Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Review of the Isolation, Characterization, Biological Function, and Multifarious Therapeutic Approaches of Exosomes

Exosomes are extracellular vesicles that contain a specific composition of proteins, lipids, RNA, and DNA. They are derived from endocytic membranes and can transfer signals to recipient cells, thus mediating a novel mechanism of cell-to-cell communication. They are also thought to be involved in cellular waste disposal. Exosomes play significant roles in various biological functions, including the transfer of biomolecules such as RNA, proteins, enzymes, and lipids and the regulation of numerous physiological and pathological processes in various diseases. Because of these properties, they are considered to be promising biomarkers for the diagnosis and prognosis of various diseases and may contribute to the development of minimally invasive diagnostics and next generation therapies. The biocompatible nature of exosomes could enhance the stability and efficacy of imaging probes and therapeutics. Due to their potential use in clinical applications, exosomes have attracted much research attention on their roles in health and disease. To explore the use of exosomes in the biomedical arena, it is essential that the basic molecular mechanisms behind the transport and function of these vesicles are well-understood. Herein, we discuss the history, biogenesis, release, isolation, characterization, and biological functions of exosomes, as well as the factors influencing their biogenesis and their technical and biological challenges. We conclude this review with a discussion on the future perspectives of exosomes.
Rearranging Nanoclusters Using Randomness

A ccording to the infinite monkey theorem, a monkey randomly hitting the keys of a typewriter will eventually write something worth reading—but it might take a few trillion years of trying. For those lacking the patience to wait, Francesco Boccardo and Olivier Pierre-Louis at the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France, now show that randomness can deliver specific outcomesmuchmore quickly [1]. Simulating a 2D nanocluster of a dozen particles, the researchers determine the temperature at which thermal fluctuations canmost quickly rearrange those particles into a predetermined shape. They find that this time can be dramatically cut by applying an appropriate macroscopic force to the particles. The result could lead to efficient ways to fabricate components for nanoscale devices.
Assessment of induced voltages in common and differential‐mode for a PV module due to nearby lightning strikes

Nearby lightning strikes are prone to induce overvoltage transients in photovoltaic (PV) modules and in their power conditioning circuitry, which can permanently damage the PV system. Therefore, it becomes important to establish a method for accurate assessment of such transients. To this aim, the authors propose a three-dimensional (3D) semi-analytical numerical method to study the electromagnetic transients caused in PV modules by nearby lightning strikes. The approach bases on a semi-analytical expression of the magnetic vector potential generated by a geometrically complex lightning channel. The proposed method is able to calculate the transient overvoltage in a PV module, both in common and differential-mode, taking also into account capacitive and inductive couplings between the internal circuit and the PV metallic frame. Both modes are required to design the surge protective devices (SPDs) in PV power systems. Comparing to the models in literature, the proposed approach explicitly considers the complex geometry of the lightning channel. Statistical analysis allows assessing the impact of channel geometry by randomly generating a number of likely lightning paths. Results show that the lightning-induced overvoltage in a PV module is highly dependent on factors such as distance to the lightning channel and lightning channel geometry.
Thermal and functional properties of a biofilms composed of fruits and vegetables waste

This study includes the development of biofilms from orange peel (OP), apple pomace (AP), tomato pomace (TP), and potato peel (PP). Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transparency, and water solubility were performed on the synthesized films. The biofilms were prepared using the casting method. The OP, AP, and TP, along with pectin and glycerol, form a flexible film at a concentration of 6%, whereas the PP forms a film at 4%. The TGA results showed that the OP film has the highest decomposition temperature, ranging from 194.5℃ to 246.92℃. The FTIR spectra of the biofilms revealed the interaction between the plasticizer and polysaccharide compounds. The pectin film (PF) had a transparency of 2.19%, while the TP film had a transparency of 7.45%, the highest among the fruit & vegetable waste (FVW) films. The lower the transparency score, the more transparent the film. The water solubility of PF film was 89%, while that of FVW-based films was lower. The usage of FVW-based biofilms and their use in food packaging would minimize plastic products, resulting in reduced pollution.
Segmentation of Exercise Repetitions Enabling Real-Time Patient Analysis and Feedback Using a Single Exemplar

We present a segmentation algorithm capable of segmenting exercise repetitions in real time. This approach uses subsequence dynamic time warping and requires only a single exemplar repetition of an exercise to correctly segment repetitions from other subjects, including those with limited mobility. This approach is invariant to low range of motion, instability in movements, and sensor noise while remaining selective to different exercises. This algorithm enables responsive feedback for technology-assisted physical rehabilitation systems. We evaluated the algorithm against a publicly available dataset (CMU) and against a healthy population and stroke patient population performing rehabilitation exercises captured on a consumer-level depth sensor. We show that the algorithm can consistently achieve correct segmentation in real time.
Novel Electromagnetic Characterization Methods for New Materials and Structures in Aerospace Platforms

The tendency over the last decades in the aerospace industry is to substitute classic metallic materials with new composite materials such as carbon fiber composites (CFC), fiber glass, etc., as well as adding electronic devices to ensure the safety and proper platform operation. Due to this, to protect the aircraft against the Electromagnetic Environmental Effects (E3), it is mandatory to develop accurate electromagnetic (EM) characterization measurement systems to analyze the behavior of new materials and electronic components. In this article, several measurement methods are described to assess the EM behavior of the samples under test: microstrip transmission line for a surface current analysis, free space to obtain intrinsic features of the materials and shielding effectiveness (SE) approaches to figure out how well they isolate from EM fields. The results presented in this work show how the different facilities from the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) are suitable for such purposes, being capable of measuring a wide variety of materials, depending on the type of test to be carried out.
Are your Sensitive Inputs Secure in Android Applications?

Android applications may request for users’ sensitive information through the GUI. Developer guidelines for designing applications mandate that information must be masked/encrypted before storing or leaving the system. However not all applications adhere to the guidelines. As a prerequisite to tracking sensitive input data, it is essential to identify the widgets that request it. Previous research has focused on identifying the sensitive input widgets, but the extraction of all layouts, including images and unused layouts, is fundamental. In this paper, we propose an automated framework that finds sensitive user input widgets from Android application layouts and validates the masking of these inputs. Our design includes novel techniques for resolving the user semantics, extraction of resources, identification of potential data leaks and helping users to prioritize the sharing of sensitive information, resulting in significant improvement over prior work. We also train track the obtained sensitive input widgets and check for unencrypted transmission or storage of sensitive data. Based on a preliminary evaluation of our framework with some applications from the Google Play store, we observe notable improvement over prior work in this domain.
Confronting chronic neglect : the education and training of health professionals on family violence

As many as 20 to 25 percent of American adultsa "or one in every four peoplea "have been victimized by, witnesses of, or perpetrators of family violence in their lifetimes. Family violence affects more people than cancer, yet ita (TM)s an issue that receives far less attention. Surprisingly, many assume that health professionals are deliberately turning a blind eye to this traumatic social problem. The fact is, very little is being done to educate health professionals about family violence. Health professionals are often the first to encounter victims of abuse and neglect, and therefore they play a critical role in ensuring that victimsa "as well as perpetratorsa "get the help they need. Yet, despite their critical role, studies continue to describe a lack of education for health professionals about how to identify and treat family violence. And those that have been trained often say that, despite their education, they feel ill-equipped or lack support from by their employers to deal with a family violence victim, sometimes resulting in a failure to screen for abuse during a clinical encounter. Equally problematic, the few curricula in existence often lack systematic and rigorous evaluation. This makes it difficult to say whether or not the existing curricula even works. Confronting Chronic Neglect offers recommendations, such as creating education and research centers, that would help raise awareness of the problem on all levels. In addition, it recommends ways to involve health care professionals in taking some responsibility for responding to this difficult and devastating issue. Perhaps even more importantly, Confronting Chronic Neglect encourages society as a whole to share responsibility. Health professionals alone cannot solve this complex problem. Responding to victims of family violence and ultimately preventing its occurrence is a societal responsibility
COVID-19 Associated Guillain–Barré Syndrome: A Report of Nine New Cases and a Review of the Literature

Background: Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS)—a rare condition characterized by acute-onset immune-mediated polyneuropathy—has been registered as a neurological manifestation of COVID-19, suggesting a possible link between these two conditions. Methods: We report a case series of patients with COVID-19-related GBS hospitalized in the Neurology Department of Colentina Clinical Hospital, Bucharest, Romania, between March 2020 and March 2021. Several variables were analyzed, such as the mean interval between the onset of COVID-19 symptoms and neurological ones, clinical features, treatment course, and outcome. Further on, we conducted a thorough literature review based on the PubMed and ScienceDirect scientific databases. Results: A total of 9 COVID-19 patients developed symptoms of GBS, out of which in 7, it manifested as an acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP). Five patients presented respiratory failure, 2 requiring mechanical ventilation. All patients received a course of intravenous immunoglobulins, 2 additionally requiring plasma exchange. Upon discharge, all but 1 patient (who had not regained the ability to walk) had a positive outcome, and 1 died during admission. In the literature review, we analyzed the published sources at the time of writing. Conclusions: A link between COVID-19 and GBS might be possible; therefore, increased vigilance is required in the early identification of these cases for prompt diagnosis and treatment. Some notable differences such as an earlier onset of GBS symptoms, higher respiratory dysfunction, and higher mortality rates in COVID-19 patients have been observed between the presentation of GBS in the context of COVID-19 and GBS of other causes.
A Systematic Survey of Research Trends in Technology Usage for Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurological disorder with complicated and disabling motor and non-motor symptoms. The complexity of PD pathology is amplified due to its dependency on patient diaries and the neurologist’s subjective assessment of clinical scales. A significant amount of recent research has explored new cost-effective and subjective assessment methods pertaining to PD symptoms to address this challenge. This article analyzes the application areas and use of mobile and wearable technology in PD research using the PRISMA methodology. Based on the published papers, we identify four significant fields of research: diagnosis, prognosis and monitoring, predicting response to treatment, and rehabilitation. Between January 2008 and December 2021, 31,718 articles were published in four databases: PubMed Central, Science Direct, IEEE Xplore, and MDPI. After removing unrelated articles, duplicate entries, non-English publications, and other articles that did not fulfill the selection criteria, we manually investigated 1559 articles in this review. Most of the articles (45%) were published during a recent four-year stretch (2018–2021), and 19% of the articles were published in 2021 alone. This trend reflects the research community’s growing interest in assessing PD with wearable devices, particularly in the last four years of the period under study. We conclude that there is a substantial and steady growth in the use of mobile technology in the PD contexts. We share our automated script and the detailed results with the public, making the review reproducible for future publications.
Non-Invasive Nasal Discharge Fluid and Other Body Fluid Biomarkers in Alzheimer’s Disease

The key to current Alzheimer’s disease (AD) therapy is the early diagnosis for prompt intervention, since available treatments only slow the disease progression. Therefore, this lack of promising therapies has called for diagnostic screening tests to identify those likely to develop full-blown AD. Recent AD diagnosis guidelines incorporated core biomarker analyses into criteria, including amyloid-β (Aβ), total-tau (T-tau), and phosphorylated tau (P-tau). Though effective, the accessibility of screening tests involving conventional cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)- and blood-based analyses is often hindered by the invasiveness and high cost. In an attempt to overcome these shortcomings, biomarker profiling research using non-invasive body fluid has shown the potential to capture the pathological changes in the patients’ bodies. These novel non-invasive body fluid biomarkers for AD have emerged as diagnostic and pathological targets. Here, we review the potential peripheral biomarkers, including non-invasive peripheral body fluids of nasal discharge, tear, saliva, and urine for AD.
Microservices-Adaptive Software-Defined Load Balancing for 5G and Beyond Ecosystems

Although 5G networks achieve impressive improvements in terms of latency, data rates and network capacity, their evolution requires the synergy of networks, clouds and applications. For example, targeted challenging applications require efficient end-to-end performance, impacted by emerging technologies beyond radio, including: Software-Defined Networks (SDNs) enabling programmability in the network environment from a centralized viewpoint; cloud orchestrators dynamically adapting server resource allocation to dynamic workloads; and microservice-based applications consisting of minimal, single-purpose service functions communicating with each other, individually implemented and scaled towards efficient resource allocation and fault-tolerance. In this context, we propose an SDN load balancing solution for a specific class of services consisting of microservices with heterogeneous but simpler network and server resource requirements, compared to the resource-demands of the whole service. Our proposal adapts to the estimated resource demands of individual microservices, balances resource utilization among cloud servers and improves service operation in terms of response times, throughput and fairness. We validate experimentally the proposed platform and its mechanisms with a particular 5G and beyond use-case with the above characteristics.
Structure and bonding ofM2SbP(M=Ti,Zr,Hf)

Using ab initio calculations, we have studied the chemical bonding and elastic properties of M2SbP sspace group P63/mmc, prototype Cr2AlCd, where M =Ti, Zr, and Hf. The bonding is of covalent-ionic nature with the presence of metallic character. These compounds exhibit nanolaminated structure where MP layers are interleaved with Sb. While the structure is identical, both the bonding and the elastic properties of these phosphides are similar to the so-called MAX phases fM. W. Barsoum, Prog. Solid State Chem. 28, 201 s2000dg.
Non-Acceleration Theorem in a Primitive Equation System: I. Acceleration of Zonal Mean Flow

Non-acceleration theorem in a primitive equation system is developed to investigate the influences of waves on the mean flow variation against external forcing. Numerical results show that mechanical forcing overwhelms thermal forcing in maintaining the mean flow in which the internal mechanical forcing associated with horizontal eddy flux of momentum plays the most important roles. Both internal forcing and external forcing are shown to be active and at the first place for the mean flow variations, whereas the forcing-induced mean meridional circulation is passive and secondary. It is also shown that the effects on mean flow of external mechanical forcing are concentrated in the lower troposphere, whereas those due to wave-mean flow interaction are more important in the upper troposphere. These act together and result in the vertically easterly shear in low latitudes and westerly shear in mid-latitudes. This vertical shear of mean flow is to some extent weakened by thermal forcing.
Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec Typing and Multilocus Variable Number Tandem Repeat Analysis of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Clinical Isolates with Vancomycin Creep Phenomenon

Background The association of treatment failure and mortality with vancomycin minimum inhibitory concentration creep (MIC) is a matter of serious concern in patients with severe methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections. The purpose of the study was to identify and characterize staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) and clonal types of MRSA strains, exhibiting the vancomycin MIC creep phenomenon. Methods A total of 3305 S. aureus strains were isolated from various clinical samples of Lahore General Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan. MRSA strains were identified by cefoxitin resistant (≤21mm) followed by mecA and mecC gene genotyping. Vancomycin MIC creep was determined by E-test. Isolates having MIC values >1.5 µg/mL were further subjected for SCCmec typing (I–V and XI) and multiple-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) by amplification of spa, sspA, clfA, clfB, and sdrCDE genes. A dendrogram was created based on the similarity index using bioneumerics software. Results About 13.3% (440/3305) isolates were MRSA with 99.3% (437/440) and 0.7% (3/440) carried mecA and mecC genes, respectively. In 120 MRSA isolates, the MIC of vancomycin was >1.5µg/mL. In MRSA isolates with high vancomycin MIC (>1.5µg/mL), the most common SCCmec type was SCCmec III (38.3%), followed by SCCmec IVa (15.8%), SCCmec IIIa (13.3%,), SCCmec IVc (7.5%), SCCmec IVe (5.8%), SCCmec IVd (5.8%), SCCmec IVb (4.2%), SCCmec II (2.5%), SCCmec V (1.7%), SCCmec I (1.7%) and SCCmec XI (1.7%). MLVA revealed 60 genotypic groups of MRSA isolates having a 92% similarity index. Conclusion SCCmec III was the most common type in genetically related MRSA isolates showing vancomycin MIC creep. The presence of SCCmec XI may further add burden to infection control measures.
Uma Avaliação de Desempenho da Implantação de Rádio Definido por Software em Ambientes Virtualizados para Redes de Acesso Sem Fio em Nuvem

A quinta geração (5G) da rede celular deve ser flexível para atender às diferentes demandas de conexão dos dispositivos de Internet das Coisas (IoT). A virtualização de rádios é uma técnica promissora, pois permite que diversos rádios virtuais heterogêneos coexistam em um mesmo hardware, enquanto o processamento é realizado remotamente. Uma abordagem viável para a implementação de rádios virtuais é através da virtualização de sistemas operacionais completos, tais como máquinas virtuais e contêiner. Este artigo avalia os limites experimentais da comunicação Ethernet do dispositivo de Rádio Definido por Software (Software Defined Radio - SDR) e os impactos da virtualização com intuito de verificar a adequabilidade dos ambientes virtuais para uso a criação de redes de acesso sem fio virtuais em nuvem. Os resultados mostram que o desempenho do contêiner se assemelha ao do Linux nativo.
The Mythical IP Block: An Investigation of Contemporary IP Characteristics

The invention relates to a molecular sieve catalyst composition, to a method of making or forming the molecular sieve catalyst composition, and to a conversion process using the catalyst composition. In particular, the invention is directed to making a formulated molecular sieve catalyst composition from a slurry of formulation composition of a synthesized molecular sieve that has not been fully dried, a binder and an optional matrix material. In a more preferred embodiment, the weight ratio of the binder to the molecular sieve and/or the solid content of the slurry is controlled to provide an improved attrition resistant catalyst composition, particularly useful in a conversion process for producing olefin(s), preferably ethylene and/or propylene, from a feedstock, preferably an oxygenate containing feedstock.
Improved impedance/admittance switching controller for the interaction with a variable stiffness environment

Hybrid impedance/admittance control aims to provide an adaptive behavior to the manipulator in order to interact with the surrounding environment. In fact, impedance control is suitable for stiff environments, while admittance control is suitable for soft environments/free motion. Hybrid impedance/admittance control, indeed, allows modulating the control actions to exploit the combination of such behaviors. While some work has addressed the proposed topic, there are still some open issues to be solved. In particular, the proposed contribution aims: (i) to satisfy the continuity of the interaction force in the switching from impedance to admittance control when a feedforward velocity term is present; and (ii) to adapt the switching parameters to improve the performance of the hybrid control framework to better exploit the properties of both impedance and admittance controllers. The proposed approach was compared in simulation with the standard hybrid impedance/admittance control in order to show the improved performance. A Franka EMIKA panda robot was used as a reference robotic platform to provide a realistic simulation.