Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
V/C Digital Controlled DC-DC Converter

In this paper, the switching of dc-dc converter using voltage/current digital control is proposed. It is the combination of existed digital average voltage and digital average current controls. The stability analysis of V/C digital controlled dc-dc converter is derived by using sampled data model. The transient analysis of V/C digital controlled dc-dc converter is also derived by using z-domain small signal model. The proposed V/C digital controlled dc-dc converter has over current protection, fast load transient response, no sub-harmonic oscillations at any value of duty cycle, and wider stability range. The proposed system is analysed with a simple buck converter. The output voltage and inductor current weighting factors influence the stability boundary and transient performances of V/C digital controlled dc-dc converter. The stability analysis and transient analysis is investigated and verified by circuit simulations.
Relationship between lactational performance and metabolic parameters of Mongolian native grazing mares

ABSTRACT Information regarding the lactational performance of mares in relation to metabolic parameters can help practitioners to manipulate animal rearing management for sustainable mare milk production. The aim of this study was to characterize the lactational performance of Mongolian native mares grazing on natural pastureland by revealing the seasonal effects on metabolic parameters. In this study, 8 multiparous mares were used. Milk yield and composition and serum metabolic parameters, such as alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), glucose (GLU), triacylglycerol, total cholesterol (TCH), non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), albumin, urea, total protein, cortisol (Cort), and insulin, were determined at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 210, 240, and 270 days of lactation. During the lactation period, milk yield peaked at around the 90th day and declined sharply in the following period. While the milk fat and protein contents decreased gradually from the early stages of lactation to the late stages, the lactose content was highest at mid-lactation and stayed constant until the end of the lactation period. Meanwhile, changes were observed between the stages of lactation, and the differences in metabolic parameters were significant (P<0.05), except for AST and GLU. The strongest correlation was found with NEFA (P<0.01), followed by the Cort (P<0.05) concentration, with both parameters showing negative correlation, and strong positive correlation was detected between the milk yield and TCH (P<0.05) concentration.
Development of a new decellularization protocol for the whole porcine heart

Background: Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in many countries. Advances in technology have been promoted in this regard, especially in tissue engineering, to meet the need for tissue or organ grafts. In this way, the porcine model has been used due to its morphophysiological similarity between the human species, mainly regarding the cardiovascular system. Tissue engineering is employed using biological scaffolds that are currently derived from porcine. These scaffolds are produced by decellularization, a process to remove cells aiming to maintain only its three-dimensional structure, formed by extracellular matrix (ECM). Its main objective is to produce organs through recellularized scaffolds that could eventually substitute the ones with impaired functions. Aim: In this way, the present study aimed to establish a new protocol for porcine heart decellularization with potential application on tissue engineering. Methods: A porcine heart aorta was cannulated with a silicon tube, and the organ was washed in 0.1% phosphate-buffered saline through a peristaltic pump (Harvard Peristaltic Pump – Harvard Apparatus). After that, deionized water was introduced in the same system. The decellularization procedure was carried out using ionic and non-ionic detergents, namely 4% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and 1% Triton X-100, respectively. SDS was perfused through myocardial circulation at 400 mL/min for 24 h for 6 days. Subsequently, the heart was infused with Triton X-100 and washed by PBS and water for 24 h. The heart volume was measured before and after the recellularization. After macroscopic evaluation, the heart samples were processed and stained by Hematoxylin and Eosin, Masson’s Trichrome, Weigert-Van Gieson, Alcian Blue, and Pricrosirius Red techniques for microscopic analysis. To observe the cell adhesion, the recellularization was provided in this scaffold, which was analyzed under immunofluorescence and scanning electronic microscopy. Results: The protocol provided cells remotion, with adequate concentration of remaining DNA. ECM components as collagen type I, elastin, and glycosaminoglycans were successfully maintained. The scaffold showed a high cells adherence and proliferation in the recellularization process. Conclusion: According to results, the protocol described in this work preserved the ECM components and the organ architecture, minimizing ECM loss and being possible to state that it is a promising approach to tissue bioengineering. Relevance for Patients: This study provides a protocol for whole porcine heart decellularization, which will ultimately contribute to heart bioengineering and may support further studies on biocompatibility relationship of new cells with recellularized scaffolds.
Algorithm combining virtual chromoendoscopy features for colorectal polyp classification

Abstract Background and study aims Colonoscopy is considered the gold standard for decreasing colorectal cancer incidence and mortality. Optical diagnosis of colorectal polyps (CRPs) is an ongoing challenge in clinical colonoscopy and its accuracy among endoscopists varies widely. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) for CRP characterization may help to improve this accuracy. In this study, we investigated the diagnostic accuracy of a novel algorithm for polyp malignancy classification by exploiting the complementary information revealed by three specific modalities. Methods We developed a CAD algorithm for CRP characterization based on high-definition, non-magnified white light (HDWL), Blue light imaging (BLI) and linked color imaging (LCI) still images from routine exams. All CRPs were collected prospectively and classified into benign or premalignant using histopathology as gold standard. Images and data were used to train the CAD algorithm using triplet network architecture. Our training dataset was validated using a threefold cross validation. Results In total 609 colonoscopy images of 203 CRPs of 154 consecutive patients were collected. A total of 174 CRPs were found to be premalignant and 29 were benign. Combining the triplet network features with all three image enhancement modalities resulted in an accuracy of 90.6 %, 89.7 % sensitivity, 96.6 % specificity, a positive predictive value of 99.4 %, and a negative predictive value of 60.9 % for CRP malignancy classification. The classification time for our CAD algorithm was approximately 90 ms per image. Conclusions Our novel approach and algorithm for CRP classification differentiates accurately between benign and premalignant polyps in non-magnified endoscopic images. This is the first algorithm combining three optical modalities (HDWL/BLI/LCI) exploiting the triplet network approach.
Determination of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among University Students

Introduction With the sudden outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2), vaccines appear to be the most efficient measure in combating spread. However, vaccines are only effective if a community collectively uptakes vaccination. This approach is growing increasingly difficult with the emergence of ‘Vaccine Hesitancy. ’ This paper aims to determine the association between university curricula and the degree of hesitancy for the COVID-19 vaccine. Methods The online questionnaire assessed demographic data, prior knowledge of vaccines, attitude towards COVID-19 vaccines using an adapted version of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Working Group’s Vaccine Hesitancy Survey (VHS) and factors likely to motivate vaccine uptake. By using binary scoring, the degree of hesitancy among students was determined. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) on VHS revealed underlying causes of hesitancy. To analyze the dependence between hesitancy and curriculum, a chi-squared test was conducted. Results Medical students scored higher for prior knowledge of vaccines (M = 3.54) as opposed to non-medical students (M = 3.49). Medical students responded favorably to COVID-19 vaccines with only 1.37% showing hesitancy for all nine items of VHS, compared to 2.55% of non-medical students. EFA produced three subscales within the VHS: lack of confidence, risk factor concern, and misinformation. The lack of confidence factor accounted for 65% of the data obtained. The chi-square test solidified that vaccine hesitancy is dependent on curriculum. Conclusion The majority of non-medical students showed hesitancy towards obtaining COVID-19 vaccines compared to medical students who were more willing, largely owing to their knowledge and understanding of vaccines.
Neutrophils in cardiovascular disease: Warmongers, peacemakers or both?

Neutrophils, the most abundant of all leukocytes and the first cells to arrive at the sites of sterile inflammation/injury act as a double-edged sword. On one hand, they inflict a significant collateral damage to the tissues and on the other hand they help facilitate wound healing by a number of mechanisms. Recent studies have drastically changed the perception of neutrophils from being simple one-dimensional cells with an un-restrained mode of action to a cell type that display maturity and complex behavior. It is now recognized that neutrophils are transcriptionally active and respond to plethora of signals by deploying a wide variety of cargo to influence the activity of other cells in the vicinity. Neutrophils can regulate macrophage behavior, display innate immune memory, and play a major role in the resolution of inflammation in a context-dependent manner. In this review, we provide an update on the factors that regulate neutrophil production and the emerging dichotomous role of neutrophils in the context of cardiovascular diseases, particularly in atherosclerosis and the ensuing complications, myocardial infarction and heart failure. Deciphering the complex behavior of neutrophils during inflammation and resolution may provide novel insights and in turn facilitate the development of potential therapeutic strategies to manage cardiovascular disease.
Earliest pulmonary vein potential‑guided cryoballoon ablation is associated with better clinical outcomes than conventional cryoballoon ablation: A result from two randomized clinical studies

With regard to short‐term outcome in atrial fibrillation (AF), the benefit of cryoballoon ablation (CBA) by pressing a balloon against the earliest pulmonary vein (PV) potential site during PV isolation (earliest potential [EP]‐guided CBA) has been previously demonstrated. The present study aimed to evaluate the long‐term outcome of the EP‐guided CBA.
Perioperative renal protection

Purpose of review Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common but underestimated syndrome in the perioperative setting. AKI can be induced by different causes and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, no specific treatment options are available at the moment. Recent findings AKI is now understood as being a continuum ranging from normal kidney function over AKI and acute kidney disease to ultimately chronic kidney disease. The KDIGO organization recommend in 2012 implementation of preventive bundles in patients at high risk for AKI. In the perioperative setting, relevant measures include hemodynamic optimization, with careful consideration of blood pressure targets, adequate fluid therapy to maintain organ perfusion and avoidance of hyperglycaemia. These measures are most effective if patients at risk are identified as soon as possible and measures are implemented accordingly. Although current point of care functional biomarkers can detect patients at risk earlier than the established damage biomarkers, some components of the preventive bundle are still under investigation. Summary Good evidence exists for the use of biomarkers to identify individual patients at risk for AKI and for the implementation of haemodynamic optimization, abdication of nephrotoxins, adequate fluid administration using balanced crystalloid solutions and glycaemic control. The data for using colloids or the degree of nephrotoxicity of contrast media still remain inconclusive.
The influence of external load variables on creatine kinase change during preseason training period.

Objective The aim of the present study was to analyse the relationships between creatine kinase (CK) concentration, an indirect marker of muscle damage, and global positioning system (GPS)-derived metrics of a continuous two-week-long preseason training period in elite football. Design Twenty-one elite male professional soccer players were assessed during a 14-day preseason preparatory period. CK concentrations were determined each morning, and a GPS system was used to quantify the external load. A generalized estimating equation (GEE) model was established to determine the extent to which the external load parameter explained post-training CK levels. Results The GEE model found that higher numbers of decelerations (χ 2 = 7.83, P = 0.005) were most strongly associated with the post-training CK level. Decelerations and accelerations accounted for 62% and 11% of the post-training CK level, respectively, and considerable interindividual variability existed in the data. Conclusion The use of GPS to predict muscle damage could be of use to coaches and practitioners in prescribing recovery practices. Based on GPS data, more individualized strategies could be devised and could potentially result in better subsequent performance.
Tolerance to Intermittent vs. Continuous Blood Flow Restriction Training: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract The proven beneficial effects of low-load blood flow restriction training on strength gain has led to further exploration into its application during rehabilitation, where the traditional use of heavy loads may not be feasible. With current evidence showing that low-load blood flow restriction training may be less well tolerated than heavy-load resistance training, this review was conducted to decipher whether intermittently deflating the pressure cuff during rest intervals of a training session improves tolerance to exercise, without compromising strength. Four databases were searched for randomized controlled trials that compared the effect of intermittent versus continuous blood flow restriction training on outcomes of exercise tolerance or strength in adults. Nine studies were identified, with six included in the meta-analysis. No significant difference in rate of perceived exertion was found (SMD-0.06, 95% CI-0.41 to 0.29, p=0.73, I 2=80%). Subgroup analysis excluding studies that introduced bias showed a shift towards favoring the use of intermittent blood flow restriction training (SMD-0.42, 95% CI-0.87 to 0.03, p=0.07, I 2=0%). There was no significant difference in strength gain. Intermittent cuff deflations during training intervals does not improve tolerance to exercise during blood flow restriction training.
The international EAACI/GA²LEN/EuroGuiDerm/APAAACI guideline for the definition, classification, diagnosis, and management of urticaria

This update and revision of the international guideline for urticaria was developed following the methods recommended by Cochrane and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) working group. It is a joint initiative of the Dermatology Section of the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), the Global Allergy and Asthma European Network (GA²LEN) and its Urticaria and Angioedema Centers of Reference and Excellence (UCAREs and ACAREs), the European Dermatology Forum (EDF; EuroGuiDerm), and the Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology with the participation of 64 delegates of 50 national and international societies and from 31 countries. The consensus conference was held on 3 December 2020. This guideline was acknowledged and accepted by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). Urticaria is a frequent, mast cell–driven disease that presents with wheals, angioedema, or both. The lifetime prevalence for acute urticaria is approximately 20%. Chronic spontaneous or inducible urticaria is disabling, impairs quality of life, and affects performance at work and school. This updated version of the international guideline for urticaria covers the definition and classification of urticaria and outlines expert‐guided and evidence‐based diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the different subtypes of urticaria.
Envelope reconstruction of speech and music highlights stronger tracking of speech at low frequencies

The human brain tracks amplitude fluctuations of both speech and music, which reflects acoustic processing in addition to the encoding of higher-order features and one’s cognitive state. Comparing neural tracking of speech and music envelopes can elucidate stimulus-general mechanisms, but direct comparisons are confounded by differences in their envelope spectra. Here, we use a novel method of frequency-constrained reconstruction of stimulus envelopes using EEG recorded during passive listening. We expected to see music reconstruction match speech in a narrow range of frequencies, but instead we found that speech was reconstructed better than music for all frequencies we examined. Additionally, models trained on all stimulus types performed as well or better than the stimulus-specific models at higher modulation frequencies, suggesting a common neural mechanism for tracking speech and music. However, speech envelope tracking at low frequencies, below 1 Hz, was associated with increased weighting over parietal channels, which was not present for the other stimuli. Our results highlight the importance of low-frequency speech tracking and suggest an origin from speech-specific processing in the brain.
Bridging the gap between microbial limits and extremes in space: space microbial biotechnology in the next 15 years

The establishment of a permanent human settlement in space is one of humanity’s ambitions. To achieve this, microorganisms will be used to carry out many functions such as recycling, food and pharmaceutical production, mining and other processes. However, the physical and chemical extremes in all locations beyond Earth exceed known growth limits of microbial life. Making microbes more tolerant of a greater range of extraterrestrial extremes will not produce organisms that can grow in unmodified extraterrestrial environments since in many of them not even liquid water can exist. However, by narrowing the gap, the engineering demands on bioindustrial processes can be reduced and greater robustness can be incorporated into the biological component. I identify and describe these required microbial biotechnological modifications and speculate on long‐term possibilities such as microbial biotechnology on Saturn’s moon Titan to support a human presence in the outer Solar System and bioprocessing of asteroids. A challenge for space microbial biotechnology in the coming decades is to narrow the microbial gap by systemically identifying the genes required to do this and incorporating them into microbial systems that can be used to carry out bioindustrial processes of interest.
FTA-GAN: A Computation-Efficient Accelerator for GANs With Fast Transformation Algorithm

Nowadays, generative adversarial network (GAN) is making continuous breakthroughs in many machine learning tasks. The popular GANs usually involve computation-intensive deconvolution operations, leading to limited real-time applications. Prior works have brought several accelerators for deconvolution, but all of them suffer from severe problems, such as computation imbalance and large memory requirements. In this article, we first introduce a novel fast transformation algorithm (FTA) for deconvolution computation, which well solves the computation imbalance problem and removes the extra memory requirement for overlapped partial sums. Besides, it can reduce the computation complexity for various types of deconvolutions significantly. Based on FTA, we develop a fast computing core (FCC) and the corresponding computing array so that the deconvolution can be efficiently computed. We next optimize the dataflow and storage scheme to further reuse on-chip memory and improve the computation efficiency. Finally, we present a computation-efficient hardware architecture for GANs and validate it on several GAN benchmarks, such as deep convolutional GAN (DCGAN), energy-based GAN (EBGAN), and Wasserstein GAN (WGAN). The experimental results show that our design can reach 2211 GOPS under 185-MHz working frequency on Intel Stratix 10SX field-programmable gate array (FPGA) board with satisfactory visual results. In brief, the proposed design can achieve more than $2\times $ hardware efficiency improvement over previous designs, and it can reduce the storage requirement drastically.
Small loci of astroglial glutamine synthetase deficiency in the postnatal brain cause epileptic seizures and impaired functional connectivity

The astroglial enzyme glutamine synthetase (GS) is deficient in small loci in the brain in adult patients with different types of focal epilepsy; however, the role of this deficiency in the pathogenesis of epilepsy has been difficult to assess due to a lack of sufficiently sensitive and specific animal models. The aim of this study was to develop an in vivo approach for precise and specific deletions of the GS gene in the postnatal brain.
Network pharmacology‐based investigation to explore the effect and mechanism of Erchen decoction against the nonalcoholic fatty liver disease

This study aimed to uncover the potential mechanism of Erchen decoction (ECD) on the amelioration of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Network pharmacology and bioinformatics were used to determine the active components of ECD and its potential target in treating NAFLD. High fat diet (HFD)‐induced NAFLD mice model was used. Liver tissues were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, and Oil Red O. Serum lipid profiles and hepatic inflammatory molecules in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)/Toll‐like receptor‐4 (TLR‐4) pathway were confirmed by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. Intestinal barrier function, including intestinal epithelial tight junction (IETJ) proteins, fecal short‐chain fatty acids (SCFAs) concentration and intestinal microbiota composition, was also assessed. Screening relevant databases revealed 123 active components and 158 potential target proteins in ECD, as well as 1,783 differential genes for NAFLD. Enrichment analyses predicted that the regulation of LPS, cholesterol metabolism and inflammatory pathways might be the underlying mechanisms of ECD in NAFLD treatment. ECD ameliorated the multi‐profiles of NAFLD and reversed the high levels of inflammatory molecules such as, serum LPS, hepatic TLR‐4, tumor necrosis factor‐α, and interleukin‐1β. Additionally, ECD upregulated the concentration levels of IETJ proteins and fecal SCFAs. 16s RNA sequencing indicated that ECD can improve the gut microbiota, such as Akkermansia, Clostridium XIVa, Coprococcus, and Ruminococcus. The current study demonstrated that ECD can reverse the HFD‐induced intestinal barrier dysfunction, thereby reducing the LPS translocation and alleviating the hepatic inflammation, and eventually exhibiting a protective effect against NAFLD.