Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Autonomous robot navigation system with learning based on deep Q-network and topological maps

This paper proposes a autonomous mobile robot navigation system integrating local navigation based on deep reinforcement learning and global navigation based on topological maps. Especially, the proposed system aims to achieve a robot navigation that is adaptive with human traffic in environments crowded with many people. In order to obtain abilities for adapting dynamic obstacles in such environments, a simulator imitating real worlds is required for learning. Then a simulator suitable for learning of robot navigation in crowded environments is developed at first. This simulator is specialized in simulation of two-dimensional shape, and it could achieve learning in shorter time than existing simulators. Next, a learning system based on DDQN was designed for local navigation with avoiding pedestrians. Some simulations and experiments were performed to present effectiveness of the proposed navigation system. Simulation results show that the system learned abilities to go to local destinations with avoiding dynamic obstacles Also, the system was applied to an actual robot system and navigation in a real world was demonstrated.
Protective Effects of Vitamin E and Selenium on the Renal Morphology in Rats Fed High-Cholesterol Diets

The histopathological effects of cholesterol and the protective effects of vitamin E and selenium (Se) on renal histology were examined in Sprague-Dawley rats. Light-microscopic evaluation of the renal cortex revealed: glomerular fibrosis, cellular and mesangial proliferation, capillary obliteration and cholesterol crystals in the tubular lumina of the cholesterol-fed group. These results suggest that oxidated LDL (O-LDL) is a cytotoxic factor which stimulates mesangial cell and matrix proliferation. Ultrastructurally, small and large lipid vacuolization in intracapillary lumina, adhesion of epithelial foot processes, mesangial foam cells and polymorphonuclear leukocytes were seen in the cholesterol-fed group. In the groups fed cholesterol + vitamin E, cholesterol + Se and cholesterol + vitamin E + Se, morphological improvements were observed. It appeared that an excess in O-LDL, reactive oxygen species and growth factors might play an important role in the pathogenesis of glomerulosclerosis. In addition, it was concluded that antioxidant therapy may prevent LDL oxidation and generation of free radicals.
Virtually ‘in the heat of the moment’: insula activation in safe sex negotiation among risky men

Abstract HIV is most prevalent among men who have sex with men (MSM), and although most MSM use condoms consistently during casual sex, some take risks. To better understand the psychology of those risky decisions, we examined neural correlates of playing a virtual sexual ‘hook up’ game in an functional magnetic resonance imaging scanner in MSM who had, in the past 90 days, been sexually risky (N = 76) or safe (N = 31). We found that during potentially risky sexual choices, previously risky MSM had more right insula activity than previously safe MSM. Real-life sexual risk was related to trait positive and negative urgency. Insula activity that differentiated risky and safe MSM was related to trait positive and negative urgency. Future work should further examine if, and to what extent, insula activation during safe sex negotiation drives MSM’s rash risky sexual decision-making.
Epidemiology of Nephrolithiasis

The main purpose of the study is to acquire useful information on nephrolithiasis in Italy, given the recent increase in its prevalence. The analysis was based on data from sample surveys of the Italian population carried out in 1983 and 1993–1994 as well as on data obtained from medical records of patients treated at the ASTIF in Fiuggi. An increase in the prevalence of the disease from 11.7 to 17.2 out of 1,000 inhabitants has been observed over the last 10 years; most patients are men and elderly, and the highest frequency is in southern and the lowest in northern Italy. The results of the study confirm the hereditary predisposition, since nephrolithiasis is very common among patients’ parents (22.5%) and siblings (14.1%). The patients eat more meat than others and are often overweight or obese; the latter represent 18% of these patients and 11% of the general population.
Quantitative analysis of prompt gamma ray imaging during proton boron fusion therapy according to boron concentration

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prompt gamma ray imaging technique according to the clinical boron concentration range during proton boron fusion therapy (PBFT). To acquire a prompt gamma ray image from 32 projections, we simulated four head single photon emission computed tomography and a proton beam nozzle using a Monte Carlo simulation. We used modified ordered subset expectation maximization reconstruction algorithm with a graphic processing unit for fast image acquisition. Boron concentration was set as 20 to 100 μg at intervals of 20 μg. For quantitative analysis of the prompt gamma ray image, we acquired an image profile drawn through two boron uptake regions (BURs) and calculated the contrast value, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and difference between the physical target volume and volume of the prompt gamma ray image. The relative counts of prompt gamma rays were noticeably increased with increasing boron concentration. Although the intensities on the image profiles showed a similar tendency according to the boron concentration, the SNR and contrast value were improved with increasing boron concentration. This study suggests that a tumor monitoring technique using prompt gamma ray detection can be clinically applicable even if the boron concentration is relatively low.
Hot-Dip Aluminizing on AISI F55–UNS S32760 Super Duplex Stainless Steel Properties: Effect of Thermal Treatments

The behavior of super duplex stainless steels AISI F55-UNS S32760 in hot-dip aluminizing process has been studied, investigating the influence of cold working and of different initial microstructures obtained through a preliminary thermal treatment. The microstructural features examined are the secondary austenite precipitation, the static recovery of ferrite and the thermal dissolution of austenite within ferritic matrix. The hot-dip aluminizing temperature has been optimized through sessile drop tests. The treatment has been performed at 1100 °C for 300 s, 900 s and 2700 s. A strong chemical interaction occurs, generating intermetallic compounds at the interface. Molten aluminum interacts exclusively with the ferritic phase due to its much higher diffusivity in this phase coupled with its marked ferrite-stabilizer behavior. Thus, the influence of cold working is not remarkable, since the strains are mainly allocated by austenitic phase. The diffusivity of aluminum increases due to lattice defects thermally generated and, mainly, to influence given by grain boundaries, multiplied by secondary austenite precipitation, which act as short-circuit diffusion paths. Ni and Cr contents in the ferritic matrix have an influence but not highly relevant. Then, the best starting condition of the super duplex stainless steel substrates, to obtain a thick interfacial layer, are the thermal annealing at 1080 °C for 360 s/mm after a solution thermal treatment at 1300 °C for 60 s/mm.
Enhanced photocatalytic CO2 reduction to CH4 over separated dual co-catalysts Au and RuO2

A spatially separated, dual co-catalyst photocatalytic system was constructed by the stepwise introduction of RuO2 and Au nanoparticles (NPs) at the internal and external surfaces of a three dimensional, hierarchically ordered TiO2−SiO2 (HTSO) framework (the final photocatalyst was denoted as Au/HRTSO). Characterization by HR-TEM, EDS-mapping, XRD and XPS confirmed the existence and spatially separated locations of Au and RuO2. In CO2 photocatalytic reduction (CO2PR), Au/HRTSO (0.8%) shows the optimal performance in both the activity and selectivity towards CH4; the CH4 yield is almost twice that of the singular Au/HTSO or HRTSO (0.8%, weight percentage of RuO2) counterparts. Generally, Au NPs at the external surface act as electron trapping agents and RuO2 NPs at the inner surface act as hole collectors. This advanced spatial configuration could promote charge separation and transfer efficiency, leading to enhanced CO2PR performance in both the yield and selectivity toward CH4 under simulated solar light irradiation.
Broadband near-infrared antireflection coatings fabricated by three-dimensional direct laser writing.

Three-dimensional direct laser writing via two-photon polymerization is used to fabricate anti-reflective structured surfaces (ARSSs) composed of subwavelength conicoid features optimized to operate over a wide bandwidth in the near-infrared range from 3700 cm-1 to 6600 cm-1 (2.7-1.52 μm). Analytic Bruggemann effective medium calculations are used to predict nominal geometric parameters such as the fill factor of the constitutive conicoid features of the anti-reflective structured surfaces (ARSSs) presented here. The performance of the ARSSs was investigated experimentally using infrared reflection and transmission measurements. An enhancement of the transmittance by 1.35%-2.14% over a broadband spectral range from 3700 cm-1 to 6600 cm-1 (2.7-1.52 μm) was achieved. We further report on finite-element-based reflection and transmission data using three-dimensional (3D) model geometries for comparison. A good agreement between experimental results and the finite-element-based numerical analysis is observed once as-fabricated deviations from the nominal conicoid forms are included in the model. 3D direct laser writing is demonstrated here as an efficient method for the fabrication and optimization of ARSSs designed for the infrared spectral range.
Single index methods for evaluation of marker‐guided treatment rules based on multivariate marker panels

Clinical practice may be enhanced by use of person‐level information that could guide treatment choice and lead to better outcomes for both treated individuals and for the population. The scientific challenge is to identify and validate those factors that can reliably be used to target treatment, and to accurately quantify the expected treatment benefit as a function of candidate markers. Our proposal is to explicitly focus on smooth non‐parametric evaluation of a canonical single index score that estimates the expected treatment benefit associated with patient characteristics. Our methods intentionally decouple the model used to generate the treatment benefit score from the methods that are adopted to evaluate the performance of the resulting single index score. We are motivated by the practical issue that model performance can not realistically be evaluated for every specific covariate value due to intrinsic sparseness. However, direct validation of a scalar treatment benefit score obtained through model‐based dimension reduction is feasible, and we believe should be the focus of validation efforts. We also show that the canonical single index treatment benefit score can be used for selecting subsets of patients with enriched expected treatment response since patients can be easily ordered and grouped based on the scalar score. Our biomedical motivation comes from a recent randomized trial of steroid injections for low back pain where baseline clinical and imaging data are candidate measures for guiding therapeutic choice.
FGFR1 signaling potentiates tumor growth and predicts poor prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients

ABSTRACT Fibroblast growth factor receptor-1 (FGFR1) over-expression was broadly found in squamous cancer, where it induced cellular proliferation, differentiation, and metastasis by activating various signaling pathway. However, the role of FGFR1 gene expression in predicting prognosis of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) and its regulatory function in the progression of ESCC are not well understood. Therefore, we performed an analysis of FGFR1 mRNA expression by quantitative RT-PCR in tumor tissue of 145 patients with ESCC. The relationships between FGFR1 gene expression and clinicopathological parameters, also the prognosis were further examined. Results suggested that higher FGFR1 gene expression predicted worse overall survival (HR = 1.502, 95%[CI] = 1.005–2.246, P = 0.045). Disease-free survival tends to be shorter in patients with higher FGFR1 expression but without statistical significance (HR = 1.398, 95%[CI] = 0.942–2.074, P = 0.096). FGFR1 was up regulated in multiple ESCC cell lines. Subsequent in vitro experiments demonstrated that anti-FGFR1 treatment by PD173074 inhibited TE-1 and EC9706 cell viability along with the attenuation of MEK-ERK signaling pathway. In vivo, PD173074 administration also had shown potent ESCC growth arresting effect. Overall, our study suggested that FGFR1 gene expression could be an independent prognosis predictive factor in patients with ESCC. Anti-FGFR1 inhibited ESCC growth and could be a potential strategy in ESCC targeted therapy.
Prevalence of alcohol impairment and odds of a driver injury or fatality in on-road farm equipment crashes

ABSTRACT Objective: The objective of this article was to estimate the prevalence of alcohol impairment in crashes involving farm equipment on public roadways and the effect of alcohol impairment on the odds of crash injury or fatality. Methods: On-road farm equipment crashes were collected from 4 Great Plains state departments of transportation during 2005–2010. Alcohol impairment was defined as an involved driver having blood alcohol content of ≥0.08 g/100 ml or a finding of alcohol impairment as a driver contributing circumstance recorded on the police crash report. Injury or fatality was categorized as (a) no injury (no and possible injury combined), (b) injury (nonincapacitating or incapacitating injury), and (c) fatality. Hierarchical multivariable logistic regression modeling, clustered on crash, was used to estimate the odds of an injury/fatality in crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver. Results: During the 5 years under study, 3.1% (61 of 1971) of on-road farm equipment crashes involved an alcohol-impaired driver. One in 20 (5.6%) injury crashes and 1 in 6 (17.8%) fatality crashes involved an alcohol-impaired driver. The non-farm equipment driver was significantly more likely to be alcohol impaired than the farm equipment driver (2.4% versus 1.1% respectively, P = .0012). After controlling for covariates, crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver had 4.10 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.30–7.28) times the odds of an injury or fatality. In addition, the non-farm vehicle driver was at 2.28 (95% CI, 1.92–2.71) times higher odds of an injury or fatality than the farm vehicle driver. No differences in rurality of the crash site were found in the multivariable model. Conclusion: On-road farm equipment crashes involving alcohol result in greater odds of an injury or fatality. The risk of injury or fatality is higher among the non-farm equipment vehicle drivers who are also more likely to be alcohol impaired. Further studies are needed to measure the impact of alcohol impairment in on-road farm equipment crashes.
Effect of the Apolipoprotein E Genotype on Cognitive Change During a Multidomain Lifestyle Intervention: A Subgroup Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance The role of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) &egr;4 allele as an effect modifier in lifestyle interventions to prevent cognitive impairment is still unclear. Objective To examine whether the APOE &egr;4 allele modifies the previously reported significant cognitive benefits of a multidomain lifestyle intervention (prespecified subgroup analysis). Design, Setting, and Participants The Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) was a randomized clinical trial in 6 centers across Finland (screening and randomization performed from September 7, 2009, through November 24, 2011; intervention duration, 2 years). Data analysis was performed from August 1, 2015, to March 31, 2016. The study population was at-risk older individuals from the general population. Inclusion criteria were age of 60 to 77 years; Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Dementia risk score of at least 6 points; and cognition at a mean level or slightly lower than expected for age. Individuals with dementia or substantial cognitive impairment and conditions that prevented cooperation or safe engagement in the intervention were excluded. APOE genotype data were available for 1175 of the 1260 participants. Interventions Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to a multidomain intervention group (diet, exercise, cognitive training, and vascular risk management) or a control group (general health advice). Group allocation was not actively disclosed to participants, and outcome assessors were masked to group allocation. Main Outcomes and Measures Primary outcome was change in cognition measured through a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. Analysis was based on modified intention to treat (participants with at least 1 postbaseline assessment). Results A total of 1109 participants (mean [SD] age, 69.3 [4.7] years; 514 [46.3%] female) were included in the analysis: 362 APOE &egr;4 allele carriers (173 intervention and 189 control) and 747 noncarriers (380 intervention and 367 control). The APOE &egr;4 carriers and noncarriers were not significantly different at baseline (except for serum cholesterol level). The difference between the intervention and control groups in annual neuropsychological test battery total score change was 0.037 (95% CI, 0.001 to 0.073) among carriers and 0.014 (95% CI, −0.011 to 0.039) among noncarriers. Intervention effect was not significantly different between carriers and noncarriers (0.023; 95% CI, −0.021 to 0.067). Conclusions and Relevance Healthy lifestyle changes may be beneficial for cognition in older at-risk individuals even in the presence of APOE-related genetic susceptibility to dementia. Whether such benefits are more pronounced in APOE &egr;4 carriers compared with noncarriers should be further investigated. The findings also emphasize the importance of early prevention strategies that target multiple modifiable risk factors simultaneously. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov NCT01041989
An algorithm for diagnosis of faults and power quality problems in radial distribution networks

This paper presents a methodology for diagnosis of faults and power quality problems in primary distribution feeders. The input data are the currents of the feeder per phase, monitored only in the substation. An artificial immune system was developed using the negative selection algorithm to detect and classify the faults and power quality problems. The main application of the software is to assist in the operation during a fault and supervise the power quality problem. A 103-bus non-transposed real feeder is used to evaluate the proposed algorithm. The results show that the algorithm is effective in its proposed and it has great potential for on-line applications.
Non-Elderly ) Health Insurance Coverage , Moral Hazard and Crime

This paper studies the effect of changes in health insurance coverage on criminal activity in the U.S. using a county level dataset for the period 2005-2010. Using various Panel Data Instrumental Variables estimators we find that an increase in the health insurance coverage implies an increase in the number of per-capita larcenies and car thefts while violent crimes are not affected by changes in insurance coverage. We connect our findings to the vast literature on health insurance gain and moral hazard [e.g., Finkelstein et al. (2012)] and to the literature which relates changes in (disposable) incomes and criminal activity.
Medication Adherence With Diabetes Medication

Purpose The primary purpose of this systematic review is to synthesize the evidence regarding risk factors associated with nonadherence to prescribed glucose-lowering agents, the impact of nonadherence on glycemic control and the economics of diabetes care, and the interventions designed to improve adherence. Methods Medline, EMBASE, the Cochrane Collaborative, BIOSIS, and the Health and Psychosocial Instruments databases were searched for studies of medication adherence for the period from May 2007 to December 2014. Inclusion criteria were study design and primary outcome measuring or characterizing adherence. Published evidence was graded according to the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists protocol for standardized production of clinical practice guidelines. Results One hundred ninety-six published articles were reviewed; 98 met inclusion criteria. Factors including age, race, health beliefs, medication cost, co-pays, Medicare Part D coverage gap, insulin use, health literacy, primary nonadherence, and early nonpersistence significantly affect adherence. Higher adherence was associated with improved glycemic control, fewer emergency department visits, decreased hospitalizations, and lower medical costs. Adherence was lower when medications were not tolerated or were taken more than twice daily, with concomitant depression, and with skepticism about the importance of medication. Intervention trials show the use of phone interventions, integrative health coaching, case managers, pharmacists, education, and point-of-care testing improve adherence. Conclusion Medication adherence remains an important consideration in diabetes care. Health professionals working with individuals with diabetes (eg, diabetes educators) are in a key position to assess risks for nonadherence, to develop strategies to facilitate medication taking, and to provide ongoing support and assessment of adherence at each visit.
Association between the-77 T > C polymorphism in the DNA repair gene XRCC 1 and lung cancer risk

Numerous studies have evaluated the association be­ tween the X­ray repair cross­complementing group 1 (XRCC1) DNA repair gene polymorphism ­77T>C and lung cancer risk. However, this association is controversial. We used PubMed and Embase to identify 5 case­control studies, which included 2488 lung cancer cases and 2576 controls, for inclusion in a comprehensive meta­analysis in order to assess this association. Two independent reviewers extracted data from the studies, and ORs with 95%CIs were calculated. When all studies were pooled, we found a significant association between the ­77T>C polymorphism and lung cancer risk (TT vs CC: OR = 0.52, 95%CI = 0.34­0.80, P = 0.49; TT vs CT: OR = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.62­0.81, P = 0.69; dominant model: OR = 1.45, 95%CI = 1.27­1.66, P = 0.64; recessive model: OR = 0.54, 95%CI = 0.36­0.82, P = 0.24). In a subgroup analysis of nationalities, the ­77T>C polymorphism was significantly associated with lung cancer risk in Asian patients. In conclusion, the XRCC1 ­77T>C polymorphism might be related to increased risk of lung cancer
Ageing affects dual encoding of periodicity and envelope shape in rat inferior colliculus neurons

Extracting temporal periodicities and envelope shapes of sounds is important for listening within complex auditory scenes but declines behaviorally with age. Here, we recorded local field potentials (LFPs) and spikes to investigate how ageing affects the neural representations of different modulation rates and envelope shapes in the inferior colliculus of rats. We specifically aimed to explore the input–output (LFP‐spike) response transformations of inferior colliculus neurons. Our results show that envelope shapes up to 256‐Hz modulation rates are represented in the neural synchronisation phase lags in younger and older animals. Critically, ageing was associated with (i) an enhanced gain in onset response magnitude from LFPs to spikes; (ii) an enhanced gain in neural synchronisation strength from LFPs to spikes for a low modulation rate (45 Hz); (iii) a decrease in LFP synchronisation strength for higher modulation rates (128 and 256 Hz) and (iv) changes in neural synchronisation strength to different envelope shapes. The current age‐related changes are discussed in the context of an altered excitation‐inhibition balance accompanying ageing.