Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Shape-Controlled Syntheses of Gold Nanoprisms and Nanorods Influenced by Specific Adsorption of Halide Ions

This paper describes the effect of halide ions during the seed-mediated growth of gold nanoparticles employing cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a cationic surfactant system. With the addition of a small amount of iodide ion (∼20 μM) in a growth solution, the major product of the gold nanostructures formed were notably changed into triangular nanoprisms in the presence of excessive bromide ion (∼0.1 M); otherwise, in its absence, nanorods with an aspect ratio of ∼11 were the main products. The major role of the iodide ion was in retarding the overall rate of crystal growth, and the iodide adsorption appeared to repress the crystal growth along Au(111) direction, resulting in Au(111)-faced triangular nanoprisms. When the counteranions of the surfactant were replaced with chloride ions, a novel nanostructure (i.e., nanorice) was manufactured, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the adsorption of halide ions. However, this finding is quite contrasted with the work of the Sastry group (J. Nanosci.
Combining Blood-Based Biomarkers to Predict Mortality of Sepsis at Arrival at the Emergency Department

Background Our aim was to determine a useful combination of blood biomarkers that can predict 28-day mortality of sepsis upon arrival at the Emergency Department (ED). Material/Methods Based on Sepsis-3.0, 90 sepsis patients were enrolled and divided into survivor and nonsurvivor groups with day 28 as the study end point. After comparing the demographic data and clinical characteristics of patients, we evaluated the predictive validity of a combination of markers including interleukin-6 (IL-6), procalcitonin (PCT), and lactate at arrival at the ED. Independent risk factors were found by using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses, and the prognostic value of markers was determined by the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results There were 67 (74.4%) survivors and 23 (25.6%) nonsurvivors. The levels of IL-6 (survivors vs nonsurvivors: median 205.30 vs 3499.00 pg/mL, P=0.012) and lactate (survivors vs nonsurvivors: median 2.37 vs 5.77 mmol/L, P=0.003) were significantly lower in survivor group compared with the nonsurvivor group. Markers including IL-6, PCT, lactate, and neutrophil-to-white blood cell ratio (NWR) were independent risk factors in predicting 28-day mortality due to sepsis. The combination of these 4 markers provided the best predictive performance for 28-day mortality of patients with sepsis, on arrival at the ED (AUC of 0.823, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.723–0.924), and its accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity were 74.4% (95% CI 64.0–82.8%), 91% (95% CI 80.9–96.3%), and 65% (95% CI 42.8–82.8%), respectively. Conclusions The combination of IL-6, PCT, lactate, and NWR measurements is a potential predictor of 28-day mortality for patients with sepsis, at arrival at the ED. Further research is needed to confirm our findings.
Bidirectional flow of the funny current (If) during the pacemaking cycle in murine sinoatrial node myocytes

Significance The funny current (If) is critical for spontaneous activity in cardiac pacemaker cells; however, its precise role remains enigmatic because it activates mostly outside the physiological voltage range and its kinetics are slow relative to the cardiac cycle. If is typically considered as an inward current; however, we show that If is persistently active in pacemaker cells. Once opened, the small fraction of ion channels that conduct If do not reclose. Consequently, If flows both inward and outward and, paradoxically, conducts a large fraction of the net charge movement. These results establish a new conceptual framework for pacemaking in which voltage-dependent gating of If is minimal and If contributes to spontaneous pacemaker activity by providing driving force in both directions. Sinoatrial node myocytes (SAMs) act as cardiac pacemaker cells by firing spontaneous action potentials (APs) that initiate each heartbeat. The funny current (If) is critical for the generation of these spontaneous APs; however, its precise role during the pacemaking cycle remains unresolved. Here, we used the AP-clamp technique to quantify If during the cardiac cycle in mouse SAMs. We found that If is persistently active throughout the sinoatrial AP, with surprisingly little voltage-dependent gating. As a consequence, it carries both inward and outward current around its reversal potential of −30 mV. Despite operating at only 2 to 5% of its maximal conductance, If carries a substantial fraction of both depolarizing and repolarizing net charge movement during the firing cycle. We also show that β-adrenergic receptor stimulation increases the percentage of net depolarizing charge moved by If, consistent with a contribution of If to the fight-or-flight increase in heart rate. These properties were confirmed by heterologously expressed HCN4 channels and by mathematical models of If. Modeling further suggested that the slow rates of activation and deactivation of the HCN4 isoform underlie the persistent activity of If during the sinoatrial AP. These results establish a new conceptual framework for the role of If in pacemaking, in which it operates at a very small fraction of maximal activation but nevertheless drives membrane potential oscillations in SAMs by providing substantial driving force in both inward and outward directions.
THE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE PROGRAM AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENT ON THE EFFICIENCY OF THE DYNAMIC SYSTEM IN OLD FEMALES

light, as well as in climbing, jumping, attachment and crawling. But nowadays man'smovement decreases, and he starts to depend on a machine to do his work. As a result, hesuffers weak and a lot of diseases that he never suffered from before. Exercising and sportsare considered necessary for all members in society to face negatives and harms resulted fromtechnological progress which is combined with few movements and a lot of diseasesThroughwhat the researchers has found in the studies about the importance of practicing sports on thehealthy aspects for old ladies in recent age now adays especially after their number hasincreased according to the reports of the central agency for mobilization and statistics. Theresearchers did this study to improve the functional efficiency of the kinetic system in oldladies by designing a kinetic therapeutic program to improve the physical parameters, thatwill contribute to increasing the collagen level. The researchers also made a comparisonbetween the influence of the suggested therapeutic program and the collagen as a dietary supplement in improving the functional efficiency level of the kinetic system. The study aimsto identify the influence of the therapeutic exercises program and collagen as a dietarysupplement on the functional efficiency of the old ladies' kinetic system. The researcher usedthe experimental curriculum with a pre and post measuring design for three experimentalgroups. The thesis sample has consisted of 30 ladies aged (62 ± 6.754). One of the mostimportant results of the therapeutic exercises program is the improvement in all theparameters of the functional efficiency of the kinetic system that includes backboneflexibility – weight – legs muscle power – back muscle power – bones density and collagenlevel
Ghost dynamics in the soft gluon limit

A. C. Aguilar, C. O. Ambrósio, F. De Soto, M. N. Ferreira, B. M. Oliveira, J. Papavassiliou, and J. Rodŕıguez-Quintero University of Campinas UNICAMP, Institute of Physics “Gleb Wataghin”, 13083-859 Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. Dpto. Sistemas F́ısicos, Qúımicos y Naturales, Univ. Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Sevilla, Spain. Department of Theoretical Physics and IFIC, University of Valencia and CSIC, E-46100, Valencia, Spain. Department of Integrated Sciences, University of Huelva, E-21071 Huelva, Spain. Abstract We present a detailed study of the dynamics associated with the ghost sector of quenched QCD in the Landau gauge, where the relevant dynamical equations are supplemented with key inputs originating from large-volume lattice simulations. In particular, we solve the coupled system of Schwinger-Dyson equations that governs the evolution of the ghost dressing function and the ghostgluon vertex, using as input for the gluon propagator lattice data that have been cured from volume and discretization artifacts. In addition, we explore the soft gluon limit of the same system, employing recent lattice data for the three-gluon vertex that enters in one of the diagrams defining the Schwinger-Dyson equation of the ghost-gluon vertex. The results obtained from the numerical treatment of these equations are in excellent agreement with lattice data for the ghost dressing function, once the latter have undergone the appropriate scale-setting and artifact elimination refinements. Moreover, the coincidence observed between the ghost-gluon vertex in general kinematics and in the soft gluon limit reveals an outstanding consistency of physical concepts and computational schemes.
Eye-focused Detection of Bell's Palsy in Videos

In this paper, we present how Bell's Palsy, a neurological disorder, can be detected just from a subject's eyes in a video. We notice that Bell's Palsy patients often struggle to blink their eyes on the affected side. As a result, we can observe a clear contrast between the blinking patterns of the two eyes. Although previous works did utilize images/videos to detect this disorder, none have explicitly focused on the eyes. Most of them require the entire face. One obvious advantage of having an eye-focused detection system is that subjects' anonymity is not at risk. Also, our AI decisions based on simple blinking patterns make them explainable and straightforward. Specifically, we develop a novel feature called blink similarity, which measures the similarity between the two blinking patterns. Our extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed feature is quite robust, for it helps in Bell's Palsy detection even with very few labels. Our proposed eye-focused detection system is not only cheaper but also more convenient than several existing methods.
Clinical Features and Treatment Outcomes of COVID-19 Admissions in the Can Tho City Hospital of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, Vietnam: A Hospital-Based Observational Study

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, is among the top global health crises. As confirmed by the Vietnam Ministry of Health on 25th January 2023, Vietnam had a cumulative total of more than 11.52 million COVID-19 patients, including 10.61 million recoveries and 43,186 deaths. Objectives: This study aimed to describe the clinical and subclinical characteristics, treatment progress, and outcomes of 310 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: A total of 310 patients with medical records of SARS-CoV-2 were admitted to Can Tho City Hospital of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Can Tho city, Vietnam, between July 2021 and December 2021. Demographic and clinical data, including laboratory examinations, of all the patients were collected and analyzed. Results: The median duration of hospital stay was 16.4 ± 5.3 days. There were 243 (78.4%) patients with clinical symptoms of COVID-19 and 67 (21.6%) patients without clinical symptoms. The common symptoms included cough (71.6% of 310 patients), fever (35.4%), shortness of breath (22.6%), sore throat (21.4%), loss of smell/taste (15.6%), and diarrhea (14.4%). Regarding treatment outcomes, 92.3% of the patients were discharged from the hospital, 1.9% of the patients suffered a more severe illness and were transferred to a higher-level hospital, and 5.8% of the patients died. The RT-PCR results were negative in 55.2% of the patients, and 37.1% of the patients had positive RT-PCR results with Ct values of >30 on the discharge/transfer day. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that comorbidity and decreased blood pH were statistically significantly related to the treatment outcomes of the patients with COVID-19 (p < 0.05). Conclusions: This study provides useful information (i.e., the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes) on the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam during its biggest outbreak; the information may be used for reference and for making improvements in the handling of future health crises.
A survey on forensic event reconstruction systems

Security related incidents such as unauthorised system access, data tampering and theft have been noticeably rising. Tools such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems and anti-virus software strive to prevent these incidents. Since these tools only prevent an attack, once an illegal intrusion occurs, they cease to provide useful information beyond this point. Consequently, system administrators are interested in identifying the vulnerability in order to: 1) avoid future exploitation; 2) recover corrupted data; 3) present the attacker to law enforcement where possible. As such, forensic event reconstruction systems are used to provide the administrators with possible information. We present a survey on the current approaches towards forensic event reconstruction systems proposed over the past few years. Technical details are discussed, as well as analysis to their effectiveness, advantages and limitations. The presented tools are compared and assessed based on the primary principles that a forensic technique is expected to follow.
Contributions of phonological memory, language comprehension and hearing to the expressive language of adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome.

BACKGROUND Expressive language constitutes a major challenge to the development of individuals with Down syndrome. This paper investigates the relationships between expressive language abilities, language comprehension and the deficits in verbal short-term memory and hearing which are also associated with the syndrome. METHODS Tests of nonverbal ability, expressive language, verbal short-term memory, visuo-spatial memory, language comprehension and hearing were administered. RESULTS Phonological memory, measured by nonword repetition, was significantly correlated with expressive language abilities measured by MLU and sentence recall. Adjusting for word repetition skills did not reduce this correlation, suggesting that the relationship did not depend on the fact that both tests required spoken output. Hearing did not contribute significantly to expressive language scores of participants who provided an intelligible narrative. However, level of hearing loss as well as other language and memory measures did differentiate these participants from those who were unable to produce an intelligible narrative. CONCLUSION Phonological memory was closely associated with the expressive language abilities of individuals with Down syndrome. Hearing loss appeared to be less closely related except that individuals with uncorrected mild to moderate hearing loss had difficulty with the narrative task. Further research is necessary to establish the nature of these relationships.
Adaptive Interacting Multiple Models applied on pedestrian tracking in car parks

To address perception problems we must be able to track dynamics targets of the environment. An important issue of tracking is filtering problem in which estimates of the target's state are computed while observations are progressively received. This paper presents an adaptive interacting multiple models (IMM) based filtering method. Interacting multiple models have been successfully applied to many applications as they allow, using several filters in parallel, to deal with the uncertainty on motion model, a critical component of filtering. Indeed targets can rapidly change their motion over a lapse of time. This is the case of pedestrians for which it is difficult to define an unique motion model which matches all their possible displacements. Nevertheless, the transition probability matrix (TPM) which models the interaction between different filters in an IMM is in currently defined a priori or needs an important amount of tuning to be used efficiently. In this paper, we put forward a method which automatically adapts online the TPM. The TPM adaptation using on-line data significantly improves the effectiveness of IMM filtering and so better target estimates are obtained. To validate our work we applied our method to pedestrian tracking in car parks on a real platform
Auction protocols

Vincent Conitzer Duke University 16.1 Standard Single-Item Auction Protocols . 16-2 16.2 Valuations and Utilities . 16-3 16.3 Strategic Bidding . 16-3 Solving the First-Price Sealed-Bid Auction • Solving the Second-Price Sealed-Bid Auction 16.4 Revenue Equivalence. 16-5 16.5 Auctions with Different Revenues . 16-6 16.6 Complementarity and Substitutability. 16-7 16.7 Combinatorial Auctions . 16-8 16.8 The Winner Determination Problem . 16-9 General-Purpose Winner Determination Algorithms • Special-Purpose Winner Determination Algorithms 16.9 The Generalized Vickrey Auction . 16-11 16.10 Collusion and False-Name Bidding . 16-12 16.11 Computationally Efficient Truthful Combinatorial Auctions. 16-13 16.12 Iterative Combinatorial Auctions and Preference Elicitation . 16-14 16.13 Additional Topics. 16-15 References . 16-16
Finding the influence set through skylines

Given a set <i>P</i> of <i>products</i>, a set <i>O</i> of <i>customers</i>, and a product <i>p</i> ε <i>P</i>, a <i>bichromatic reverse skyline</i> query retrieves all the customers in <i>O</i> that do not find any other product in <i>P</i> to be absolutely better than <i>p</i>. More specifically, a customer <i>o</i> ε <i>O</i> is in the <i>reverse skyline</i> of <i>p</i> ε <i>P</i> if and only no other product in <i>P</i> better matches the preference of <i>o</i> on all dimensions. The only existing bichromatic reverse skyline algorithm, which we refer to as <i>basic</i>, is designed for <i>uncertain</i> data. This paper focuses on traditional datasets, where each object is a <i>precise</i> point. Since a precise point can be regarded as a special uncertain object, <i>basic</i> can still be applied. However, as precise data are inherently easier to handle than uncertain data, one should expect that <i>basic</i> can be further improved by taking advantage of the reduced problem complexity. Indeed, we observe several non-trivial heuristics that can optimize the access order to achieve stronger pruning power. Motivated by this, we propose a new algorithm called <i>BRS</i>, and prove that <i>BRS</i> never entails more I/Os than <i>basic</i>. Besides our theoretical analysis, we also perform extensive experiments to show that in practice <i>BRS</i> usually outperforms basic by a large factor. For example, when both <i>P</i> and <i>O</i> follow the anti-correlated distribution, <i>BRS</i> is faster than <i>basic</i> by an order of magnitude. Finally, we address a new variation of bichromatic reverse skyline search where the conventional definition of dynamic skylines no longer makes sense.
Fast and Slim Lifted Markov Chains

Metropolis-Hasting method allows for designing a reversible Markov chain P on a given graph G for a target stationary distribution π. Such a Markov chain may suffer from its slow mixing time due to reversibility. Diaconis, Holmes and Neal (1997) for the ring-like chain P , and later Chen, Lovasz and Pak (2002) for an arbitrary chain P provided an explicit construction of a non-reversible Markov chain via lifting P so that its mixing time is essentially 1/Φ(P ), whereΦ(P ) is the conductance of P . Hence it leads to the reduction of the mixing time up to its square root. However, the construction of Chen et. al. results in expansion of size of the underlying graph during lifting; it affects the performance of algorithms (such as samplings or distributed linear dynamics) based on Markov chains. Therefore, motivated to reduce the size of the lifted chain, we provide a new lifting for an arbitrary chain based on expander graphs, which results in reduction of size up to Ω(n) (n is the number of states of P ) with essentially the same mixing time. The lifting, though allows for reduction in the mixing time, cannot be reduced beyond 1/Φ(P ), given a starting Markov chain P . Therefore, if P is ill-designed to begin with, 1/Φ(P ) can be large. To overcome this limitation, we introduce a new notion of lifting, which we call pseudo-lifting. For an arbitrary chain P and a diameter D of its underlying graph, we provide a simple pseudo-lifting with mixing time O(D) and size O(nD) – this is the fastest possible mixing time for any Markov chain up to constant for any given underlying graph. Next, we provide a hierarchical pseudo-lifting which allows for optimizing the size of the lifted chain using geometry of its underlying graph. We exhibit the strength of this construction for graphs with constant doubling dimension ρ to design a fast mixing pseudo-lifted Markov chain with size O ( Dn1− 1 ρ+1 ) , which might be much larger without its geometry.
Serum procalcitonin predicting mortality in exertional heatstroke

Background The aim of this study was to test if Procalcitonin PCT value at the time of admission is a predictor of mortality and/or a diagnostic marker of concomitant infection in exertional heatstroke. Methods 68 patients with exertional heatstroke admitted to the multidisciplinary intensive care unit were studied. Serum PCT was detected by means of a specific and ultrasensitive immunoluminometric assay within 2 h of admission. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score was evaluated within 24 h of admission. Results There was no significant difference in PCT levels between concomitant infection and non-infection patients (p=0.712). Elevated PCT level in exertional heatstroke patients was associated with a more critical pathological state. PCT values in patients with multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) were significantly higher than those without MODS (p=0.007.). PCT values were also positively correlated with APACHE II scores (r=0.588, p=0.016). PCT values in non-survivors were higher than in survivors at univariate regression analysis (p=0.017). After adjusting for confounders, PCT concentration also remained an independent determinant of mortality (OR 2.98; 95% CI 1.02 to 4.41; p=0.039). Receiver operating characteristic curve for PCT concentration was located above the reference line, which shows an association with mortality. The area under the curve for PCT concentration (0.705; 95% CI 0.547 to 0.862) was statistical significantly (p=0.019). As a predictor of mortality, PCT value was inferior to APACHE II score. Conclusions PCT value at the time of admission is an independent predictor of mortality, but maybe not a good indicator of concomitant infection in exertional heatstroke.