Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Incentivizing Participation in Crowd-Sensing Applications Through Fair and Private Bitcoin Rewards

In this work we develop a rewarding framework that can be used to enhance existing crowd-sensing applications. Although a core requirement of such systems is user engagement, people may be reluctant to participate because sensitive information about them may be leaked or inferred from submitted data. The use of monetary rewards can help incentivize participation, thereby increasing not only the amount but also the quality of sensed data. Our framework allows users to submit data and obtain Bitcoin payments in a privacy-preserving manner, preventing curious providers from linking the data or the payments back to the user. At the same time, it prevents malicious user behavior such as double-redeeming attempts, where a user tries to obtain rewards for multiple submissions of the same data. More importantly, it ensures the fairness of the exchange in a completely trustless manner; by relying on the Blockchain, the trust placed on third parties in traditional fair exchange protocols is eliminated. Finally, our system is highly efficient as most of the protocol steps do not utilize the Blockchain network. When they do, only the simplest of Blockchain transactions are used as opposed to prior works that are based on the use of more complex smart contracts.
Investigating Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) in Monolingual Persian Speaking Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Background : Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) is one of the most important measures in estimating language acquisition in children. The study of how language develops in these patients can be useful in providing effective treatment strategies. This study aims to investigate the developmental process of MLU in children with ASD and compare them with normal children. Methods : This study is a descriptive, cross-sectional-quantitative one. The statistical society is all 3-6 years of children with ASD in Tehran, and the sample has been selected via cluster sampling among welfare organizations In region 6 (Mantaghe 6). The participants included 10 monolingual Persian children with ASD aged 3-6. In this research, the spoken utterances of children were recorded and transcribed in 30 minutes of free play sessions. The control group included 10 monolingual Persian children aged 2-5, with no previous linguistic and psychological disorders. Two groups were matched based on non-verbal IQ and gender. Results : Based on the findings, the mean and standard deviation of MLU in autistic children were 2.5 and 1.24, respectively and the mean and standard deviation of MLU in normal children were 3.74 and 1.03, respectively. The results of T-test analysis showed a statistically significant difference between two groups with regard to the MLU (t (18)=-2.41, Pvalue=0.02). The results also indicated a statistically significant correlation between MLU and age in children with ASD (Pvalue=0.01, r=0.95) and in normal children (Pvalue=0.000, r=0.95). Conclusions: The study showed that after controlling for vocabulary knowledge, non-verbal IQ and talkativeness, MLU was significantly lower in children with ASD than in normal children. The results also showed that MLU increases with increase of age in both groups. Key words : Autism Spectrum Disorder, language ability, Mean Length of Utterance.
AN TRAFFIC SIGN DETECTION WITH FAST FEATURE EXTRACTION AND SALIENCY TEST

: Street signs, the primary correspondence media towards the drivers, play a significant part in street wellbeing and traffic control through driver’s direction, cautioning, and information. Be that as it may, not all traffic signs are seen by all drivers, which now and again prompt unsafe circumstances. With a specific end goal to oversee more secure streets, the estimation of the intelligibility of the street condition is along these lines of significance for street architects and specialists who point at making and keeping traffic signs sufficiently striking to draw in consideration paying little heed to the driver's workload. Programmed traffic sign recognition is trying because of the unpredictability of scene pictures, and quick discovery is required in genuine applications, for example, driver help frameworks. In this paper, we propose a quick traffic sign discovery strategy in light of a cascade technique with saliency test and neighbouring scale mindfulness. In the course strategy, include maps of a few channels are extricated efficiently utilizing estimate methods. Sliding windows are pruned progressively utilizing coarse-to-fine classifiers and the correlation between neighbouring scales. The course framework has just a single free parameter, while the different limits are chosen by information driven approach.
A Novel Algorithm for mining Positive and Negative Association rules

: So far, severalmethods have been reflected about positive association rules based on frequent itemsets in databases. They have not measured the problem of drawing out negative rules/ itemsets. These negative itemsets also deliberate the identical itemsetsas well as negated itemsets. These negative itemsets are suitable in market-basket analysis to recognize the products that counter and go in sink. This paper presents a mathematical model to extract positive and negative association rules/ itesmsets. The experimental results show that the proposed model NAR gives better results than the previous model
Research on effect of Celastrus orbiculatus extract on inhibiting invasion and metastasis of human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells by mediating matrix metalloproteinases group and their inhibitors

Objective To study the effect and the mechanism of Celastrus orbiculatus extract (COE) on inhibiting the invasion and metastasis of human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells. Methods The groups of different cells were set up, such as negative control group, COE with different concentration groups, and positive control group. The effects of COE on the cytotoxicity and proliferation of human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells were determined by MTT assay. The effect of COE on the metastatic ability of human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells in vitro was observed by invasion assay and migration assay. The effects of COE on the expression of matrix 收稿日期:2015-10-26 基金项目:国家自然科学基金资助项目(81274141,81450051,81403232,81573656);江苏省自然科学基金(BK20141280);江苏省中医药 科技项目(LZ11210) 作者简介:王海波(1989—),男,在读硕士,主要从事中西医结合临床肿瘤学研究。 Tel: 15366428858 E-mail: whbosy@163.com *通信作者 刘延庆(1956—),男,教授,博士生导师,主要从事中西医结合临床肿瘤学研究。 Tel: 13905278844 E-mail: liuyq@yzu.edu. cn 中草药 Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs 第 47 卷 第 8 期 2016 年 4 月 ·1346· metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors in human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells were examined by Western blotting. After the treatment in different groups, mRNAs of MMP2, MMP9, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), TIMP1, and TIMP3 in cells were detected by RT-PCR. Results Compared with the negative control group, human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells treated with COE at different concentration exhibited a dose-dependent growth inhibition. COE obviously reduced the migration and invasion potential of human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells. In addition, the expression levels of MMP2 and MMP9 were dramatically suppressed by COE in a concentration-dependent manner, while the expression levels of TIMP1 and TIMP3 were raised. RT-PCR showed that mRNAs of TIMP1 and TIMP3 were raised with the increase of drug concentration. Conclusion COE could significantly inhibit the invasion and metastasis of human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells via an up-regulation of the expression levels of TIMP1 and TIMP3 and down-regulation of the expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9.
Decoding Multiple Subject fMRI Data using Manifold based Representation of Cognitive State Neural Signatures

Mind reading or thought prediction is a promising application of functional neuroimaging studies. The emergence of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has, in the last two decades given a boost to these studies. In order to improve the accuracy, predictability and repeatability of thought prediction, it is important to have a representation that can capture the nuances of fMRI activations with respect to a particular cognitive state. In this paper, the process of creating a geometrical representation of the activations using non-linear manifolds is described. Manifold learning brings out the geometry of the activated voxels in the fMRI image. It is shown that this kind of representation is able to give high accuracy in classification studies as compared to using activation profiles.
Prevalence of asymptomatic hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus infections in patients with maintenance hemodialysis of a tertiary care hospital in western Maharashtra

Introduction: Patients on Maintenance Hemodialysis (HD) are at high risk of viral hepatitis due to blood transfusion, prolonged vascular access, exposure to infected patients and contaminated equipments etc. Knowledge of the prevalence of such infections is very important to access magnitude of the problem because these infections play important role in the morbidity and mortality of hemodialysis (HD) patients. Aim and Objectives: This study was done to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in patients on hemodialysis at our tertiary care hospital of Western Maharashtra. Materials and Methods: Settings and Design: Hospital based cross sectional study was conducted for six months in HD unit at our tertiary care hospital. All patients (n=135) were screened for Hepatitis B surface antigen and antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV). Prevalence, age and sex wise distribution as well as risk factors for transmission of these infections were observed. Results: Total 135 HD patients were screened for presence of HBV and HCV infections. Of these, 39 (28.9%), 20 (14.8%), 6 (4.4%) were found to be having HCV, HBV and Dual HBV and HCV infection respectively. Conclusions: HCV was the most prevalent among HD patients than HBV. History of multiple blood transfusions, HD outside center or longer duration of HD were all important risk factor noted for high prevalence of sero-positivity for HBV and/or HCV. Strict adherence to universal precautions careful attention to hygiene and strict sterilization of dialysis machines are important to prevent further transmission of these viruses.
Public administration reforms in Poland

The primary theme of the article revolves around the selected areas of governmental public administration: (1) briefly explained historical trends, (2) recent development starting from the beginning of 90 ́s in reforming the public administration concerning recruitment rules, especially for senior positions. Then the author analyzes the structural problems he identified: (3) political neutrality (in other words politicization), (4) etatist model of public governance, (5) human resources management, (6) deficit of analytical skills, (7) inadequate organizational culture.
Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) for Detecting Fruit Information Using Machine Learning Techniques

: This paper introduces a great approach to detection of fruits using deep convolutional neural networks. The aim is to build an accurate, fast and reliable fruit detection system using machine learning facts. The proposed system has applied convolutional neural network (CNN) to the tasks of detecting fruit images. Because of the wide diversity of types of fruit, image detection of fruit items is generally very difficult. However, deep learning has been shown recently to be a very powerful image detection technique, and CNN is a state-of-the-art approach to deep learning. A dataset is constructed that contains most frequent fruit items in a publicly available fruit-logging system, and used it to evaluate detection performance. CNN showed higher accuracy than did traditional support-vector-machine-based methods with handcrafted features. For fruit image detection, CNN also showed significantly higher accuracy than a conventional method did. Besides, this approach is also much quicker to deploy for new fruits. In this study, the model is retrained to perform the detection of four fruits based on a new dataset consist of 2403 data belonging 4 fruit classes. All the data in the data set were collected using Smart-phone camera and believed to be unique in every sense. The study has shown an accuracy of 99.89% which turned out to be promising. Furthermore, the study has carried out based on real-life scenario and the result was out of the mark. The ambition of this work is to extend system for other objects and real life applications.
Experimentally Induced Cerebral Cystic Echinococcosis in Rats: A Suitable Animal Model for Cerebral Echinococcosis

Background: Echinococcus granulosus is a worldwide zoonotic cestode that lives mainly in the intestine of dog as definitive host. Its larval stage infects intermediate hosts and forms hydatid cysts mainly in the liver and lungs tissues and less other organs such as brain, eye and bone. In the experimental models, inoculation of protoscoleces into the peritoneum, thoracic cavity, subcutaneous and cerebrum produces hydatid cysts. Experimental echinococcosis in the animal models provides a good opportunity for study of the parasite-host relationship, different transmission ways of infection in the intermediate hosts and effect of new drugs. Methods: The present study was conducted in the Veterinary School, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran in 2018. In this study, cerebral hydatidosis was investigated in 6 female Wistar rats weighing (200±20 gr). For this purpose, protoscoleces were collected from hydatid cysts of infected sheep liver. Overall, 300 protoscolices were injected directly in the lateral ventricle by an insulin syringe through the implanted cannula. Results: After 4 months of inoculation, multiple thin-walled, transparent hydatid cysts were observed in the rat skull. All cysts were infertile. The cysts were localized prominently on the cerebral cortex and lesser in the parenchyma and ventricles. The cyst walls consisted of three layers consist of the outer layer (fibrous capsule), two parasitic layers and the endocyst layer (germinal layer). The cyst was surrounded by the inflammatory cells consist of lymphocytes, plasma cells and macrophages. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first experimental cerebral hydatidosis arisen from larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus in the animal model.
Pharmacy students’ experience towards active learning using ‘Clickers’

The knowledge and application of pharmacology is central to ensuring that pharmacists are able to fulfil their professional roles. Academics teaching pharmacology in the pharmacy programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal must ensure ‘learning that lasts’ despite being faced with ever increasing student numbers. In an attempt to achieve this, active learning, using clickers (an example of an audience response system), was incorporated into an undergraduate pharmacology module in the pharmacy programme with the aim of improving large group student learning. While clickers have been increasingly used as a tool to promote active learning in the higher education domain, little is known about students’ experience towards its use in undergraduate pharmacy programmes. This study sought to describe students’ experience and opinions on active learning strategies using clickers. This was a quantitative, descriptive study that utilised a selfadministered questionnaire conducted amongst level three pharmacy students enrolled in a pharmacology module. Overall, student feedback was positive, as they indicated that they enjoyed using clickers and had an improved understanding of the course content. Students additionally benefited from the increased facilitator and peer interaction. This study provides a motivation for including this teaching pedagogy in other modules in the pharmacy programme.123
The effects of sensory stimulation and arousal on stepping in newborns

Kim Siekerman The Effects of Sensory Stimulation and Arousal on Stepping in Newborns Humans produce step-like movements from birth. Stepping has been successfully utilised in treadmill training for infants at risk of developmental delay. Previous studies examining optimal training contexts focused on infants from one month of age: a knowledge gap exists for newborn stepping. This thesis explored stepping in three-day-old newborns and investigated whether tactile-proprioceptive and visual stimuli can improve stepping, whilst also controlling for and examining the effects of arousal. Experiment 1 examined if treadmill stimulation alone would improve stepping. Twenty-one newborns were supported, in four one-minute sessions, on a static or moving treadmill. In Experiment 2, 20 newborns were supported over a frictionenhanced treadmill with four different optic flow conditions: no optic flow, optic flow moving congruent or faster than the treadmill, or in random directions. Video footage, three-dimensional kinematic data (Experiment 2) and electromyography were recorded. Treadmill movement stimulated forward steps but not vertical flexionextension cycles. Cycle durations and muscle burst lengths decreased on the moving treadmill, without showing a linear relationship with treadmill speed. Optic flow on the moving treadmill did not affect step rate or coordination, although random optic flow increased pump rate, inter-joint coupling and hip extension. Fastest optic flow deactivated muscles during the stance phase. Arousal improved step rate, swing and stance definition and interlimb alternation in Experiment 1. In Experiment 2, arousal increased hip extension, inter-joint coupling and muscle activation ratio, without changing temporal and spatial muscle patterns. Improved belt friction may have caused the differences between experiments. In summary, newborns tolerated stepping on the treadmill and with optic flow. Step rate, coordination, kinematics and neuromuscular behaviour were highly variable but could be modified by tactileproprioceptive and visual stimulation. Arousal universally stimulated stepping, likely through increased muscular activity. Findings support the use of treadmill training from birth, although long term effects require further investigation.
The effect of creep in the ‘4 de Abril’ cable-stayed bridge

Concrete exhibits a viscoelastic-plastic material behaviour, i.e., when submitted to stress, it shows an instantaneous elastic response and then a viscoplastic deformation through time. The first studies about shrinkage were made in 1900, by Considère, and the creep concept was presented in 1905, by Woolson. Since then, several theories and models were developed, leading to today’s accurate modelling of concrete long-term behaviour. The long-term behaviour of concrete has a large application field being particularly relevant in the analysis and design of prestressed concrete bridges. An incorrect evaluation of the latter can potentiate excessive deformation in the spans, cracking and prestress losses. Different studies reveal that predictions of long-term behaviour in concrete structures can significantly differ from the real response. The non-homogeneity of concrete properties, increased by the variability of environmental conditions, like moisture and temperature, combined with the internal forces variation during construction are the main factors contributing to that discrepancy. This main goal of this thesis was the evaluation of the accuracy of three creep prevision models, adopted in the main concrete structures codes when applied to cable-stayed concrete bridges. In this context, the “4 de Abril” bridge was selected as case-study, and an analysis including the constructive phase and the subsequent 20 years was conducted. A three-dimensional numerical model was created using ABAQUS software, which was calibrated and validated with on-site values provided from the structure’s monitoring system. It was concluded that creep prediction models overestimate the material’s behaviour and are less reliable for multiaxial loaded elements.
Mainstreaming Traditional Counselling, Traditional Medicines and Developing a Multi-Cultural Approach in Epilepsy Management: A Review of Integrated Literature

The main objective of this paper was to analyse indigenous technologies that can be developed for sustainable management of epilepsy in African countries. The authors reviewed literature on mainstreaming traditional counselling in epilepsy management, traditional medicines in epilepsy management and developing a multi-cultural approach in epilepsy management. From the discussions, the authors concluded that cultural competence is dynamic, an ongoing developmental process which require a long-term commitment that is achieved over time. Traditional herbs are very useful and indispensable in the struggle for seizure management and future Anti-Epilepsy Drugs development. Finally, the authors concluded that the role of traditional healers in epilepsy management should not be discredited because in many instances the person suffering from epilepsy tends to obtain a degree of secondary benefit in the way of reassurance and emotional support from this form of intervention. To this end, the authors recommended non-Western practitioners to strive in constructing their indigenous practices with a sufficiently high degree of indigenousness and then be satisfied that they are less perfect than western practices but still useful in psychology. Medical educators also need teaching, learning approaches and philosophies that enable health attributions, practices and beliefs of patients. The majority of people with epilepsy consult traditional healers, thus a non-competitive relationship between modern practices and indigenous must be encouraged.
First detection of the hemizygote frameshift variant of the DMD gene in a 13-year-old patient affected by dystrophinopathy (Duchenne DMD and Becker BMD) at Saint Camille Hospital of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso: Case report

Genetic diseases are poorly reported in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Burkina Faso. The reasons for this reality are multifactorial including, the difficulty of diagnostic confirmation, financial accessibility and even the difficulty with referral of cases by medical staff. Genetic diseases, although relatively rare, exist in families and deserve special attention in our paraclinical assessments. Few cases can be diagnosed in sub-Saharan Africa. The clinical case we are reporting here is a dystrophynopathy by mutation of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene. This is the first confirmed detection of a frameshift mutation in the DMD gene in a boy received at Saint Camille Hospital in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. This is a 13-year-old MR boy, from a family of four siblings, all male, from the eastern region of Burkina Faso. The boy had a clinical picture of myopathy with difficulty in walking, frequent falls, myogenic syndrome with stool sign, Gowers sign and scapula alata, all leading to a suspicion of dystrophinopathy with a request for genetic analysis. The DMD gene responsible for the disease is located on the X chromosome (Xp21.2-p21.1). The study of the dystrophin gene (DMD) was done using three methods, namely MLPA, high throughput sequencing and Sanger sequencing. The results led to the identification of a frameshift mutation of exon 71 in the DMD gene: it is a hemizygotic variant with ribosomal shift of the DMD gene NM_004006. 2 (DMD): c.10258del p.(Ser3420Leufs*25). This clinical case led for the first time in Burkina Faso to the confirmed diagnosis of hereditary muscular dystrophy resulting from a mutation with a frameshift in exon 71 of the DMD gene in the hemizygotic state in a 13-year-old boy, a student and the eldest sibling of 4 boys, three of whom have myopathy. Key words: Mutation, Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene, dystrophinopathy, duchenne versus becker, case report.