Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plasma aluminum measurements in term infants fed human milk or a soy-based infant formula.

Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust. There is a constant environmental exposure to this element because it is ubiquitous. Under usual conditions, dietary aluminum has not been shown to have any deleterious effects because aluminum is poorly absorbed and readily excreted in the urine. However, aluminum may be a health concern in patients with compromised kidney function and those receiving total parenteral nutrition. Aluminum, if retained, results in an increase in the concentration of body aluminum. There has been some recent interest in the exposure of infants to aluminum, especially in those infants with immature or impaired renal function.
Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of a Flexible Dual-Band Metamaterial Absorber

This paper presents the theory, design, simulation, fabrication, and performance of a flexible dual-band MM absorber, which is resonant at microwave frequencies. The sandwich structure of the MM absorber is composed of the periodic array of the T-shaped metallic patches and a continuous metallic plane, which are separated by a middle flexible dielectric layer. The optimized geometric parameters were obtained by numerous simulations using the full wave finite integration technology of CST 2015. The simulated results indicate that the proposed MM absorber has two distinct absorption peaks at 16.77 and 30.92 GHz with the absorption ratio of 98.7% and 99.3%, respectively. The absorber has a thickness of 0.2403 mm, which is only 1/74 and 1/40 of the wavelength for the resonance frequency of 16.77 and 30.92 GHz. The influence of the material's properties and structural curvature on the absorption performance was investigated by numerous simulations. The proposed MM absorber is highly sensitive to the polarization of the incidence EM wave and has good absorption properties over a large range of the incidence angle for the incidence EM wave. The electric field and surface current distributions at two independent resonance frequencies were analyzed for providing insight into the EM wave absorption mechanism. Simulated results show that two different resonance modes are introduced into the single patterned metallic resonance structure to realize the dual-band performance. The laser ablation process was adopted to fabricate the sample of the proposed absorber. Measured results for the normally incident EM wave show an agreement with the simulated results. The fabricated MM absorber shows significant mechanical flexibility and can easily be conformed to the unusual surfaces such as cylindrical, pyramid, and spherical. Furthermore, this design concept can be extended to the other absorber structure and the other frequency bands, therefore, which can greatly enrich the applications in antenna, sensing, thermal image, and detection. For instance, in the design of projectile-borne conformal antenna array, a flexible ultrathin MM absorber can easily be loaded between the antenna and the projectile body to reduce the radiation interference, weaken the coupling loss, and reduce the RCS.
Critical Reviews of Load Flow Methods for Well, Ill and Unsolvable Condition

Critical Reviews of Load Flow Methods for Well, Ill and Unsolvable Condition This paper presents a critical review of Load flow methods in well, ill and unsolvable conditioned systems. The comparison studies deals with multiple load flow solution (MLFS), second-order load-flow (SOLF) and continuation load flow (CLF). The ability of theses method to return from unsolvable solution to a solvable solution in load flow analysis is analyzed and discuss thoroughly. Special attention is given to the problems and techniques to provide optimal recommendations of the parameters that are used in these load flow methods. A part of the reviews, this paper also presents the comparison of numerical result using different type of aforesaid load flow methods for well and ill-conditioned systems.
Leadership Styles and Teachers' Job Satisfaction in Tanzanian Public Secondary Schools

This study explores the relationship between leadership styles applied by school heads and teachers' job satisfaction in Tanzanian secondary schools. Using a questionnaire, data in this study was collected from 180 teachers in ten secondary schools in Songea District in Tanzania. The most salient finding of this study revealed that teachers were more satisfied with their job when their school heads work closely with them by mentoring them as well as paying attention to their personal well-beings. This study challenges the relevance of transformational and transactional leadership in Tanzanian schools by suggesting that good leadership encompasses both 'transformational' and 'transactional' styles.
Distribution of galaninlike immunoreactivity in the rat central nervous system

The localization of galanin (GAL) immunoreactive (IR) neuronal structures in the rat central nervous system has been investigated by using the indirect immunofluorescence technique. GAL‐IR structures were seen in high concentrations in the hypothalamus, medulla oblongata, and spinal cord. Less extensive systems were detected in the telencephalon, thalamus, mesencephalon, and pons, while virtually no GAL‐positive structures were seen in the olfactory bulb and cerebellum.
Using Cognitive Behavioral Learning in Multi-agent Pursuit-Evasion Game

It is a challenging problem that Multi-Agent systemmake the best response action in a dynamic environment. This study applied probabilistic theory and Piaget's schema theory to develop a cognitive behavioral learning mechanism for the pursuit-evasion game in a dynamic environment. The proposed cognitive schema is divided into two parts, one is a perceptional schema and the other is an intentional schema. According to the agent's state, intentional schema applied probabilistic theory to propose three strategies for prediction of the evader's position in a dynamic environment. Perceptional schema applied case base dreasoning to select the adequate action for the pursuitagent. When an agent faces a new situation, it might useassimilation mechanism to deal with the problem. If the currentcognitive schema cannot explain their environment, accommodation mechanism is used to adapt the cognitive schema of the agent for dealing with their problem.
D/sup over/; an optimal on-line scheduling algorithm for overloaded real-time systems

An optimal online scheduling algorithm for overloaded systems is presented. It is optimal in the sense that it gives the best competitive factor possible relative to an offline (i.e., clairvoyant) scheduler. It also gives 100% of the value of a clairvoyant scheduler when the system is underloaded. In fact the performance guarantee of D/sup over/ is even stronger: D/sup over/ schedules to completion all tasks in underloaded periods and achieves at least 1/(1+ square root k)/sup 2/ of the value a clairvoyant algorithm can get during overloaded periods. The model accounts for different value densities and generalizes to soft deadlines. <<ETX>>
Image-based age-group classification design using facial features

Image recognition of a user plays an important role in designing intelligent and interactive behaviors for a domestic or service robot. In this paper, an image-based age-group classification method is proposed to estimate three levels of age groups, namely child, adult and the elderly. After face detection from the acquired image frame, human facial area is extracted and 52 feature points are located by using Lucas-Kanade image alignment method. These feature points and corresponding located facial area are used to build an active appearance model (AAM). After facial image warping, the texture features are sent to a support vector machine (SVM) to estimate the level of age group. In the experimental results, the average recognition rate of the proposed method is 87%. It will improve the interaction capability of robot in a friendly manner.
Radiographic changes around humeral components in shoulder arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND Our purposes were to analyze radiographic changes around humeral components and to determine the influence of these changes on the clinical outcome of shoulder arthroplasty. METHODS Three hundred and ninety-five shoulders with primary osteoarthritis were treated with a shoulder replacement and were analyzed clinically and radiographically with a standardized protocol. Radiographs were evaluated for osteolysis and stress-shielding of the proximal part of the humerus and loosening of the humeral and glenoid components. The arthroplasty configurations included (1) hemiarthroplasty with cement (thirty shoulders), (2) hemiarthroplasty without cement (thirty-six), (3) total shoulder replacement with a cemented stem and a cemented flat-backed glenoid component (eighty-nine), (4) total shoulder replacement with a cemented stem and a cemented convex-backed glenoid component (ninety-four), (5) total shoulder replacement with a cemented stem and an uncemented metal-backed glenoid component (seventy-nine), and (6) total shoulder replacement with an uncemented stem and a cemented convex-backed glenoid component (sixty-seven). The mean duration of follow-up was 8.2 years (range, four to eighteen years). RESULTS The Constant score and shoulder motion were significantly greater at the latest follow-up examination than preoperatively (p < 0.001). One cemented stem loosened after a periprosthetic fracture, and another was judged to be at risk for loosening. Stress-shielding was noted only around uncemented stems in 63% of the shoulders with such stems. Osteolysis of the proximal part of the humerus occurred only with total shoulder arthroplasty in 43% of the shoulders. Patients with osteolysis had a poorer clinical outcome (p < 0.001). Shoulders with osteolysis around the proximal part of the humerus had more glenoid loosening and polyethylene wear (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Glenoid issues have a substantial effect on humeral bone in shoulder arthroplasty. Polyethylene wear appears to be associated with the development of osteolysis of the proximal part of the humerus after total shoulder arthroplasty. With our implants, stress-shielding was only observed with uncemented humeral stems. The uncemented and cemented stem designs analyzed in this study appeared comparable and can be recommended for clinical use.
Surfactants, Aromatic and Isoprenoid Compounds, and Fatty Acid Biosynthesis Inhibitors Suppress Staphylococcus aureus Production of Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin 1

ABSTRACT Menstrual toxic shock syndrome is a rare but potentially life-threatening illness manifest through the actions of Staphylococcus aureus toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1). Previous studies have shown that tampon additives can influence staphylococcal TSST-1 production. We report here on the TSST-1-suppressing activity of 34 compounds that are commonly used additives in the pharmaceutical, food, and perfume industries. Many of the tested chemicals had a minimal impact on the growth of S. aureus and yet were potent inhibitors of TSST-1 production. The TSST-1-reducing compounds included surfactants with an ether, amide, or amine linkage to their fatty acid moiety (e.g., myreth-3-myristate, Laureth-3, disodium lauroamphodiacetate, disodium lauramido monoethanolamido, sodium lauriminodipropionic acid, and triethanolamine laureth sulfate); aromatic compounds (e.g. phenylethyl and benzyl alcohols); and several isoprenoids and related compounds (e.g., terpineol and menthol). The membrane-targeting and -altering effects of the TSST-1-suppressing compounds led us to assess the activity of molecules that are known to inhibit fatty acid biosynthesis (e.g., cerulenin, triclosan, and hexachlorophene). These compounds also reduced S. aureus TSST-1 production. This study suggests that more additives than previously recognized inhibit the production of TSST-1.
Exploring strategies for coupled 4D-Var data assimilation using an idealised atmosphere–ocean model

Operational forecasting centres are currently developing data assimilation systems for coupled atmosphere–ocean models. Strongly coupled assimilation, in which a single assimilation system is applied to a coupled model, presents significant technical and scientific challenges. Hence weakly coupled assimilation systems are being developed as a first step, in which the coupled model is used to compare the current state estimate with observations, but corrections to the atmosphere and ocean initial conditions are then calculated independently. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive description of the different coupled assimilation methodologies in the context of four-dimensional variational assimilation (4D-Var) and use an idealised framework to assess the expected benefits of moving towards coupled data assimilation. We implement an incremental 4D-Var system within an idealised single-column atmosphere–ocean model. The system has the capability to run both strongly and weakly coupled assimilations as well as uncoupled atmosphere- or ocean-only assimilations, thus allowing a systematic comparison of the different strategies for treating the coupled data assimilation problem. We present results from a series of identical twin experiments devised to investigate the behaviour and sensitivities of the different approaches. Overall, our study demonstrates the potential benefits that may be expected from coupled data assimilation. When compared to uncoupled initialisation, coupled assimilation is able to produce more balanced initial analysis fields, thus reducing initialisation shock and its impact on the subsequent forecast. Single observation experiments demonstrate how coupled assimilation systems are able to pass information between the atmosphere and ocean and therefore use near-surface data to greater effect. We show that much of this benefit may also be gained from a weakly coupled assimilation system, but that this can be sensitive to the parameters used in the assimilation.
Pathophysiological aspects of pulmonary complications of cirrhosis

Patients with cirrhosis exhibit a variety of complications the pathophysiology of which relates to liver insufficiency and portal hypertension. In addition to the characteristic laboratory findings associated with impaired hepatic synthetic capacity and defective excretory function, the clinical symptoms arise from portal hypertension [1]. The classical signs and symptoms include ascites, bleeding from oesophageal varices, and encephalopathy. Moreover, many patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension develop peripheral vasodilatation and a hyperdynamic circulation with the presence of arteriovenous communications, increased blood volume and activation of vasodilating systems such as the nitric oxide (NO) system [2 4]. The hyperdynamic syndrome comprises increased heart rate, cardiac output and plasma volume, and reduced systemic vascular resistance and arterial blood pressure [5]. These compensatory reactions are mainly brought about by activation of potent vasoconstricting systems, like the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone systems (RAAS) and the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) [6,7]. In addition, patients with cirrhosis develop complications of a number of other organs, including the heart, lungs and kidneys, and other organ systems. This situation has led to the appearance of new clinical entities, such as the hepatorenal syndrome, cirrhotic cardiomyopathy and the hepatopulmonary syndrome [1,8,9]. This review focuses primarily on the pathophysiological aspects of the pulmonary dysfunction in patients with chronic liver disease. Circulatory complications in cirrhosis
A hybrid discrete Fourier transform-moment method for the fast analysis of large rectangular phased arrays

The fast analysis of large antenna phased arrays remains an interesting and challenging problem. This paper presents an approach to accelerate the MOM by employing a DFT (discrete Fourier transform) representation for the unknowns of conventional MOM. Such an approach combining DFT with MOM is called DFT-MoM. The DFT-MoM employs the coefficients of the DFT representation as the new unknowns and solves for the DFT coefficients. The MOM unknowns are then obtained subsequently.
SIW five-port hybrid junction for CP mm-wave antenna applications

A novel low profile two-layer SIW five-port hybrid junction is presented for low loss millimeter-wave circular polarization antenna applications. It is composed of an SIW junction formed by two crossed SIW-segments. Excitation to the junction takes place through unequal cross-slot. The junction operating frequency bandwidth (simulated) is 35.95-37.01 GHz with insertion loss of ≤ -0.8 dB and a progressive quadrature phase shift between the output ports of maximum deviation ± 4°.
Structuration spatio-temporelle de séquences vidéo

Ce travail aborde le probleme de l'extraction d'une structure spatio-temporelle au sein de sequences videos, avec comme objectif une representation qui prenne en compte l'ensemble de la sequence, tant spatialement que temporellement. Plusieurs points de vues sont proposes : le point de vue de l'estimation de trajectoires, le point de vue de la segmentation jointe en espace et en temps, et une formalisation plus generale autour du concept de regroupement recursif. Le point commun des solutions que nous introduisons est de considerer des representations a plusieurs niveaux, par l'utilisation de structures hierarchiques. Ces structures sont definies a partir de primitives regroupant les pixels de facon compacte : il s'agira de primitives surfaciques au sein d'une image, et de volumes au sein du bloc spatio-temporel que constitue la video. Le premier point de vue separe les dimensions spatiales et le temps. Des primitives sont extraites des images et mises en correspondance temporelle pour former des trajectoires. Nous proposons pour cela l'utilisation de blobs, c'est a dire des regions de forme compacte presentant un contraste avec leur voisinage. Nous utilisons la definition de la theorie de l'espace-echelle, qui presente l'avantage de tirer parti de l'information presente a plusieurs niveaux de detail dans une image a niveaux de gris. Nous proposons une extension de celle-ci a la couleur, sur la base des histogrammes de couleur locaux, que nous relions avec d'autres methodes non multiechelle. Les blobs suivis forment des trajectoires, que nous segmentons par le mouvement, a l'aide d'une nouvelle methode, permettant de prendre en compte des trajectoires de longueurs variees. Le second point de vue considere les dimensions spatiales et temporelle de facon jointe. Nous proposons une methode d'extraction de tubes de couleur spatio-temporels dans des blobs d'une vingtaine d'images. Elle est basee sur une classification des pixels de la sequence dans un espace de caracteristiques. L'avantage d'extraire directement des structures spatio-temporelles du bloc video est de pouvoir les comparer, moyennant un decalage temporel, ce qui fournit une mesure de la stabilite temporelle de chaque tube. Enfin, nous proposons un modele general permettant de caracteriser les methodes de structuration du bloc spatio-temporel, sur la base de deux concepts : la definition d'une structure spatio-temporelle comme un regroupement recursif des pixels de la sequence, et la decomposition de toute relation spatio-temporelle en une relation synchrone et une projection temporelle.
Mindfulness training: an adjunctive role in the management of chronic illness?

Narrowly defined, mindfulness is the tendency to encounter moment‐to‐moment experience without being lost in unhelpful or distressing thoughts triggered by the experience. Mindfulness training involves group instruction in and discussion of a variety of meditation styles aimed at enhancing this tendency in daily life. There is an accumulating evidence base, albeit of variable quality, which suggests that mindfulness training, when used as part of an integrated approach to chronic disease management, may help alleviate associated psychological distress and improve patients’ quality of life.
Epigenetic randomness, complexity and singularity of human iris patterns

We investigated the randomness and uniqueness of human iris patterns by mathematically comparing 2.3 million different pairs of eye images. The phase structure of each iris pattern was extracted by demodulation with quadrature wavelets spanning several scales of analysis. The resulting distribution of phase sequence variation among different eyes was precisely binomial, revealing 244 independent degrees of freedom. This amount of statistical variability corresponds to an entropy (information density) of about 3.2 bits mm−2 over the iris. It implies that the probability of two different irides agreeing by chance in more than 70% of their phase sequence is about one in 7 billion. We also compared images of genetically identical irides, from the left and right eyes of 324 persons, and from monozygotic twins. Their relative phase sequence variation generated the same statistical distribution as did unrelated eyes. This indicates that apart from overall form and colour, iris patterns are determined epigenetically by random events in the morphogenesis of this tissue. The resulting diversity, and the combinatorial complexity created by so many dimensions of random variation, mean that the failure of a simple test of statistical independence performed on iris patterns can serve as a reliable rapid basis for automatic personal identification.
Problèmes inverses en diffusion thermique - Outils spécifiques de conduction inverse et de régularisation

Les differentes composantes de l’erreur d’estimation rencontrees lorsque l’on cherche a resoudre un probleme d’inversion de mesures sont presentees. Quelques approches permettant d’evaluer et de maitriser ces dernieres sont passees en revue. Le cas particulier de l’estimation de fonction, prealablement parametrisee, est etudie en introduisant et detaillant plusieurs techniques de regularisation permettant d’atteindre un compromis necessaire entre dispersion et biais de l’estimation. L’etude des erreurs dues aux parametres supposes connus et la presentation de la philosophie et de l’interet des methodes bayesiennes terminent cet article.
ABORDAGEM PARA DEFINIR A REPUTAÇÃO DO AUTOR EM COMENTÁRIOS DE PRODUTOS NA WEB UTILIZANDO REDES NEURAIS ARTIFICIAIS.

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Raimundo Santos Moura. 1o Membro Externo: Prof. Dr. Anderson Luiz de Oliveira Cavalcanti (UFRN). 1o Membro Interno: Prof. Dr. Pedro de Alcântara dos Santos Neto. 2o Membro Interno: Prof. Dr. Vinicius Ponte Machado.
A novel method for accelerating the visualisation process used in virtual colonoscopy

Virtual colonoscopy is a non-invasive technique with the potential for wide application in the early detection of colorectal cancer. Unfortunately, to be clinically useful, it is reliant on the rapid visualisation of three-dimensional (3D) data using personal computers. This is not possible using current visualisation techniques. We present a novel method to accelerate volume rendering via ray casting as used in virtual colonoscopy. The method uses a space leaping technique in which the space inside the colon is approximated by maximal spheres constructed using the distance transform of the cavity. These spheres enable subsequent ray casting to traverse the space in an efficient way. The method has been implemented on a personal computer and is approximately 2.9 times faster when compared to the usual ray casting method for virtual colonoscopy. Potential uses of this method extend beyond virtual colonoscopy to all endoscopic applications and indeed any volume rendering application involving voxels with uniform properties.