SIRIS-Lab/unlabelled-sti-corpus huggingface dataset:
A kinetic study of the cytokine/chemokines levels and disruption of blood-brain barrier in infant rats after pneumococcal meningitis

Bacterial meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges and subarachnoid space that occurs in response of bacteria. Young children are particularly vulnerable to bacterial meningitis, two thirds of meningitis deaths in low-income countries occur among children under the age of fifteen. The main bacterial pathogens causing meningitis beyond the neonatal period are Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenza type b and Neisseria meningitidis. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the kinetic and the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10 and CINC-1 in different brain regions as well as the blood-brain barrier permeability after meningitis induced by S. pneumoniae in infant Wistar rats. The animals underwent a magna cistern tap receiving either 10μL sterile saline as a placebo or an equivalent volume of a S. pneumoniae suspension at the concentration 1×10(6)CFU/mL. The animals were killed at different times after induction. The brain was removed and the hippocampus and the cortex were isolated and used for the determination of cytokine/chemokine levels and blood-brain barrier permeability. The cerebrospinal fluid was obtained by puncture of the cisterna magna to TNF-α and IL-1β analysis. In the hippocampus, the CINC-1 and IL-1β levels were found increased at 6h, 12h and 24h after pneumococcal meningitis induction. In the cortex the levels of the CINC-1 were increased at 6h, 12h and 24h. The IL-1β and TNF-α were increased at 12h and 24h. The level of IL-6 was increased only after 24h after pneumococcal meningitis induction. In cerebrospinal fluid, the TNF-α was increased at 12h, 24h and IL-1 was increased at 24h after S. pneumoniae induction. The blood-brain barrier breakdown in hippocampus and cortex were observed at 12h until 24h during meningitis. In conclusion, a peak of pro-inflammatory cytokine/chemokine is associated with disruption of the blood-brain barrier in infants with pneumococcal meningitis.
Mediterranean Integrated System for Water Supply

There is a big pressure on the use of aquifers in the Mediterranean region for irrigation and desalination of water is still a costly and energy-demanding process. MEDISS addresses the issue of improving the quality of saline groundwater present in the Mediterranean area opening alternative irrigation for higher quality and more diversified cultivations (dates, citrus, etc.). According to the features and specific needs of the partner areas - Palestine (Jordan Valley), Jordan (Aqaba Governorate), Italy (Olbia) and Tunisia (Gabès) - MEDISS will test innovative solutions in the use of treated wastewater and desalination of brackish water. Specific awareness initiatives for end-users will challenge their reluctance toward non-conventional water resources (NCWR) and train them on Best Agricultural Practices. On the longer term, the project will contribute to reducing stress on freshwater, as well as costs for water supply. At the same time, higher productivity and diversification of crops will increase food security and income for farmers. Local communities and institutions will be empowered, contributing to behavioural change on the use of NCW and on environmentally and economically sustainable development.
DNA Retention Policies: The Potential Contribution of Criminal Career Research

The S &amp; Marper judgment of the European Court of Human Rights held that the DNA samples of individuals arrested but subsequently cleared should be discarded from the national DNA database. Though the authors are sympathetic to the privacy concerns associated with DNA retention policies, the present paper contends that the concepts and methods of criminal career research should be brought to bear on the retention issue. A worked example showing how this might be carried out for convicted offenders is provided using data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, a prospective longitudinal follow-up of 411 working-class London males. The analyses illustrate the potential for crime detection after hypothetical years of DNA retention, in relation to age of onset and offence type. Findings suggest that the selective deletion of the DNA profiles of younger offenders may be particularly detrimental for subsequent detection rates, and that the seriousness of the offence at first contact may not be an accurate criterion in the decision to delete or retain DNA information. The study also highlights some of the advantages and problems associated with DNA retention policies.
Book Review by Etienne de Klerk “An Introduction to Polynomial and Semi-Algebraic Optimization” by Jean-Bernard Lasserre, Cambridge University Press, 2015.

It is no exaggeration to say that Jean-Bernard Lasserre has revolutionized the field of polynomial global optimization in the last 15 years. He was awarded the Lagrange Prize for the first, seminal paper (Lasserre, 2001) where his new semidefinite programming-based approach was introduced, and most recently the INFORMS Optimization Society Khachiyan Prize for his collected works. As the title suggests, this new book by Lasserre is aimed at a fairly general audience, and it is remarkable to note that almost all the content dates from this century. There is some overlap with the author's earlier book (Lasserre, 2010), but the new volume has a narrower scope and is written at a more introductory level. For example, the new book includes exercises and a software (Gloptipoly) guide, and as such is suitable for a graduate course on polynomial optimization.
Hierarchical fusion of features and classifier decisions for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis

Pattern classification methods have been widely investigated for analysis of brain images to assist the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its early stage such as mild cognitive impairment (MCI). By considering the nature of pathological changes, a large number of features related to both local brain regions and interbrain regions can be extracted for classification. However, it is challenging to design a single global classifier to integrate all these features for effective classification, due to the issue of small sample size. To this end, we propose a hierarchical ensemble classification method to combine multilevel classifiers by gradually integrating a large number of features from both local brain regions and interbrain regions. Thus, the large-scale classification problem can be divided into a set of small-scale and easier-to-solve problems in a bottom-up and local-to-global fashion, for more accurate classification. To demonstrate its performance, we use the spatially normalized grey matter (GM) of each MR brain image as imaging features. Specifically, we first partition the whole brain image into a number of local brain regions and, for each brain region, we build two low-level classifiers to transform local imaging features and the inter-region correlations into high-level features. Then, we generate multiple high-level classifiers, with each evaluating the high-level features from the respective brain regions. Finally, we combine the outputs of all high-level classifiers for making a final classification. Our method has been evaluated using the baseline MR images of 652 subjects (including 198 AD patients, 225 MCI patients, and 229 normal controls (NC)) from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database. The experimental results show that our classification method can achieve the accuracies of 92.0% and 85.3% for classifications of AD versus NC and MCI versus NC, respectively, demonstrating very promising classification performance compared to the state-of-the-art classification methods.
A resonance-mode piezoelectric device for measurement of respiratory mechanics

This paper presents the design of a novel oscillometry device for the measurement of respiratory mechanics based on piezoelectric bimorph actuator technology. To predict performance for measurement of human respiratory mechanics, a dynamic model was developed based on a bimorph piezoelectric actuator driving a linear resistance mesh screen including subject’s respiratory impedance loads, and realistic breathing noise. Model performance was also validated in a prototype device. We found that while breathing noise substantially lowered SNR, the model could produce sufficient pressure and flow for acceptable SNRs exceeding 35 dB, and accuracies exceeding 99%. Satisfactory accuracy could be achieved with load impedance errors less than 3%. Maintaining the air-gap around the oscillating mesh with a resistance against the leak greater than 0.38 cmH2O/L/s maintained good performance, with an acceptable 4 dB decrease to SNR. Moreover, this work provides multiple solutions to host higher amounts of noise and nonlinearities. These results indicate that the development of an accurate lightweight portable single frequency FOT device is feasible.
Biotrickling filtration of VOC emissions from pharmaceutical industries

► Performance of biotrickling filter treating a mixture of VOCs was evaluated. ► Methanol, ethanol, acetone and toluene were the pollutants studied. ► Effects of ILR and EBRT on EC and removal efficiency were evaluated. ► EC (100%) was achieved for ILRs of 320 g/m 3 /h and 240 g/m 3 /h for single and mixed pollutants respectively. ► Toluene was the most resistant compound to degrade. In this study, the performance of a biotrickling filter (BTF) treating complex mixtures of VOCs from pharmaceutical industries was evaluated. Effects of inlet loading rate (ILR) and empty bed residence time (EBRT) on elimination capacity (EC) and removal efficiency (RE) were evaluated. Methanol, ethanol, acetone and toluene were taken as model pollutants. The net inlet concentration was varied from 1 to 4 g/m 3 to achieve an ILR variation from 52 to 419 g/m 3 /h, while the EBRT was varied from 25 to 69 s. The BTF was able to completely degrade the VOCs up to an ILR of 240 g/m 3 /h, while treating mixed pollutants. On the other hand, 100% RE was achieved for ILRs up to 320 g/m 3 /h in case of single pollutants and the corresponding maximum elimination capacity (EC max ) for ethanol and acetone was 380 g/m 3 /h. However, the EC max was only 320 g/m 3 /h for the BTF treating mixed pollutants. Competitive interactions between different pollutants resulted in significantly lower EC max for individual pollutants in a mixed pollutant system than those in a single pollutant system. Toluene was the most resistant to degradation, followed by acetone, among the four pollutants studied. It was found that much of the degradation of ethanol and methanol occurred in the first 30 cm of BTF. It was also observed that the ILR and nature of the pollutants significantly affected the RE achieved at different EBRTs. Results from this study help in selecting the operational parameters for optimal performance of a BTF treating complex mixtures of VOCs emitted from pharmaceutical industries.
Personalized Radiotherapy Planning Based on a Computational Tumor Growth Model

In this article, we propose a proof of concept for the automatic planning of personalized radiotherapy for brain tumors. A computational model of glioblastoma growth is combined with an exponential cell survival model to describe the effect of radiotherapy. The model is personalized to the magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of a given patient. It takes into account the uncertainty in the model parameters, together with the uncertainty in the MRI segmentations. The computed probability distribution over tumor cell densities, together with the cell survival model, is used to define the prescription dose distribution, which is the basis for subsequent Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) planning. Depending on the clinical data available, we compare three different scenarios to personalize the model. First, we consider a single MRI acquisition before therapy, as it would usually be the case in clinical routine. Second, we use two MRI acquisitions at two distinct time points in order to personalize the model and plan radiotherapy. Third, we include the uncertainty in the segmentation process. We present the application of our approach on two patients diagnosed with high grade glioma. We introduce two methods to derive the radiotherapy prescription dose distribution, which are based on minimizing integral tumor cell survival using the maximum a posteriori or the expected tumor cell density. We show how our method allows the user to compute a patient specific radiotherapy planning conformal to the tumor infiltration. We further present extensions of the method in order to spare adjacent organs at risk by re-distributing the dose. The presented approach and its proof of concept may help in the future to better target the tumor and spare organs at risk.
Medicare Part D's Exclusion of Benzodiazepines and Fracture Risk in Nursing Homes

Medicare Part D excludes benzodiazepine medications from coverage, and some state Medicaid programs also limit coverage. We assessed whether such policies decrease the risk of fractures in elderly individuals living in nursing homes.This is a quasi-experimental study with interrupted time-series estimation and extended Cox proportional hazards models comparing changes in outcomes before and after implementation of Medicare Part D in a nationwide sample of nursing home residents in 48 states. The study included 1 068 104 residents and a subsample of 50 874 residents with fracture data from 1 pharmacy. We assessed monthly prescribing rates of benzodiazepines and potential substitutes from January 1, 2005, through June 30, 2007, and hazard ratios for incident hip fracture and falls, adjusted for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Estimates were stratified by concurrent Medicaid limits on benzodiazepines: no supplemental coverage (1 state), partial supplemental coverage (6 states), or complete supplemental coverage (41 states).The no-supplemental-coverage policy resulted in an immediate and significant reduction of 10 absolute points in benzodiazepine use (27.0% to 17.0%) after Medicare Part D was implemented (95% confidence interval, -0.11 to -0.09; P < .001). Benzodiazepine use remained stable in the partial-supplemental- and complete-supplemental-coverage states. Hazard ratios for incident hip fracture were 1.60 (95% confidence interval, 1.05 to 2.45; P = .03) in the no-supplemental-coverage state after Medicare Part D implementation and 1.17 (95% confidence interval, 0.93 to 1.46; P = .18) in the partial-supplemental-coverage states, relative to complete-supplemental-coverage states.Supplemental drug coverage exclusion policies affect the medication use of nursing home residents and may not decrease their fracture risk.
SURFACE MATERIAL FOR LINING INTERIOR SPACES

The invention relates to a surface material (10) for lining interior spaces, in particular a floor or wall covering in public transport, which comprises at least one layer that is formed from a knitted spacer fabric or an interlaced spacer fabric (11), wherein the topmost layer is in the form of a knitted spacer fabric or an interlaced spacer fabric.
Solute carrier proteins as the gates managing chemical access to cells

Chemical exchange between cells and their environment occurs at cellular membranes, the interface where biology meets chemistry. Studying mechanisms of drug resistance, I realized that SoLute Carrier proteins (SLCs), not only represent the major class of small molecule transporters, but that they are encoded by one of the most neglected group of human genes. I identified a case where an SLC controls the activity of mTOR, suggesting that other SLCs may be involved in signalling. This formed the basis for the GameofGates project proposal. The name refers to SLCs as a metaphor for cellular gates coordinating access to resources following game rules that are largely unknown but worth learning, as the acquired knowledge could impact our understanding of cellular physiology and open avenues for innovative treatment of human diseases.
GameofGates (GoG) plans the investigation of SLC function by comprehensively and deeply charting the genetic and protein interaction landscape of SLCs in a human cell line, while monitoring fitness, drug sensitivity and metabolic state. GoG aims at functionally de-orphanize many SLCs by assessing hundreds of thousands of genetic interactions as well as thousands protein and drug interactions. I hypothesize that SLC action is linked to signalling pathways and plays an important role in integration of metabolism and cell regulation for successful homeostasis. I propose that whole circuits of SLCs may be linked to particular nutrient auxotrophy states and that knowledge of these dependencies could instruct assessment of vulnerabilities in cancer cells. In turn, these could be pharmacologically exploited using existing or future drugs. Overall, GoG should position enough pieces into functional and regulatory networks in the SLC puzzle game to facilitate future work and motivate the community to embrace investigation of SLCs as conveyers of metabolic and chemical integration of cell biology with physiology and, in a wider scope, ecology.
Maximizing Lifetime of Target Coverage in Wireless Sensor Networks Using Learning Automata

In wireless sensor networks, when each target is covered by multiple sensors, we can schedule sensor nodes to monitor deployed targets in order to improve lifetime of network. In this paper, we propose an efficient scheduling method based on learning automata, in which each node is equipped with a learning automaton, which helps the node to select its proper state (active or sleep), at any given time. To study the performance of the proposed method, computer simulations are conducted. Results of these simulations show that the proposed scheduling method can better prolong the lifetime of the network in comparison to similar existing methods.
Intelligent Miner Grouping Strategy

Safety is the key to the development of coal industry.Safety is the biggest obstacle of the coal industry's development.Nowadays the society a highly developed information technology.Scientific supervision to promote security has become the only way which must be passed to the development of coal industry.Miners down packet rationality for safe and efficient production has very important influence,and the most important thing is safety.This paper tries to combine the miners' personal characteristics,with some algorithms from the more scientific and intelligent point of view for the underground miners group,in order to achieve a better safety effect,for mining operation intelligent management provides new theoretical basis.
MRI-PDFF as a New Paradigm in the Longitudinal Follow-up of Patients with Liver Steatosis

Background: Hepatic steatosis linked to metabolic syndrome (MS) can lead to liver fibrosis, decompensation of liver cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma (HCC).However, the focus of attention is usually on accessing hepatic fibrosis rather than accessing inflammation, when it would be more possible to intervene and minimize consequences.Objective: Put into perspectives the current new concepts in liver steatosis and diagnose image methods for steatosis with liver Ultrasound (US), computerized tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Magnetic resonance imaging-derived proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) and other noninvasive marks of liver fibrosis and steatosis and the relationship of improvement in liver steatosis inflammation.Design: Review of recent medical literature about the new concepts in Metabolic Association Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD), new noninvasive diagnostic features for Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and the impact of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) trials in access the improvement in liver steatosis and the correlation with improvement in histologic liver inflammation.Salient Features: There is a correlation between improvement in liver steatosis accessed by MRI-PDFF and improvement in liver histologic NASH.Conclusions: MRI-PDFF has established itself as a reliable standard for longitudinally assessing hepatic steatosis, as it is accurate, non-invasive and because variation in fat percentage correlates with NASH resolution and hepatocyte ballooning, being a new paradigm to predict response in NASH trials.Furthermore, a focus on resolving inflammation is likely to be associated with better outcomes in NAFLD and MAFLD.
VENTILATION DEVICE, ESPECIALLY FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE ALTERNATOR

The invention relates to a ventilation device which is adapted to be fixed to a rotor of a rotating electrical machine and comprises a first ventilator (62a) provided with a flange (64a), at least one second ventilator (62b) provided with a flange (64b), and means for fixing the two ventilators (62a,62b). The external periphery of each ventilator (62a, 62b) respectively comprises radially outwardly extending first limbs (78a) and second limbs (78b), at least some of the limbs comprising a blade (68a,68b), and at least one first limb (78a) and at least one second limb (78b) comprising a first (78a) and a second (78b) mutual covering part for forming a covering region (Z) on which at least part of the fixing means (80, 82) is arranged.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT APPARATUS AND METHOD

A single pass continuous process for the treatment of wastewater, the process comprising the stepsof:introducing a wastewater stream at a first flow rate;introducing ozone gas into at least a portion of the wastewater 5 stream;illuminating the wastewater stream with UV light;passing the wastewater stream over a photocatalyst; anddischarging the wastewater stream at a second flow rate into the environment.
Symbol for a City

Compared to a butterfly, Shenyang, China's Sanhao Bridge serves as a new landmark for a city transforming itself. Despite its eye catching design, Sanhao Bridge's real innovation is its efficient load carrying system, which combines girder and cable-stayed bridge capacities. The bridge, one of nine spanning the Hwun River, has a total of six lanes, with paths for pedestrians and bicycles on either side of the deck. Bridge planning and design are discussed by the author, and include challenges such as assembling the tower, whose leaves were prefabricated in sections, as well as employing a concrete girder without significantly increasing tower cost.
Erweiterung und Erhöhung der installierten Kapazität

AEF Meubles, um die Bedürfnisse der Märkte zu überwachen und zu erfüllen, wird seine installierte Kapazität erhöhen, neue Technologien einführen, die Flexibilität und Diversifizierung der Lösungen für seine Kunden erhöhen, in Nischenmärkte und Mehrwertprodukte investieren.
DRIVE UNIT FOR CONVEYORS, IN PARTICULAR FOR A CAPSTAN SYSTEM

The invention relates to a drive unit for conveyors, in particular for a capstan system having a driving motor, a hydrodynamic clutch (2) composed of a pump wheel and a turbine wheel which together form a work room which can be filled with operating material; the hydrodynamic clutch (2) can be at least indirectly coupled to a primary shaft of the conveyors. The invention has the following characteristics: the operating material supply system comprises a closed circuit (1) containing a bypass circuit (11), inside which is a receptacle (13) containing the operating material, said receptacle being installed above the clutch (2).