Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Age–Stiffness Relationships of Elastic and Muscular Arteries in a Control Population and in End-Stage Renal Disease Patients

Arterial dysfunction is major risk factor for cardiovascular complications, and arterial stiffness is an independent risk factor in end-stage renal disease patients. As the distance from the heart increases, arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity) becomes progressively more marked. This generates a centrifugal stiffness gradient, which leads to partial, continuous local wave reflections, which in turn attenuate the transmission of pulsatile pressure into the microcirculation, thus limiting the potentially deleterious outcomes both upstream (on the heart: left-ventricular hypertrophy and coronary perfusion) and downstream (on the renal and cerebral microcirculation: reduced glomerular filtration and impaired cognitive functions). The impact of arterial aging is greater on the aorta and central capacitive arteries, and it is characterized by a loss or reversal of the physiological stiffness gradient between central and peripheral arteries. Recently, however, in contrast to observations on the aorta, several studies have shown less pronounced, absent, or even negative associations between muscular peripheral arteries and age–stiffness relationships, which may be associated with a decrease in or reversal of the stiffness gradient. These findings point to a potential benefit of assessing the muscular peripheral arteries to predict the risk of cardiovascular disease and suggest that reversal of the stiffness gradient may be an independent risk factor for all-cause mortality.
In silico discovering relationship between bacteriophages and antimicrobial resistance

Abstract Bacteriophages and their potential contribution to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) have attracted growing attention in the context of medicine and pharmaceutics. A major objective of the CAMDA challenge is to acquire more knowledge about the relationship between viruses, their hosts and AMR genes in determining if AMR indeed can spread through phages. This study is focused on exploring the relationship and possible dependencies between bacteriophages and AMR based on the data collected from urban environments all over the world. The samples in the data are classified into two categories: high and low, according to the observed levels of AMR genes. The approach used in our analyses consists of several different methods which assess the differential abundance of phages, their diversity across samples, the impact on AMR categories and associations with AMR genes. The relationship between phages, their hosts and AMR is also explored by a Bayesian spatial model, using the AMR category (low vs high) as a factor. We found a higher relative risk for phages known to infect Staphylococcus aureus alone or both S. aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii in the high AMR group, which implies that these phages may have a role in the dissemination of antimicrobial genes.
A Solid-State Light-Emitting Device Based on Excitations of Ballistic Electrons Generated in Nanocrystalline Porous Polysilicon Films

It has been demonstrated that a solid-state light-emitting device can be fabricated by field-induced electron drift in nanocrystalline porous polysilicon (nc-PPS) film and the subsequent excitation of fluorescent materials. The device is composed of a semitransparent thin Au film, an organic fluorescent film, a nc-PPS film, n-type Si substrate, and an ohmic back contact. When a positive bias voltage of higher than 15 V is applied to the Au contact, electrons injected into the nc-PPS layer are accelerated towards the outer surface, and then hit a fluorescent film as quasiballistic or hot electrons. This produces uniform visible light emission with the spectra of which coincide well with the original luminescence spectra of the deposited fluorescent material. Observed light emission with the nc-PPS diode is important from the viewpoint of large-area applications. Potential uses of this device are suggested as a silicon-based surface-emitting light source and a vacuumless flat panel display.
Advances in Latent Variable Mixture Models

This volume, although not precisely a conference proceedings, is the result of a conference held in 2006, the first annual conference hosted by the Center for Integrated Latent Variable Research, part of the Department of Measurement, Statistics, and Evaluation at the University of Maryland. The volume includes at least one paper by each speaker at that conference, including a chapter by conference keynote speaker Bengt Muthén that attempts to present a common framework for several of the volume’s entries. Consistent with the title, the broad focus of the volume is on latent variable mixture models. These are latent variable models in which the data can be usefully modeled as being drawn from a mixture of multiple distributions, and generally where the mixture of distributions is not known a priori. (For an overview of partial least squares methods for structural modeling of heterogeneous data, see Rigdon, Ringle, & Sarstedt, in press.) Mixture modeling is often associated with nonhomogeneous respondent populations, but, as multiple authors in this volume point out, heterogeneity across respondents is not required. On the other hand, some authors in this volume are comfortable interpreting results as if their models really do (tentatively, at least) describe discrete subpopulations. Regardless, the output of such an analysis generally includes an estimated probability of assignment of each respondent to each distribution or class—statistics that might aid interpretation, whether or not the defined classes correspond to actual distinct subpopulations. This is a timely volume. One can sense an inflection point in SEM broadly, including SEM variants like partial least squares (PLS) path modeling, where the seemingly standard assumption of homogeneity is now open to question. Foundational works in this area are not entirely new (e.g., Jedidi, Jagpal, & DeSarbo, 1997; Muthén, 1989), but convenient tools for estimating mixture models have recently become much more available. A substantial shift in assumptions toward heterogeneity has major implications, far beyond the need to routinely check for evidence of heterogeneity. SEM users face new questions about sampling, estimation,
Rapid assessment of slope deformation in 3D point cloud considering feature-based simplification and deformed area extraction

Calculating deformation values and determining deformation areas are essential for slope monitoring and safety management. Recently, terrestrial laser scanning has been widely used for deformation monitoring due to to its speed and efficiency. However, handling a large amount of point cloud data to obtain the deformed area is still challenging. To rapidly evaluate slope deformation information, this study proposes a simplification algorithm for point cloud data based on multi-parameter feature preservation. The proposed method retains feature points (i.e. inflection points and edge points) and simplifies data with the octree structure. In addition, a method based on cloud-to-mesh for displacement is used where the winding number is introduced for the signed function. Next, the deformed area over the level of detection is extracted using density-based spatial clustering for applications with a noise clustering algorithm. To verify the reduction method, two types of slope field data are used for experiments. The results reveal that the proposed point cloud approach is superior to the conventional algorithms. Furthermore, the highway slope in Mianyang is selected as a case study to validate the performance of the proposed method. The entire monitoring area is stable with a deformation of approximately 0.43 mm, and only four regions are deformed over the study period. When the mean displacement value is considered in different deformation regions, the minimum deformation is −82.02 mm and the maximum deformation is 85.31 mm. Moreover, comparative experiments on deformation calculation are conducted and reveal the superior performance of the proposed method.
Graphical representation of three-dimensional vortical flows by means of helicity density and normalized helicity

The helicity density and normalized helicity are introduced as important tools for the graphical representation of three-dimensional flowfields that contain concentrated vortices. The use of these two quantities filters out the graphical representation of the flowfield regions of low vorticity, as well as regions of high vorticity but low speed where the angle between the velocity and vorticity vectors is large (such as in the boundary layer). Their use permits the researcher to identify and accentuate the concentrated vortices, differentiate between primary and secondary vortices and mark their separation and reattachment lines. The method allows locating the singular points in type I primary separations and tracing the vortex-core streamlines that emanate from them. It also allows locating the vortex-core axes in flows of other types.
Taxonomic Study of Three Novel Paenibacillus Species with Cold-Adapted Plant Growth-Promoting Capacities Isolated from Root of Larix gmelinii

Exploration of the novel species of the genus Paenibacillus with plant-growth promoting characteristics at the low-temperature environment is of great significance for the development of psychrotolerant biofertilizer in forestry and agriculture. During the course of isolation of root endophytes of Larix gmelinii in the island frozen soil, three strains designated as T3-5-0-4, N1-5-1-14 and N5-1-1-5 were isolated. The three strains showed plant growth-promoting properties at the low temperature, such as phosphate solubilization, indole-3-acetic acid biosynthesis and siderophore production. According to pairwise sequence analyses of the 16S rRNA genes, the three strains represent putatively novel taxa within the genus Paenibacillus. The strains have typical chemotaxonomic characteristics of the genus Paenibacillus by having meso-diaminopimelic acid as diagnostic diamino acid, anteiso-C15:0 as the predominant fatty acid and MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone. The polar lipid profiles of all strains contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylethanolamine. The sizes of the genomes of the stains ranged from 5.66 to 9.07 Mb and the associated G+C contents ranged from 37.9% to 44.7%. Polyphasic taxonomic study including determination of genome relatedness indices revealed that the strains are representatives of three novel species in the genus Paenibacillus. Consequently, isolates T3-5-0-4, N1-5-1-14 and N5-1-1-5 are proposed as novel species for which the names of Paenibacillus endoradicis sp. nov. (CFCC15691T = KCTC43441T), Paenibacillus radicibacter sp. nov, (CFCC15694T = KCTC43442T) and Paenibacillus radicis sp. nov. (CFCC15710T = KCTC43173T), respectively. Moreover, analysis for biosynthetic genes showed that the strains have potential for plant growth-promoting characteristics, plant rhizospheres colonization and low-temperature adaption, most of which are consistent with the results of the bioactivity test.
Subpixel analysis of a double array grating spectrometer

High resolution images can be extracted from a set of differently sampled low resolution images. Usually such a set of images is generated by shifting a detector array device fractions of a pixel or by moving a whole optical system in an appropriate way. Subpixel information is then encoded in the set of taken images. Another way to generate encoded subpixel information is presented in this paper. Multiple fixed images are generated in the optical part of the detector device. The latter method is the method of choice for grating diode array spectrometers. A programmable entrance slit array (MEMS device, mechanical slit positioning system), which replaces the conventional single entrance slit, generates multiple undersampled images of the same spectrum. Every slit is imaged with a different, wavelength dependent imaging scale ratio and a different imaging scale ratio and a different wavelength-aberration-dependency. The subpixel analysis has to take this into account. It is accomplished by a shift-variant superresolution algorithm, a representation of the spectrometer's optical properties and a calibration algorithm which estimates these properties from measured known gas emission spectra. The superresolution algorithm itself is nonlinear and therefore capable of recovering data lost by aberration and pixel integration. An algorithm for subpixel analysis is developed and tested. Theoretical and experimental approaches of the subpixel analysis are presented. The method is proven experimentally on a double array spectrometer. The resolution can be increased up to the factor 7 with seven entrance slits.
ICT skills and challenges faced by high school teachers of Inle Lake located in the Nyaungshwe township of Shan State in Myanmar

In western Shan State of Myanmar, there is a picturesque lake, famous for its floating villages and gardens and the unique way of life of the local Intha people, with their living communities based entirely on the water. The present survey research was aimed at identifying the ICT facilities, skills, usage, and the problems faced by the high school teachers of basic education while using ICT. The population of the study comprised the teachers of 17 Inle villages. Instrument was developed by the first author. About 102 state high school teachers were selected from three government high schools. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that only some of the teachers have computers and Internet facilities at home and school. They are expert at simple skills like searching and browsing internet, social networking, and MS word but are less skilled or poor on other skills like using MS access, discussion forums/blogs and Windows file management. Teachers spend more time on computers for academic and other purposes than for recreational purpose. They believe that the use of ICT supports their learning, lack of technical support at home and at school, load shedding at home and at school and signal problem in Internet at home and are the problems faced by most of the teachers. Thus, the government high schools should invest more on improving the infrastructure to address the ICT related problems of teachers at the schools.
Effect of the Addition of Humic Substances on Morphometric Analysis and Number of Goblet Cells in the Intestinal Mucosa of Broiler Chickens

Simple Summary During recent decades, researchers have investigated humic substances (HS) as a potential replacement for, or reduction in the use of, growth-promoting antibiotics (GPA) in chicken diets. Several mechanisms of action have been proposed to explain the improvements in productive and health responses observed in broiler chicks given HS, such as stabilizers of the intestinal flora, effects on the digestive system similar to acidifiers, and the creation of protective layers on the epithelial mucous membrane of the digestive tract, but none of these theories have been demonstrated. Whether HS affects the histology and number of goblet cells (GC) in the intestine of broilers kept under stable digestive conditions and under abrupt changes in diet was studied in this research. From 14 to 38 days, HS-fed broilers had a similar FCR to AGP-fed broilers, but there was no clear trend in the effect of HS on the morphometry of villi in broilers raised under stable digestive conditions and following abrupt dietary changes. Under stable digestive conditions and after experiencing sudden dietary changes, the number of GC in the jejunum of HS-fed broilers behaves closely to that of AGP-fed broilers. These findings may aid in explaining the mechanism of action of HS. Abstract The mechanisms of action of humic substances (HS) as growth promoters in poultry are unknown. In this study, the productive performance, histology, and number of goblet cells (GC) in the intestinal villi of broilers under steady-state digestive conditions and under abrupt changes in diet with the addition of HS was evaluated. Broilers housed individually were offered three treatments from 14–28 days: 1 = diet with white corn/soybean meal, without growth promoter antibiotics (nonGPA); 2 = with GPA (GPA); and 3 = with 0.3% HS. At day 28, two diets were suddenly introduced: (A) white corn/soybean meal plus dried distillers’ grains with solubles (DDGS); and (B) white/blue corn/soybean meal/DDGS, keeping the three original treatments. Diets A and B were also exchanged on day 37. FCR was lower with GPA and HS compared to nonGPA from 14–38 days (p < 0.05); at day 28, under steady-state digestive conditions, HS had a similar effect to GPA on the histology and GC number in the jejunum villi. The number of GC in the jejunum of HS-fed broilers on days 29 and 38, after diet changes, behaves similarly to that of AGP-fed broilers (p > 0.05). HS appears to strengthen the mucosal protection of the epithelium of the intestine.
Effects of a Digital Health Literacy Intervention on Porcine Cysticercosis Prevalence and Associated Household Practices in Iringa District, Tanzania

Digital health is considered an opportunity to engage a wider community in disease control for public health. It has been used in healthcare consultation, in medical treatments and in reporting emergencies. The current study developed digital health literacy content for public health education and assessed its effects on porcine cysticercosis prevalence, pig-keeping style and pig pen and latrine qualities. The intervention was designed and evaluated on the prevention and control of porcine cysticercosis in the Iringa District of southern Tanzania. A quasi-controlled field trial with pre-intervention and post-intervention assessments of porcine cysticercosis, pig-keeping style and pig pen and latrine qualities was conducted. A baseline cross-sectional study was followed immediately by digital health literacy intervention, which comprised educational messages on porcine cysticercosis shown on computer tablets or smartphones. Free internet access supported unsupervised community access. The 25-month post-intervention assessments revealed significantly increased pig confinement (20.1%) (p = 0.026) and pig pen quality (16.2%) (p = 0.025). However, the quality of household latrines (p = 0.453) was not improved, nor was there any significant effect on the prevalence of porcine cysticercosis (p = 0.231). The digital health literacy intervention suggests a strategy for wider and sustainable dissemination of educational messages for Taenia solium infection control.
Combining global and local approximations

A method based on a linear approximation to a scaling factor, designated the 'global-local approximation' (GLA) method, is presented and shown capable of extending the range of usefulness of derivative-based approximations to a more refined model. The GLA approach refines the conventional scaling factor by means of a linearly varying, rather than constant, scaling factor. The capabilities of the method are demonstrated for a simple beam example with a crude and more refined FEM model. 6 refs.
Mechanical and Biomimetic Characteristics of Bulk-Fill Resin Dental Composites Following Exposure in a Simulated Acidic Oral Environment

During the last 10 years, various companies have marketed different “bulk-fill” resin dental composites for the restoration of posterior stress-bearing teeth; however, the impact of acidic conditions on these relatively newer materials has not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, an attempt was made to evaluate the effect of acidic beverages on the mechanical biomimetic characteristics of four bulk-fill and one conventional nanohybrid resin-based dental composites (RBCs). The specimens of each RBC were stored in two acidic beverages namely ‘Orange Juice’ and ‘Coca-Cola’, whereas ‘dry’ and ‘distilled water’ storage of specimens served as controls. After 1 week of storage, flexural and surface hardness properties of specimens were determined using a universal testing machine and Vickers hardness tester, respectively. In general, the ‘Coca-Cola’ beverage caused the greatest degradation of flexural strength, flexural modulus, and surface hardness characteristics in all RBCs in contrast to the ‘dry’, ‘distilled water’ controls and ‘Orange Juice’ storage conditions. However, the overall mechanical biomimetic performance of nanohybrid RBCs was relatively better than all other bulk-fill RBCs and may, therefore, be considered a suitable candidate for the restoration of posterior stress-bearing permanent dentition.
Modelling disturbances in early sensory processing in schizophrenia

Recent results suggest that disturbances of information processing within the thalamo‐cortical circuit are central in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. We derive a mathematical model based on phase oscillators to describe the neural activity within the thalamo‐cortical loop and show that the results derived from the corresponding equations coincide with experimental data obtained by EEG measurements. It is an important advantage of the mathematically based approach that information concerning activities in deeply localized brain areas which are not directly accessible to measurements becomes available. The mathematical model describes differences between healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia by various states of phase locking between different brain areas involved (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
PROPERTIES OF A CORONAL HOLE DERIVED FROM EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET OBSERVATIONS.

A description is given of the results of an analysis of EUV observations of a large coronal hole observed by the Harvard College Observatory (HCO) experiment on OSO-4 in 1967, November. Models were constructed for the chromospheric-coronal transition and coronal layers of the two types of regions. A comparison of the model of the hole and the normal quiet sun indicates that the electron pressure in the hole is reduced by a factor of three and the coronal temperature is lower by 600,000 K.
Effect of Piperine on Saltiness Perception

Chemical irritants, like piperine, have the potential to increase human perception of tastes and odours, including saltiness. This cross-modal interaction could help the food industry develop new salt-reduced food products that maintain their salty taste. The objective of this study was: firstly, to determine the detection threshold of piperine (n = 72), secondly to evaluate piperine’s influence on saltiness perception in model solutions (n = 78), and lastly to identify piperine’s effect on sensory perception of low sodium soup using temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA; n = 75). The group mean of the individual threshold was 0.55 ± 0.15 ppm. Piperine increased the saltiness perception of the model solutions, but it also increased the bitterness and decreased the sweetness of the solutions. The piperine significantly increased the saltiness intensity of the soups (evaluated using a generalized labelled magnitude), but during the TCATA task, the salty attribute was selected less for the soup with piperine than the control (based on the average proportion of selection). The TCATA indicated that the peppery attribute dominated the participants’ perception of the soup with piperine. More studies are needed to assess piperine’s cross-modal interactions.
EXAMPLES OF USING BINARY CANTOR SETS TO STUDY THE CONNECTIVITY OF SIERPIŃSKI RELATIVES

The Sierpinski relatives form a class of fractals that all have the same fractal dimension, but different topologies. This class includes the well-known Sierpinski gasket. Some relatives are totally disconnected, some are disconnected but with paths, some are simply-connected, and some are multiply-connected. This paper presents examples of relatives for which binary Cantor sets are relevant for the connectivity. These Cantor sets are variations of the usual middle thirds Cantor set, and their binary descriptions greatly aid in the determination of the connectivity of the corresponding relatives.