Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prostaglandin E1 Alleviates Cognitive Dysfunction in Chronic Cerebral Hypoperfusion Rats by Improving Hemodynamics

Compensatory vascular mechanisms can restore cerebral blood flow (CBF) but fail to protect against chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH)-mediated neuronal damage and cognitive impairment. Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) is known as a vasodilator to protect against ischemic injury in animal models, but its protective role in CCH remains unclear. To determine the effect of PGE1 on cerebral hemodynamics and cognitive functions in CCH, bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) was used to mimic CCH in rats, which were subsequently intravenously injected with PGE1 daily for 2 weeks. Magnetic resonance imaging, immunofluorescence staining and Morris water maze (MWM) were used to evaluate CBF, angiogenesis, and cognitive functions, respectively. We found that PGE1 treatment significantly restored CBF by enhancing vertebral artery dilation. In addition, PGE1 treatment increased the number of microvascular endothelial cells and neuronal cells in the hippocampus, and decreased the numbers of astrocyte and apoptotic cells. In the MWM test, we further showed that the escape latency of CCH rats was significantly reduced after PGE1 treatment. Our results suggest that PGE1 ameliorates cognitive dysfunction in CCH rats by enhancing CBF recovery, sustaining angiogenesis, and reducing astrocyte activation and neuronal loss.
An Unexpected Hepatocellular Carcinoma arising From an Unknown Nonalcoholic Fatty liver

Development of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the context of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease is an issue of serious concern in a landscape where NAFLD has rapidly become a major condition of liver illness. NAFLD is often misdiagnosed, as these patients are asymptomatic and their laboratory tests are within normal range. We hereby present the case of a 34-year old woman who came to our attention for severe anemia in a known history of genitourinary tract bleeding. Performing an ultrasound scan as a first-line exam it was discovered a large abdominal mass, at first described as a uterine neoformation. Only an MRI allowed to determine the hepatic nature of the mass and, after the resection, the histopathologic analysis confirmed the diagnosis of highly differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma arising in the context of marked steatosis.
A Survey on Fuzzy Trust Management in Cloud Computing

The cloud computing concepts in last decade unexpectedly changed human's life with considerable features to convert the traditional computing to the ubiquitous one. For each untrustworthy technology like cloud, needing a great Infrastructure for Defense in confront of malicious attack is crucial subject.This paper describes some features of cloud, like service model, type of deployment model (Private, Community, Public, Hybrid), type of trust management used in the cloud and an overview of the proposed model for fuzzy trust systems helping the trust system to have more accuracy.
How a Growth Control Path Takes a Wrong Turn to Cancer

CELL BIOLOGYAs researchers uncover the internal workings of one of the cell's key developmental and growth regulatory pathways--called the Wnt pathway after the protein that sets it in motion--they are getting a better grasp on the causes of cancer. Because activation of the Wnt pathway stimulates cell growth, researchers had long suspected that too much Wnt signaling could cause problems. The new work, described on page [1509][1] of this issue, provides further support for that idea, and also helps explain how the pathway malfunctioning might lead to cancer. It shows that damage to a well-known tumor suppressor gene--the adenomatous polyposis coli gene ( APC ), which is lost or inactivated in some 85% of colorectal cancers--can result in activation of an equally prominent oncogene--the c- MYC gene--via the Wnt pathway. Such abnormal MYC activation may in turn lead to excessive cell proliferation. Researchers are becoming optimistic that they can put these results to work developing new anticancer drugs that act by blocking c- MYC activation. [1]: http://www.sciencemag. org/cgi/content/short/281/5382/1509
Approximation Algorithms for BalancedCC Multiwinner Rules

X-BalancedCC multiwinner voting rules constitute an attractive but computationally intractable compromise between the proportionality provided by the Monroe rule and the diversity provided by the Chamberlin--Courant rule. We show how to use the GreedyMonroe algorithm to get improved approximation results for the X-BalancedCC rules and for the Chamberlin--Courant rule, by appropriately setting a "schedule" for the sizes of virtual districts. We describe a polynomial-time algorithm for computing a schedule that guarantees high approximation ratio, but show that finding the best possible schedule for a given election is NP-hard. We further evaluate our algorithms experimentally and show that they perform very well in practice.
Comparison of methods for mycobacteria isolation from swine feces

Swine mycobacteriosis is an important cause of carcass condemnation at abattoirs. One of the best ways to recognize the etiologic agent involved, in live animals, is the fecal isolation, as 94% of the lesions are located in the digestive tract. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to compare the performance of four decontamination methods followed by inoculation in three different culture media, totalizing twelve procedures of mycobacteria search from swine fecal samples experimentally contaminated. The swine feces were artificially contaminated with 0.02 g of Mycobacterium avium, PIG-B strain, and subjected to mycobacteria isolation trial. The protocols used were: 1) modified Petroff or basic method; 2) modified Lowenstein-Jensen or acidic method; 3) modified Petroff or basic method with re-suspension in Amphotericin B; 4) modified Lowenstein-Jensen or acid method with re-suspension in Amphotericin B, followed by inoculation in Petragnani, Lowenstein-Jensen and Lowenstein-Jensen medium with antibiotics (Penicillin G and Nalidixic acid). There was a difference (p<0.05) between the mycobacterial recovery percentages from swine feces. The acid method with re-suspension in Amphotericin B solution and inoculation in Lowenstein-Jensen medium with antibiotics showed the best results (87% of mycobacteria recovery).
[Correlation between the lengths of the long bones of the forearm and the fibula with body height in our population].

BACKGROUND/AIM The task of a forensic examiner during exhumation of skeletal remains is to calculate antemortem height of a person whose skeletal remains were found. Anthropological investigations which provided formulae for calculating ante-mortem body height date back from XIX or from the first half of XX centuries. The most commonly used formulae are those of Trotter-Gleser, which were used to investigate skeletal remains from the World War II. Those investigations were conducted on skeletal remains of various ages and degrees of decay. Our experience with exhumation have shown that the present formulae do not deliver reliable values of antemortem height. The aim of this study was to investigate if there is a correlation of the length of long bones of leg and forearm with body height within our population and to establish the formulae for calculating ante-mortem body height within our population based on the obtained values. METHODS The lengths of ulna, radius, fibula and tibia were determined precisely by measuring bones on living individuals using a digital X-ray system. The height of individuals whose bones were measured was determined using an anthropometer. RESULTS The highest degree of correlation between bone length and body height was found for tibia in males (r = 0.859, p < 0.005) and ulna in females (r = 0.679, p < 0.05). We calculated the regression formulae for determination of ante-mortem body height that differ from the current body height formulae. CONCLUSION In our population the length of long bones of the forearm and the leg are characterized by various degree of correlation with body height. The formulae that we set, make less distinction between the measured and the calculated body height as compared with the Trotter-Gleser formulae. We do hope that their implementation will facilitate identification of sceletal remains in our population.
Home-Based, Adaptive Cognitive Training for Healthy Older Adults: Initial Efficacy Trial.

OBJECTIVES We examined whether a home-based, adaptive cognitive training program would lead to cognitive performance changes on a neuropsychological test battery in cognitively normal older adults. METHOD Sixty-eight older adults (age = 70.0, SD=3.74) were randomly assigned to either cognitive training (CT) or an active control group (AC, casual computer games). Participants were instructed to train on their assigned programs for 42 minutes per day, five days per week, over 10 weeks (35 hours of total program usage). Participants completed tests of processing speed, working memory, and executive control before and after 10 weeks of training. RESULTS Training groups did not differ in performance before training. After training, CT participants out-performed AC participants in the overall cognitive composite score, driven by processing speed and working memory domains. DISCUSSION Our results show that a limited dose of home-based cognitive training can drive cognitive improvements as measured with neuropsychological test battery, suggesting potential cognitive health maintenance implications for cognitively normal older adults.
An Evolutionary Approach to Find Optimal Policies with an Agent-Based Simulation

In this paper, we introduce a new agent-based method to build a decision-aid tool aimed to improve policy design. In our approach, a policy is defined as a set of levers, modelling the set of actions, the means to impact a complex system. Our method is generic, as it could be applied to any domain, and be coupled with any agent-based simulator. We could deal not only with simple levers (a single variable whose value is modified) but also complex ones (multiple variable modifications, qualitative effects, .), unlike most optimization methods. It is based on the evolutionary algorithm CMA-ES, coupled with a normalized and aggregated fitness function. The fitness is normalized using estimated Ideal (best policy) and Nadir (worst policy) values, these values being dynamically computed during the execution of CMA-ES through a Pareto Front estimated with the ABM simulation. Moreover, to deal with complex levers, we introduce the FSM-branching algorithm, where a Finite State Machine (FSM) determines whether a complex policy can potentially be improved or has to be aborted. We tested our method with Economic Policies on the French Labor Market (FLM), allowing the modification of multiple elements of the FLM, and we compared the results to the reference, the FLM without any policy applied. The policies studied here comprise simple and complex levers. This experience shows the viability of our approach, the efficiency of our algorithms and illustrates how this combination of evolutionary optimization, multi-criteria aggregation and agent-based simulation could help any policy-maker to design better policies.
Active uncertainty attenuation control for electric power stage in FC-SC hybrid electric vehicles

This paper deals with the problem of active uncertainty attenuation control for the electric power stage in Fuel Cell Supercapacitor (FC-SC) hybrid electric vehicles subject to components uncertainties and load variations. A composite control strategy is adopted to estimate and compensate the mismatched lumped disturbances via a nonlinear disturbance observer. An active uncertainty attenuation controller is constructed by means of the backstepping recursive design method combined with Lyapunov stability theory to control the DC bus voltage. The rigorous stability analysis and numerical simulation results demonstrate that the DC bus voltage can track its desired value in a satisfactory precision and will perform a strong robustness against the involved parameters variations.
A 100kW Switched-Tank Converter for Electric Vehicle Application

This paper presents a 100kW one-cell switched-tank converter (STC) for electric vehicle (EV) application. A new evaluation method that evaluates different converter topologies has been proposed in this paper to show the advantages of the STC over the boost converter and 3-level flying capacitor multilevel (FCML) converter. Both non-interleaved (1-phase) and interleaved (2-phase and 3-phase) operation of the STC have been analyzed. The analytical study shows that it is difficult to achieve the optimum design of the passive components such as input and output capacitors in 1-phase converter because of the high RMS current flowing through them. This means the passive components need to be over-designed in order to meet the current stress requirement. For instance, the designed capacitance of input capacitor is several times of the required value, which leads to bulky capacitor size. Therefore, this paper evaluates the potentials of using 2-phase and 3-phase interleaved operation to address this issue. Two operation modes, zero-voltage switching (ZVS) mode and zero-current switching (ZCS) mode, are evaluated to show the ZCS operation mode is more suitable for the presented converter with interleaved operation. By using the interleaving concept, the predicted 100kW 3-phase interleaved converter can achieve 60% size reduction based on the 1-phase converter design. And the predicted power density of the 3-phase interleaved STC can achieve 115kW/L power density. Simulation results are provided to validate the theoretical analysis. Both 1-phase and 3-phase 100kW prototypes under developing are shown in this paper.
Nanotechnology in Plant Science: To Make a Long Story Short

This mini-review aims at gaining knowledge on basic aspects of plant nanotechnology. While in recent years the enormous progress of nanotechnology in biomedical sciences has revolutionized therapeutic and diagnostic approaches, the comprehension of nanoparticle-plant interactions, including uptake, mobilization and accumulation, is still in its infancy. Deeper studies are needed to establish the impact of nanomaterials (NMs) on plant growth and agro-ecosystems and to develop smart nanotechnology applications in crop improvement. Herein we provide a short overview of NMs employed in plant science and concisely describe key NM-plant interactions in terms of uptake, mobilization mechanisms, and biological effects. The major current applications in plants are reviewed also discussing the potential use of polymeric soft NMs which may open new and safer opportunities for smart delivery of biomolecules and for new strategies in plant genetic engineering, with the final aim to enhance plant defense and/or stimulate plant growth and development and, ultimately, crop production. Finally, we envisage that multidisciplinary collaborative approaches will be central to fill the knowledge gap in plant nanotechnology and push toward the use of NMs in agriculture and, more in general, in plant science research.
Probabilistic state clustering using conditional random field for context-dependent acoustic modelling

Hidden Markov Models are widely used in speech recognition systems. Due to the co-articulation effects of continuous speech, context-dependent models have been found to yield performance improvements. One major issue with context-dependent acoustic modelling is the robust parameter estimation of unseen or rare models in the training data. Typically, decision tree state clustering is used to ensure that there are sufﬁcient data for each physical state. Decision trees based on phonetic questions are used to cluster the states. In this paper, conditional random ﬁeld (CRF) is used to perform probabilistic state clustering where phonetic questions are used as binary feature functions to predict the latent cluster weights. Experimental results on the Wall Street Journal reveals that CRF-based state clustering outperformed the conventional maximum likelihood decision tree state clustering with similar model complexities by about 10% relative.
Towards Adaptive Prosthetic Sockets using 3D-printed Variable-stiffness Shape-memory Structures

Many amputees experience pain and soreness due to poor fitting of their prosthetic socket, which is exacerbated by inevitable changes in volume and shape of their residual limb. This work presents an adjustable, adaptive residual-limb-fitting concept: integrating a 3D-printed variable-stiffness (VS) interface layer within the socket. We exploit the glass-transition behaviour of polylactic acid (PLA), demonstrating 3D-printed structures that can be transitioned from a rigid state to a soft state, simply by heating. This not only enables the socket to be adjusted to fit the individual's residual limb, but also allows tuning of its stiffness by changing the internal structure of theinterface layer. The mechanical properties of 3D-printed variable-stiffness structures are investigated, and the shape-memory effect of PLA is also captured to deliver 3D-printed shape-memory structures that can recover from deformation when heated.
Image digital watermarking based on a novel clock-controlled generator

Based on the m-sequence on finite field GF(2), a novel clock-controlled generator (NCCG) has been proposed by combining the shrinking generator and the self-shrinking generator. Theoretical analysis results show that the new clock-controlled sequence (NCCS) with large period and high linear complexity. The image digital watermarking algorithm (including embedding and extracting) would be developed in terms of NCCS. The final statistic analysis indicates that the signal and noise ratio (SNR) of watermarked image is high enough.
Manipulating Elections by Selecting Issues

Constructive election control considers the problem of an adversary who seeks to sway the outcome of an electoral process in order to ensure that their favored candidate wins. We consider the computational problem of constructive election control via issue selection. In this problem, a party decides which political issues to focus on to ensure victory for the favored candidate. We also consider a variation in which the goal is to maximize the number of voters supporting the favored candidate. We present strong negative results, showing, for example, that the latter problem is inapproximable for any constant factor. On the positive side, we show that when issues are binary, the problem becomes tractable in several cases, and admits a 2-approximation in the two-candidate case. Finally, we develop integer programming and heuristic methods for these problems.
Output Feedback Sliding Mode Control of Quadcopter Using IMU Navigation

The main focus of this paper is to design various nonlinear sliding mode output feedback control approaches for attitude stabilisation of a quadcopter UAV using only IMU navigation sensor. Three types of controllers are considered based on asymptotical, finite-time and fast finite-time stability as conventional, terminal and fast terminal sliding mode controllers, respectively. Furthermore, two types of perturbations are applied to the plant as internal and external disturbances. Measurement noises in sensors are selected as internal disturbances, and sensor biases and wind gust are chosen as external ones. Since the uncertainties in orthogonal rate gyroscopes can be categorised into mismatched ones, extended Kalman filter is utilised. In addition, the performance of the closed-loop system is tested in the presence of uncertain Kalman gain in an unknown harsh environment. Finally, simulation results are presented to validate the analysis.
A 3-Bridge LLC Resonant Converter Operating with A Wide Output Voltage Control Range Using Morphing Control for Mode Transitions

This paper presents a 3-bridge LLC resonant converter operating with a wide output voltage control range by using the morphing control for topology transitions caused by the change of converter’s operating modes. Morphing control between hysteresis bands of narrow is achieved via frequency modulation (FM) of the primary switching devices and by changing the duty of the switching devices involved in topology mode transition. As the converter transits from one operating mode to the other, the primary and secondary terminals of the two transformers are respectively connected in parallel or in series and enable to achieve a wide controllable output voltage (Vo~8Vo). The feasibility of the proposed converter is verified with experimental results of a 5kW prototype.
De Novo Crohn Disease of the Pouch in Children Undergoing Ileal Pouch-Anal Anastomosis for Ulcerative Colitis.

BACKGROUND Approximately 10% of children with ulcerative colitis (UC) undergo colectomy with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA). We aimed to describe the post-operative outcomes, with an emphasis on chronic pouch inflammation including de novo Crohn's disease (CD) at a tertiary care inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) center. METHODS Electronic medical records of all children who underwent colectomy ≤18 years between 2008-2017 were reviewed. Clinical and laboratory data were recorded. Primary outcome was frequency of chronic pouch inflammation including de novo CD. Secondary outcomes included early (≤30 days from index surgery) and late post-operative complications. Descriptive statistics (median and interquartile range [IQR]) summarized the data and univariate analysis tested associations with outcomes. RESULTS Fifty-eight children underwent colectomy and 56 completed IPAA. Median age at diagnosis was 14 years [12-16.2] and at colectomy 16.2 years [14.2-17.7] with median follow-up of 13 months [5-43]. Sixty-six percent underwent 3-stage IPAA and 78% were biologic exposed. Eleven had chronic pouchitis, 73% antibiotic refractory and 25% met criteria for de novo CD by median of 19 months [9-41]. A total of 21% and 50% experienced early and late surgical complications, most commonly ileus and recurrent IPAA stricture. The pouch failure rate was 3.6%. Chronic pouch inflammation was associated with a later diagnosis of de novo CD (P = 0.0025). CONCLUSIONS In pediatric UC, CD is not uncommon after IPAA. Chronic pouch inflammation often precedes a diagnosis of de novo CD. Families should be informed of the short and long-term outcomes in children prior to UC surgery.
Effect of time on biomechanics during exercise on the functional re-adaptive exercise device

ABSTRACT Mechanistic studies of the Functional Re-adaptive Exercise Device (FRED) have shown it automatically recruits Lumbar Multifidus (LM) and Transversus Abdominis (TrA) – two deep-spinal muscles that are atrophied and show altered motor control in low back pain (LBP). No studies have investigated the time required to familiarise to FRED exercise, which is required to inform future FRED based clinical trial protocols. This study therefore determined the effect of time, during FRED exercise, on biomechanical outcome measures, to establish the familiarisation period, and assess for loss of technique throughout a ten minute trial. A cohort comparison study of 148 participants, 70 experiencing low back pain, had lumbopelvic kinematics, exercise frequency and movement variability measured during a 10 minute trial. Magnitude-based inference was used to assess for familiarisation, using plots of variation over time with familiarised reference ranges. The no pain group took 170 seconds, and the back pain group took 150 seconds, to familiarise. A familiarisation period of at least 170 seconds (2.8 minutes) is recommended. This justifies, and provides a familiarisation time for use of the FRED as a motor control intervention.