elderly recipients remains a topic of debate. Methods This cohort study evaluated the impact of recipient's age on LT outcome between January 2007 and May 2016 covered by the Korean National Health Insurance system (n = 9415). Multilevel regression models were used to determine the impact of recipient's age on in-hospital and long-term mortality after LT. Results All patients had a first LT, with 2473 transplanted with liver from deceased donors (DD) and 6942 from living donors. The mean age was 52.2 ± 9.0 years. Most LT were performed on patients in their 50s (n = 4290, 45.6%) and 0.9% (n = 84) of the LT was performed on patients older 70 years. The overall in-hospital mortality was 6.3%, and the 3-year mortality was 11.3%. The in-hospital mortality included, 13.5% associated with DDLT and 3.7% involved living donor LT. When compared with that for patients aged 51 to 55 years, the risk of death among recipients older than 70 years was about fourfold higher after adjusting for baseline liver disease (odds ratio, 4.1; 95% confidence interval, 2.21-7.58), and was nearly threefold higher after adjusting for baseline liver disease and perioperative complications (odds ratio, 2.92; 95% confidence interval, 1.37-6.24). Also, the cost of LT increased significantly with age. Conclusions The data show that age remains an important risk factor for LT, suggesting that LT should be considered with caution in elderly recipients.
Bayesian Learning Based Millimeter-Wave Sparse Channel Estimation with Hybrid Antenna Array

We consider the problem of millimeter-wave (mmWave) channel estimation with a hybrid digital-analog two-stage beamforming structure. A radio frequency (RF) chain excites a dedicated set of antenna subarrays. To compensate for the severe path loss, known training signals are beamformed and swept to scan the angular space. Since the mmWave channels typically exhibit sparsity, the channel response can usually be expressed as a linear combination of a small number of scattering clusters. Thereby the number of angles of arrival (AoAs) and angles of departure (AoDs) with significant signal components is limited, and compressive sensing techniques can be leveraged for estimating the channel. In this paper, we investigate two sparse recovery algorithms: a Bayesian and non-Bayesian one. In the Bayesian approach, we invoke the sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) framework, which relies on a 2-layer hierarchical prior model for channel. A highly efficient and fast iterative Bayesian inference method is then applied to the proposed model. The non-Bayesian approach is a LASSO-based approach, where we devise a low complexity solution by adopting alternating directions method of multipliers (ADMM) technique to solve the problem. The efficacy of the proposed algorithms is demonstrated using numerical examples. The Bayesian approach shows improved estimation performance in relation to the non-Bayesian approach.
The Pattern of Striatal Dopamine Depletion as a Prognostic Marker in De Novo Parkinson Disease

Purpose To investigate whether the patterns of striatal dopamine depletion could provide prognostic information on the clinical profiles of early-stage Parkinson disease (PD). Methods Approximately 634 patients with drug-naive PD who underwent 18F-FP-CIT PET scans were followed up for at least 2 years. After quantifying dopamine transporter (DAT) availability in each striatal subregion, the patterns of striatal dopamine depletion of each patient were assessed based on (1) the degree of dopamine loss in the other striatal subregions compared to the posterior putamen (inter-subregional ratio [ISR]) and (2) the interhemispheric asymmetry of dopamine loss in the posterior putamen (asymmetry index [AI]). According to their patterns, we assessed the longitudinal changes in L-dopa-equivalent doses and L-dopa-induced dyskinesia (LID)-free times using the linear mixed model and Cox regression model, respectively. Results There was no significant correlation between the ISR and AI values (Pearson correlation coefficient, 0.150). The linear mixed model showed that higher AI values were associated with slower longitudinal increases in L-dopa-equivalent dose across time (P = 0.003), whereas ISR values were not (P = 0.154). The Cox regression model demonstrated that higher ISR values were associated with early development of LID (hazard ratio, 1.693; P = 0.010), whereas AI values were not (P = 0.269). Conclusions The present study demonstrated that the pattern of anterior-to-posterior gradient and right-to-left asymmetry of striatal DAT availability predicted the development of LID and increasing doses of dopaminergic medications.
A Case of Neurosarcoidosis-Induced Syndrome of Inappropriate Secretion of Antidiuretic Hormone Diagnosed with Neuroendoscopy

We treated a patient with neurosarcoidosis, which caused the syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH), in whom diagnosis was performed using neuroendoscopy. The patient was a 56-year-old female who was hospitalized for hyponatremia and diagnosed with SIADH based on a detailed examination. During the course, she developed impaired consciousness due to acute hydrocephalus, which improved after ventricular drainage. Head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmed nodular lesions at the floor of the third ventricle and the cerebral aqueduct. Neuroendoscopic biopsy led to the diagnosis of neurosarcoidosis. Her hyponatremia improved after steroid therapy. Neurosarcoidosis can cause SIADH, and complication of hydrocephalus may lead to a poor prognosis. Neuroendoscopy appears to be effective for the diagnosis of neurosarcoidosis with hydrocephalus and helps in deciding the treatment modality.
Semantic Role Labeling for Learner Chinese: the Importance of Syntactic Parsing and L2-L1 Parallel Data

This paper studies semantic parsing for interlanguage (L2), taking semantic role labeling (SRL) as a case task and learner Chinese as a case language. We first manually annotate the semantic roles for a set of learner texts to derive a gold standard for automatic SRL. Based on the new data, we then evaluate three off-the-shelf SRL systems, i.e., the PCFGLA-parser-based, neural-parser-based and neural-syntax-agnostic systems, to gauge how successful SRL for learner Chinese can be. We find two non-obvious facts: 1) the L1-sentence-trained systems performs rather badly on the L2 data; 2) the performance drop from the L1 data to the L2 data of the two parser-based systems is much smaller, indicating the importance of syntactic parsing in SRL for interlanguages. Finally, the paper introduces a new agreement-based model to explore the semantic coherency information in the large-scale L2-L1 parallel data. We then show such information is very effective to enhance SRL for learner texts. Our model achieves an F-score of 72.06, which is a 2.02 point improvement over the best baseline.
Vibration Response Analysis of the Lumbar Spine based on High-speed Train Crew

In this paper, the influence of high speed train vibration on the human lumbar spine is studied by three dimensional finite element method. The point cloud data of the human lumbar vertebrae are acquired by the arm type flexible point coordinate digital measuring instrument. Then it is imported into the Hypermesh software for model reconstruction and mesh generation. The finite element models of L1∼L5 in human lumbar spine are created and MSC Nastran software is used to analyse the model and vibration response of the whole lumbar spine model. Results show that the resonance frequency of the human lumber spine mainly concentrates in low frequency phase. The vibration is mainly bending and torsion. Under given high speed train vibration excitation conditions, the vibration amplitude of L4∼L5 segment is larger, which is the weak link of lumbar spine. This high amplitude vibration will significantly increase the load bearing capacity of the lower lumbar spine. The analysis of the finite element dynamic characteristics of high speed train passengers helps study the influence on passenger lumbar spine structure and its action principle in rail transit vibration environment. It helps to improve the treatment and prevent lumbar disease, and it has important significance in the design optimization of the passenger seat.
Neurodegeneration and locomotor dysfunction in Drosophila scarlet mutants

ABSTRACT Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons, resulting in progressive locomotor dysfunction. Identification of genes required for the maintenance of these neurons should help to identify potential therapeutic targets. However, little is known regarding the factors that render dopaminergic neurons selectively vulnerable to PD. Here, we show that Drosophila melanogaster scarlet mutants exhibit an age-dependent progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons, along with subsequent locomotor defects and a shortened lifespan. Knockdown of Scarlet specifically within dopaminergic neurons is sufficient to produce this neurodegeneration, demonstrating a unique role for Scarlet beyond its well-characterized role in eye pigmentation. Both genetic and pharmacological manipulation of the kynurenine pathway rescued loss of dopaminergic neurons by promoting synthesis of the free radical scavenger kynurenic acid (KYNA) and limiting the production of the free radical generator 3-hydroxykynurenine (3-HK). Finally, we show that expression of wild-type Scarlet is neuroprotective in a model of PD, suggesting that manipulating kynurenine metabolism may be a potential therapeutic option in treating PD. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper. Highlighted Article: Drosophila scarlet mutants show progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons, along with locomotor impairments, and Scarlet has a neuroprotective role in a Parkinson's disease model.
A New Noise-Tolerant Obstacle Avoidance Scheme for Motion Planning of Redundant Robot Manipulators

Avoiding obstacle(s) is a challenging issue in the research of redundant robot manipulators. In addition, noise from truncation, rounding, and model uncertainty is an important factor that affects greatly the obstacle avoidance scheme. In this paper, based on the neural dynamics design formula, a new scheme with the pseudoinverse-type formulation is proposed for obstacle avoidance of redundant robot manipulators in a noisy environment. Such a scheme has the capability of suppressing constant and bounded time-varying noises, and it is thus termed as the noise-tolerant obstacle avoidance (NTOA) scheme in this paper. Theoretical results are also given to show the excellent property of the proposed NTOA scheme (particularly in noise situation). Based on a PA10 robot manipulator with point and window-shaped obstacles, computer simulation results are presented to further substantiate the efficacy and superiority of the proposed NTOA scheme for motion planning of redundant robot manipulators.
Cogging Torque Reduction in U-Core TFPM Generator Using Different Halbach-Array Structures

Transverse Flux PM Machines (TFPM) have higher torque density than the other structures of electrical machines. Due to the higher number of poles in these machines, they can be used in wind turbine and direct drive applications. One of the most important characteristic of wind turbine's generators is the requirements for the low cogging torque. But, the TFPM machines due to their open-slot structure of the stator core, inherently have high level of cogging toque which limits the application of these machines as wind generator. In order to reduce the content of cogging torque in these structures, a TFPM machine with Halbach array magnets is developed in this study. Using Halbach array in TFPM structure can avoid the drop in average torque of machine, improve the harmonic content of the flux-linkage and EMF, reducing the torque ripple and cogging torque. The proposed structure can implement in all TFPM machines which have surface mounted PMs in their rotors. The proposed structures with various number of magnet pieces per pole in the array and pole pitches have analyzed by 3D-FEM and compared with each other by considering the torque ripple, harmonic content of back-EMF, and electromagnetic torque. The results showed considerable decrease in cogging torque with an increase in average torque of machine.