Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Actuation Strategies for Underactuated Hands: Better Functionality & Better Anthropomorphism

This work focuses on the best actuation strategies for underactuated robotic hands, for a better functionality and a better anthropomorphism. This study is divided in two parts: the first one focuses on the hands’ capability of grasping, while the second analysis gives more emphasis to the hands’ performance in terms of anthropomorphism. This study intends to answer the following two questions for the underactuated anthropomorphic robotic hands: 1) How does the actuation strategy of these hands affects their functionality in terms of grasping? 2) How the actuation strategy of these hands affects their anthropomorphism in terms of finger trajectories? For the first analysis two metrics were defined based on: Grasp Diversity, i. e. , considering almost all the possible grasps by the human hand; and Grasp Functionality, i. e. , only considering the highly used grasps by humans in their daily tasks. The second analysis was based on an already existing metric called ‘Grade your hand’, that calculates an “Anthropomorphism Index” for robotic hands. Then, 16 possible actuation strategies were defined and compared based on the defined metrics. Results of these analysis can be a good guideline for designing novel underactuated hands with respect to their functionality in terms of achievable grasps and their anthropomorphism. xi
Qcc Techascend: Nsf Sponsored After School Program Aimed At Potential Technicians

Don Engelberg, Queensborough Community College Principal Investigator Dr. Don Engelberg holds a B. S. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and M. A. and Ph. D. degrees in physics from Columbia University. In addition to coordinating the entire TechASCEND project, he served as instructor for the fiber optics unit. Dr. Engelberg has served as P. I. for two previous NSF grants related to fiber optic telecommunications. In addition to his publications related to physics education, he has published on nuclear and particle physics and the history of physics. He has also directed grants under the Carl Perkins Vocational and Technical Educations Acts, in particular, in recent years related to the Laser and Fiber Optics Academy. Dr. Engelberg recently retired as Professor of Physics at Queensborough Community College after 38 years of service, during six of which he served as departmental chairperson.
Quadruple Theories Based Determinants and their Causal Relationships Affecting the Adoption of Community Cloud in Saudi HEI

The higher education institutions (HEIs) are adopting the new modern cloud computing technique rapidly due to its cost effectiveness, efficient and productive feature. Though cloud computing technology is beneficial to educational sector, it is important to assess their economic benefits, technical, organizational, environmental appropriateness and potential obstacles before adopting the new technology. There are four evaluating theory for adopting the cloud computing technology which are the Technology Organization Environment (TOE), the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Diffusion of Innovation (DOI), and the Institutional (INT). This study has developed a new adoption framework for accepting cloud computing technology for HEIs of Saudi by integrating the above mentioned theories. This framework is unique from others because no research has been conducted yet on the adoption of community cloud at the organizational level considering the four theory simultaneously. This research has developed 25 hypotheses on the adoption of community cloud computing in HEIs and analyzed those hypotheses using SPSS statistical analysis software. The reliability of the data was tested by utilizing composite reliability and Cronbach's alpha method. This study have introduced an innovative approach and framework to understand the adoption of the community cloud which will help the decision-makers to build strategies in their organizations for effective adoption of community cloud services.
Pathogenesis of Liver Fibrosis and Its TCM Therapeutic Perspectives

Liver fibrosis is a pathological process of abnormal tissue proliferation in the liver caused by various pathogenic factors, which will further develop into cirrhosis or even hepatocellular carcinoma if liver injury is not intervened in time. As a diffuse progressive liver disease, its clinical manifestations are mostly excessive deposition of collagen-rich extracellular matrix resulting in scar formation due to liver injury. Hepatic fibrosis can be caused by hepatitis B and C, fatty liver, alcohol, and rare diseases such as hemochromatosis. As the metabolic center of the body, the liver regulates various vital activities. During the development of fibrosis, it is influenced by many other factors in addition to the central event of hepatic stellate cell activation. Currently, with the increasing understanding of TCM, the advantages of TCM with multiple components, pathways, and targets have been demonstrated. In this review, we will describe the factors influencing liver fibrosis, focusing on the effects of cells, intestinal flora, iron death, signaling pathways, autophagy and angiogenesis on liver fibrosis, and the therapeutic effects of herbal medicine on liver fibrosis.
Intertwined Relation between the Endoplasmic Reticulum and Mitochondria in Ischemic Stroke

In ischemic stroke (IS), accumulation of the misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria-induced oxidative stress (OS) has been identified as the indispensable inducers of secondary brain injury. With the increasing recognition of an association between ER stress and OS with ischemic stroke and with the improved understanding of the underlying molecular mechanism, novel targets for drug therapy and new strategies for therapeutic interventions are surfacing. This review discusses the molecular mechanism underlying ER stress and OS response as both causes and consequences of ischemic stroke. We also summarize the latest advances in understanding the importance of ER stress and OS in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke and discuss potential strategies and clinical trials explicitly aiming to restore mitochondria and ER dynamics after IS.
Three essays on workforce scheduling

This thesis presents three different problems belonging to different planning stages of the workforce scheduling process. The first article addresses a tour scheduling problem faced by a ground-handling agency at airports. In this problem, multiskilled agents are assigned to shifts and days-off within a planning horizon of one month to cover the airlines agent requirements. The second article considers a technician routing and scheduling problem form an external maintenance provider. This problem mainly involves obtaining weekly schedules such that the maintenance tasks requested by geographically distributed customers are fulfilled. The considered decisions consist of the assignment of technicians to teams, the assignment teams to tasks, and the dispatch of teams to service routes. The third article addresses a task scheduling problem for check-in counters personnel at airports. This problem involves the daily assignment of multiskilled agents to flights (check-ins and boardings) considering the change-over times between gates, such that the agent requirements from the airlines are satisfied.
Translational neonatal seizure research—A reality check

Seizures present both diagnostic and therapeutic challenges in neonates who are admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) worldwide. Neonatal encephalopathy, following a hypoxicischemic insult around the time of birth (hypoxicischemic encephalopathy [HIE]), is the most common cause of seizures in term neonates, and as a result, most information is available about seizure characteristics in this group.1,2 Many neonatal seizures are electrographiconly but seizures in moderate to severe HIE exhibit the highest rates of electroclinical uncoupling and thus continuous EEG (electroencephalography) monitoring is essential to detect and treat seizures effectively. There is now evidence that higher electrographic seizure burdens are associated with poor outcomes.3– 5 Evidence is also emerging that earlier treatment is associated with better seizure control and reduced overall seizure burden.6– 8 However, earlier treatment is possible only if continuous EEG monitoring is available to identify the exact onset of seizures.6,9– 11 Unfortunately, multicenter studies have clearly shown that there can be long gaps between the onset of seizures and the administration of first treatment, and the reasons for this are multifactorial.1 Even though the use of EEG monitoring in NICUs has increased considerably over the last 10 years, the availability of experts to interpret the EEG 24 hours a day, 7 days a week is low; as a result, many seizures, particularly those that are electrographiconly are missed and may not be treated for hours after onset, if at all. Amplitude integrated EEG (aEEG) is more widely available for clinical management, but 20%– 40% of seizures will be missed, in addition to a significant risk of falsepositive detections.12 aEEG is not recommended for clinical trials of neonatal seizure treatment.13
Catching a killer: Mechanisms of programmed cell death and immune activation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

In the central nervous system (CNS), execution of programmed cell death (PCD) is crucial for proper neurodevelopment. However, aberrant activation of these pathways in adult CNS leads to neurodegenerative diseases including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). How a cell dies is critical, as it can drive local immune activation and tissue damage. Classical apoptosis engages several mechanisms to evoke “immunologically silent” responses, whereas other forms of programmed death such as pyroptosis, necroptosis, and ferroptosis release molecules that can potentiate immune responses and inflammation. In ALS, a fatal neuromuscular disorder marked by progressive death of lower and upper motor neurons, several cell types in the CNS express machinery for multiple PCD pathways. The specific cell types engaging PCD, and ultimate mechanisms by which neuronal death occurs in ALS are not well defined. Here, we provide an overview of different PCD pathways implicated in ALS. We also examine immune activation in ALS and differentiate apoptosis from necrotic mechanisms based on downstream immunological consequences. Lastly, we highlight therapeutic strategies that target cell death pathways in the treatment of neurodegeneration and inflammation in ALS.
Targeting DCLK1 overcomes 5‐fluorouracil resistance in colorectal cancer through inhibiting CCAR1/β‐catenin pathway‐mediated cancer stemness

Abstract Background To date, 5‐fluorouracil‐based chemotherapy is very important for locally advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC). However, chemotherapy resistance results in tumor recurrence and metastasis, which is a major obstacle for treatment of CRC. Methods In the current research, we establish 5‐fluorouracil resistant cell lines and explore the potential targets associated with 5‐fluorouracil resistance in CRC. Moreover, we perform clinical specimen research, in vitro and in vivo experiments and molecular mechanism research, to reveal the biological effects and the mechanism of DCLK1 promoting 5‐fluorouracil resistance, and to clarify the potential clinical value of DCLK1 as a target of 5‐fluorouracil resistance in CRC. Results We discover that doublecortin‐like kinase 1 (DCLK1), a cancer stem cell maker, is correlated with 5‐fluorouracil resistance, and functionally promotes cancer stemness and 5‐fluorouracil resistance in CRC. Mechanistically, we elucidate that DCLK1 interacts with cell cycle and apoptosis regulator 1 (CCAR1) through the C‐terminal domain, and phosphorylates CCAR1 at the Ser343 site, which is essential for CCAR1 stabilisation. Moreover, we find that DCLK1 positively regulates β‐catenin signalling via CCAR1, which is responsible for maintaining cancer stemness. Subsequently, we prove that blocking β‐catenin inhibits DCLK1‐mediated 5‐fluorouracil resistance in CRC cells. Importantly, we demonstrate that DCLK1 inhibitor could block CCAR1/β‐catenin pathway‐mediated cancer stemness and consequently suppresses 5‐fluorouracil resistant CRC cells in vitro and in vivo. Conclusions Collectively, our findings reveal that DCLK1 promotes 5‐fluorouracil resistance in CRC by CCAR1/β‐catenin pathway‐mediated cancer stemness, and suggest that targeting DCLK1 might be a promising method to eliminate cancer stem cells for overcoming 5‐fluorouracil resistance in CRC.
Oncogenic LINC00857 recruits TFAP2C to elevate FAT1 expression in gastric cancer

FAT atypical cadherin 1 (FAT1) is a mutant gene frequently found in human cancers and mainly accumulates at the plasma membrane of cancer cells. Emerging evidence has implicated FAT1 in the progression of gastric cancer (GC). This study intended to identify a regulatory network related to FAT1 in GC development. Upregulated expression of FAT1 was confirmed in GC tissues, and silencing FAT1 was observed to result in suppression of GC cell oncogenic phenotypes. Mechanistic investigation results demonstrated that FAT1 upregulated AP‐1 expression by phosphorylating c‐JUN and c‐FOS, whereas LINC00857 elevated the expression of FAT1 by recruiting a transcription factor TFAP2C. Functional experiments further suggested that LINC00857 enhanced the malignant biological characteristics of GC cells through TFAP2C‐mediated promotion of FAT1. More importantly, LINC00857 silencing delayed the tumor growth and blocked epithelial–mesenchymal transition in tumor‐bearing mice, which was associated with downregulated expression of TFAP2C/FAT1. To conclude, LINC00857 plays an oncogenic role in GC through regulating the TFAP2C/FAT1/AP‐1 axis. Therefore, this study contributes to extended the understanding of gastric carcinogenesis and LINC00857 may serve as a therapeutic target for GC.
When closeness is effortful: Teachers’ physiological activation undermines positive effects of their closeness on student emotions

Abstract Background Student perceptions of teachers’ interpersonal closeness positively affect their emotions. If closeness is, however, effortful for the teacher (i.e., emotional labour, signalling less genuine closeness), this may undermine these positive effects. We tested this assumption by using student reports and external observations of teacher closeness and ambulant measures of teacher heart rate, to gauge teachers’ physiological effort connected to being close during class. Aims We investigated the association between teachers’ physiological effort connected to closeness and students’ lesson‐focused emotions. Sample 75 teachers and their students (N = 1645) participated during one real‐life lesson. Methods Teacher interpersonal closeness was continuously coded based on a video recording and teachers’ heart rate was measured continuously as an indicator of physiological effort. Students reported their emotions and perception of teacher closeness at the end of the lesson. Results Multilevel models with student emotions as DVs and students’ perceptions of teacher warmth (L1 predictor) and teachers’ physiological effort when being close (i.e., an intra‐individual cross‐correlation, L2 predictor) were tested. As expected, students reported more positive and less negative emotions when they perceived more teacher closeness. The physiological effort connected to being close was not directly associated with student emotions; however, such effort moderated the effect of perceived closeness, especially with regard to negative student emotions (i.e., cross‐level interactions). The more effortful teacher closeness was, the less closeness protected students from negative emotions. Conclusions In line with extant research on faking enjoyment and emotional labour, students seemed to be affected when teacher closeness was physiologically effortful, and overall positive effects of teacher closeness were undermined.
Effects of Acute Exercise on Cardiac Autonomic Response and Recovery in Non-Dialysis Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

ABSTRACT Purpose: Heart rate variability (HRV) has gained acceptance as a key marker of cardiovascular health. We compared HRV responses after continuous moderate-intensity exercise (CMIE) and high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) matched for intensity and duration in individuals with midspectrum chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: Twenty men and women (age 62.0 ± 10 yrs.) diagnosed with CKD stages G3a and G3b participated in a 2 (condition) x 4 (time point) repeated cross-over measures design study. HRV time-domain indices were based on the standard deviation of all NN intervals (SDNN) and the square root of the mean of the sum of the squares of differences between adjacent NN intervals (RMSSD) and frequency domain. High-frequency (HF), low-frequency (LF), total power (TP) were examined. CMIE consisted of treadmill walking for 30 minutes at a 2% incline and speed corresponding to 60%–65% of reserve volume of oxygen (VO2R). HIIE included five intervals of 3 minutes at 90% of VO2R and 2 minutes at 20% VO2R intervals. Conditions were designed to be of the same average intensity (60% to 65% of VO2R) and caloric expenditure (~144 kcal). Results: Immediately following exercise SDNN, RMSSD, HF, LF, and TP were significantly lower compared to before exercise (p <.05). HRV responses were not different between conditions and conditions X time (p >.05). Conclusions: Thirty minutes of either CMIE or HIIE decreased HRV indices, pointing to an autonomic imbalance favoring vagal mediation. HRV’s responses regarding HIIE were no different from CMIE, therefore, from an autonomic function point of view this similarity may be useful for CKD exercise prescription and programming.
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test Measures of First-Phase Insulin Response and their Predictive Ability for Type 1 Diabetes.

CONTEXT Decreased first-phase insulin response (FPIR) during intravenous glucose tolerance testing (IVGTT) is an early indicator of β-cell dysfunction and predictor of type 1 diabetes (T1D). OBJECTIVE Assess whether oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) measures could serve as FPIR alternatives in their ability to predict T1D in autoantibody positive (Aab+) subjects. DESIGN OGTT and IVGTT were performed within 30 days of each other. Eleven OGTT variables were evaluated for: 1) correlation with FPIR, and 2) T1D prediction. SETTING Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet "Oral Insulin for Prevention of Diabetes in Relatives at Risk for T1D" (TN-07) and Diabetes Prevention Trial-Type 1 Diabetes (DPT-1) studies clinical sites. PATIENTS TN-07 (n=292; age 9.4±6.1 years) and DPT-1 (n=194; age 15.1±10.0 years) Aab+ relatives of T1D individuals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES 1) Correlation coefficients of OGTT-measures with FPIR, and 2) T1D prediction at 2-years using area under receiver operating characteristic (ROCAUC) curves. RESULTS Index60 showed the strongest correlation in DPT-1 (r=-0.562) but was weaker in TN-07 (r=-0.378). C-peptide index consistently showed good correlation with FPIR across studies (TN-07, r=0.583; DPT-1, r=0.544; p<0.0001). Index60 and C-peptide index had the highest ROCAUCs for T1D prediction (0.778 vs. 0.717 in TN-07; 0.763 vs. 0.721 in DPT-1, respectively; p=NS), followed by FPIR (0.707 in TN-07; 0.628 in DPT-1). CONCLUSIONS C-peptide index was the strongest measure to correlate with FPIR in both studies. Index60 and C-peptide index had the highest predictive accuracy for T1D and were comparable. OGTTs could be considered instead of IVGTTs for subject stratification in T1D prevention trials.
Co-integrated resonant tunneling and heterojunction bipolar transistor full adder

We present the first resonant tunneling bipolar transistor integrated circuits operating at room temperature. The circuits are comprised of co-integrated resonant tunneling and double heterojunction bipolar transistors based on III-V heteroepitaxy on InP substrates. The resonant tunneling bipolar transistors exhibit a peak-to-valley collector current ratio exceeding 70 which is higher than previous room temperature reports. Using this technology we demonstrate a 3-transistor XNOR, a 6-transistor XOR, a 5-transistor CARRY, and a 17-transistor full adder, all using a 3 V supply. <<ETX>>
Power Quality Monitoring of Online UPS

Uninterrupted Power Supplies (UPS) are invariably used in domestic, industry and medical centers for providing adequate backup to power in case of outage or failure of power from the grid. With the development of fast switching power electronic devices, the Online UPS’s have been significantly used. With the use of power electronics devices in converter and inverter circuits, harmonics are generated and supplied back to the grid. The paper focuses on the development of a tool for remotely monitoring the power quality of an Online UPS. The outputs obtained from the developed tool are also discussed in the results section.
Plant carbohydrate storage: intra- and inter-specific tradeoffs reveal a major life history trait.

Tradeoffs among carbon sinks constrain how trees physiologically, ecologically, and evolutionarily respond to their environments. These tradeoffs typically fall along a productive growth to conservative, bet-hedging continuum. How nonstructural carbohydrates (NSC) stored in living tree cells (known as carbon stores) fit in this tradeoff framework is not well understood. We examined relationships between growth and storage using both within species genetic variation from a common garden, and across species phenotypic variation from a global database. We demonstrate that storage is actively accumulated, as part of a conservative, bet-hedging life history strategy. Storage accumulates at the expense of growth both within and across species. Within the species Populus trichocarpa, genetic tradeoffs show that for each additional unit of wood area growth (cm2 /year) that genotypes invest in, they lose 1.2 to 1.7 units (mg/g NSC) of storage. Across species, for each additional unit of area growth (cm2 /year), trees, on average, reduce their storage by 9.5% in stems and 10.4% in roots. Our findings impact our understanding of basic plant biology, fit storage into a widely used growth-survival tradeoff spectrum describing life history strategy, and challenges the assumptions of passive storage made in ecosystem models today.
CancerVar: An artificial intelligence–empowered platform for clinical interpretation of somatic mutations in cancer

Several knowledgebases are manually curated to support clinical interpretations of thousands of hotspot somatic mutations in cancer. However, discrepancies or even conflicting interpretations are observed among these databases. Furthermore, many previously undocumented mutations may have clinical or functional impacts on cancer but are not systematically interpreted by existing knowledgebases. To address these challenges, we developed CancerVar to facilitate automated and standardized interpretations for 13 million somatic mutations based on the AMP/ASCO/CAP 2017 guidelines. We further introduced a deep learning framework to predict oncogenicity for these variants using both functional and clinical features. CancerVar achieved satisfactory performance when compared to several independent knowledgebases and, using clinically curated datasets, demonstrated practical utility in classifying somatic variants. In summary, by integrating clinical guidelines with a deep learning framework, CancerVar facilitates clinical interpretation of somatic variants, reduces manual work, improves consistency in variant classification, and promotes implementation of the guidelines.