Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
VITAMIN A AND CAROTENE. I. THE DETERMINATION OF VITAMIN A IN THE BLOOD AND LIVER AS AN INDEX OF VITAMIN A NUTRITION OF THE RAT.

Considerable interest has been evidenced during the past few years in the attempt to correlate the blood vitamin A content of the human under various conditions with the nutritional status of the body (1 to 6). In these studies, normal ranges were determined by estimation of the blood vitamin A for a large number of healthy subjects. In some instances (1, 4), human subjects were placed on vitamin A-deficient diets and the blood levels were followed over periods of two to six months. It was not possible to give diets entirely deficient in vitamin A, or to continue the diets for sufficient lengths of time to reach critically low vitamin A levels. Because human subjects were used, it was also impossible to correlate the blood values with the liver stores. The present study, using the rat as the experimental animal, was designed to aid in the interpretation of data obtained on human subjects. Blood and liver vitamin A concentrations were determined on rats during the course of depletion and while they were fed definite quantities of vitamin A.
Equation of state of dense matter and the minimum mass of cold neutron stars

Equilibrium congurations of cold neutron stars near the minimum mass are studied, using the recent equation of state SLy, which describes in a unied, physically consistent manner, both the solid crust and the liquid core of neutron stars. Results are compared with those obtained using an older FPS equation of state of cold catalyzed matter. The value of Mmin' 0:09 M depends very weakly on the equation of state of cold catalyzed matter: it is 0:094 M for the SLy model, and 0:088 M for the FPS one. Central density at Mmin is signicantly lower than the normal nuclear density: for the SLy equation of state we get central density 1:710 14 gc m 3 ,t o be compared with 2:310 14 gc m 3 obtained for the FPS one. Even atMmin, neutron stars have a small liquid core of radius of about 4 km, containing some 2{3% of the stellar mass. Neutron stars with 0:09 M <M <0:17 M are bound with respect to dispersed conguration of the hydrogen gas, but are unbound with respect to dispersed 56 Fe. The eect of uniform rotation on the minimum-mass conguration of cold neutron stars is studied. Rotation increases the value of Mmin; at rotation period of 10 ms the minimum mass of neutron stars increases to 0:13 M, and corresponds to the mass-shedding (Keplerian) conguration. In the case of the shortest observed rotation period of radio pulsars 1.56 ms, minimum mass of uniformly rotating cold neutron stars corresponds to the mass-shedding limit, and is found at 0:61 M for the SLy EOS and 0:54 M for the FPS EOS.
Controller verification in adaptive learning systems towards trusted autonomy

With the increasing levels of adaptation and autonomy in complex cyber-physical systems (CPS), the traditional notion that such systems can be fully tested and validated offline is becoming an impossible task. It is virtually impossible to analyze or test ahead of time all the possible parameter values resulting from the uncertainty in system operational and environmental conditions. This paper considers the problem of online controller verification in a class of first-order nonlinear uncertain systems incorporating neural network based learning algorithms. Based on several critical assumptions, an on-line neural network model is employed to ensure robustness and fault-tolerance to certain modeling uncertainty and physical faults under consideration. However, these assumptions may be violated in the presence of software faults or unanticipated physical faults in the closed-loop system, leading to unstable learning behaviors and controller malfunctions. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, a online controller verification scheme is developed to detect such unstable learning behaviors by continuously monitoring the decrease of Lyapunov functions. Adaptive thresholds for detecting malfunctions of the adaptive learning controller are derived, ensuring the robustness with respect to modeling uncertainty and neural network approximation error. Additionally, the detectability conditions are investigated, characterizing the class of detectable software faults and unanticipated hardware faults. An upper bound on the detection time of controller malfunction is also derived. Some simulation results using a two-tank system are shown to illustrate the effectiveness of the controller verification method.
Algebraic Signal Processing Theory: Cooley–Tukey Type Algorithms for DCTs and DSTs

This paper presents a systematic methodology to derive and classify fast algorithms for linear transforms. The approach is based on the algebraic signal processing theory. This means that the algorithms are not derived by manipulating the entries of transform matrices, but by a stepwise decomposition of the associated signal models, or polynomial algebras. This decomposition is based on two generic methods or algebraic principles that generalize the well-known Cooley-Tukey fast Fourier transform (FFT) and make the algorithms' derivations concise and transparent. Application to the 16 discrete cosine and sine transforms yields a large class of fast general radix algorithms, many of which have not been found before.
Increased α-Defensins 1-3 Production by Dendritic Cells in HIV-Infected Individuals Is Associated with Slower Disease Progression

Background Defensins are natural endogenous antimicrobial peptides with potent anti-HIV activity and immuno-modulatory effects. We recently demonstrated that immature dendritic cells (DC) produce α-defensins1-3 and that α-defensins1-3 modulate DC generation and maturation. Since DC-HIV interaction plays a critical role during the first steps of HIV infection, we investigated the possible impact of α-defensins1-3 production by DC on disease progression. Methodology/Principal Findings Monocyte-derived DC (MDDC) were analyzed comparatively in healthy controls (HC) and HIV-infected patients, including untreated “elite” and “viremic” controllers, untreated viremic non-controllers and antiretroviral-treated patients. We found that production of α-defensins1-3 was significantly increased in MDDC from HIV-infected patients versus HC, and this increase was mainly due to that observed in controllers, while in non-controllers the increase was not statistically significant (controllers vs. HC, p<0.005; controllers vs. non-controllers p<0.05). Secreted α-defensins1-3 by immature MDDC positively correlated with CD4 T cell counts in controllers, but not in non-controllers. Moreover, independently of their clinical classification, HIV-infected patients with higher α-defensins1-3 secretion by immature MDDC showed slower disease progression, measured as no decrease in the number of CD4+ T-cells below 350 cell/mm3, lower increase of plasma viral load and no initiation of treatment over time. Plasma alpha-defensins1-3 levels lacked any relationship with immunologic and virologic parameters. Conclusions/Significance High production of α-defensins1-3 by immature DCs appears as a host protective factor against progression of HIV-1infection, suggesting potential diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive implications. This protective effect may arise from the activity of α-defensins1-3 to damage the virions prior and/or after their internalization by immature DC, and hence favoring a more efficient viral processing and presentation to HIV-specific CD4+ T cells, without or with a minor rate of transmission of infectious HIV-1 virions.
Commissioning Results of Superconducting Magnet System for the Neutrino Beam Line

The first commissioning of a magnet system for the neutrino beam line in the J-PARC has been performed from January to March, 2009. The magnet system could be cooled down successfully in 9 days. RRRs of all the magnets and joint resistances in the magnet string were measured to be reasonable values. The magnet string composed of 28 superconducting combined function magnets could be excited up to 5000 A after several shutdown tests without a spontaneous quench. A quench protection scheme with a magnet safety system developed by CEA/SACLAY were verified to work properly. As for beam commissioning, the proton beams could pass through the arc section including the superconducting magnet string on the first attempt, and the magnet protection system were verified to work quite well even in a beam induced quench test.
Does Intellectual Property Protection Spur Technological Change?

Of the diverse factors motivating technological change, one factor that has received increasing attention in the recent past has been the protection of intellectual property rights. Given fairly recent changes in the international policy ethos where a regime of stronger intellectual property protection has become a fait accompli for most developing countries, it is of some significance to ask whether more stringent protection of intellectual property does indeed encourage innovation. And this is the question which this paper examines, utilising cross-country panel data on R&D investment, patent protection and other country-specific characteristics spanning the period 1981-1990. The evidence unambiguously indicates the significance of intellectual property rights as incentives for spurring innovation.
Diffusion tensor fiber tracking of human brain connectivity: aquisition methods, reliability analysis and biological results

We present a description, biological results and a reliability analysis for the method of diffusion tensor tracking (DTT) of white matter fiber pathways. In DTT, diffusion‐tensor MRI (DT‐MRI) data are collected and processed to visualize the line trajectories of fiber bundles within white matter (WM) pathways of living humans. A detailed description of the data acquisition is given. Technical aspects and experimental results are illustrated for the geniculo‐calcarine tract with broad projections to visual cortex, occipital and parietal U‐fibers, and the temporo‐calcarine ventral pathway. To better understand sources of error and to optimize the method, accuracy and precision were analyzed by computer simulations. In the simulations, noisy DT‐MRI data were computed that would be obtained for a WM pathway having a helical trajectory passing through gray matter. The error vector between the real and ideal track was computed, and random errors accumulated with the square root of track length consistent with a random‐walk process. Random error was most dependent on signal‐to‐noise ratio, followed by number of averages, pathway anisotropy and voxel size, in decreasing order. Systematic error only occurred for a few conditions, and was most dependent on the stepping algorithm, anisotropy of the surrounding tissue, and non‐equal voxel dimensions. Both random and systematic errors were typically below the voxel dimension. Other effects such as track rebound and track recovery also depended on experimental conditions. The methods, biological results and error analysis herein may improve the understanding and optimization of DTT for use in various applications in neuroscience and medicine. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Heterotic string theory on non‐Kähler manifolds with H‐flux and Gaugino condensate

We discuss compactifications of heterotic string theory to four dimensions in the presence of H–fluxes, which deform the geometry of the internal manifold, and a gaugino condensate which breaks supersymmetry. We focus on the compensation of the two effects in order to obtain vacua with zero cosmological constant and we comment on the effective superpotential describing these vacua.
The naturally occurring α-tocopherol stereoisomer RRR-α-tocopherol is predominant in the human infant brain

Abstract α-Tocopherol is the principal source of vitamin E, an essential nutrient that plays a crucial role in maintaining healthy brain function. Infant formula is routinely supplemented with synthetic α-tocopherol, a racaemic mixture of eight stereoisomers with less bioactivity than the natural stereoisomer RRR-α-tocopherol. α-Tocopherol stereoisomer profiles have not been previously reported in the human brain. In the present study, we analysed total α-tocopherol and α-tocopherol stereoisomers in the frontal cortex (FC), hippocampus (HPC) and visual cortex (VC) of infants (n 36) who died of sudden infant death syndrome or other conditions. RRR-α-tocopherol was the predominant stereoisomer in all brain regions (P<0·0001) and samples, despite a large intra-decedent range in total α-tocopherol (5–17 μg/g). Mean RRR-α-tocopherol concentrations in FC, HPC and VC were 10·5, 6·8 and 5·5 μg/g, respectively. In contrast, mean levels of the synthetic stereoisomers were RRS, 1–1·5; RSR, 0·8–1·0; RSS, 0·7–0·9; and Σ2S 0·2–0·3 μg/g. Samples from all but two decedents contained measurable levels of the synthetic stereoisomers, but the intra-decedent variation was large. The ratio of RRR:the sum of the synthetic 2R stereoisomers (RRS+RSR+RSS) averaged 2·5, 2·3 and 2·4 in FC, HPC and VC, respectively, and ranged from 1 to at least 4·7, indicating that infant brain discriminates against synthetic 2R stereoisomers in favour of RRR. These findings reveal that RRR-α-tocopherol is the predominant stereoisomer in infant brain. These data also indicate that the infant brain discriminates against the synthetic 2R stereoisomers, but is unable to do so completely. On the basis of these findings, investigation into the impact of α-tocopherol stereoisomers on neurodevelopment is warranted.
Role of norovirus in acute gastroenteritis in the Northwest of Spain during 2010–2011

A total of 2,643 samples from patients with gastroenteritis in Galicia (NW Spain) were tested for the presence of Norovirus (NoV). NoV genogroup GI was detected in 416 (15.7%) samples, while NoV genogroup GII was detected in 278 (10.5%) samples. Mixed infections of NoV GI and GII were observed in 53 (2%) samples. Total prevalence of NoV in the analyzed samples was 28.3%. Besides NoV diagnosis assay, all the specimens were also submitted to routine clinical bacteriology tests. Cryptosporidium spp. as well as adenovirus (AdV) and rotavirus (RV) were determined on some samples after specific request by hospital units. The results obtained allowed to determine the disease etiology in 14.4% of the patients. Taking into account all the microorganisms studied, the etiological agent was determined for 39.5% of the cases. The results indicated that NoVs are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in all age‐groups in Northwestern Spain, and that the lack of routine NoV diagnosis contributes to the underestimation of the importance of this virus, not only in outbreaks, but also in sporadic cases of acute gastroenteritis. J Med. Virol. 85:2009–2015, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Interference Alignment Cancellation in Compounded MIMO Broadcast Channels With General Message Sets

This paper proposes an alignment based interference cancellation scheme for a multi-cell network with multiple-input multiple-output users under a Gaussian Interference compounded broadcast channel scenario. The basic idea is to split up the role of the transmit beamforming matrix according to the type of interference caused by each base station. It will be shown that, for a network of L base stations, the proposed method would result in achieving (L - 1) degrees of freedom per user and convert the multi-cell multi-user MIMO channel into a set of single-cell single-user MIMO channels. Finally, we derive the relationship between all the relevant network elements as Nt = (L - ds + 1)K'Nr + 1, where Nt and Nr are the numbers of transmit and receive antennas, respectively, L and ds denote the number of cells and the number of data streams transmitted from each base station, and K' is the number of users per cell defined under the proposed system model. Hence, we show that the proposed scheme makes it possible to implement interference alignment using less antenna resources.
Gain enhancement of SIW-integrated patch antenna for emerging millimeter wave systems

This paper presents a novel design to enhance the gain of the substrate integrated waveguide (SIW)-integrated microstrip patch antenna. An SIW air-filled cavity is created under the patch, which is excited by a narrow slot. The simulated results for reflection coefficient, gain and radiation pattern are presented. The antenna shows a 5 dB gain enhancement over the operating frequency band 54.9-64 GHz.
Thermophysical Behavior of Aqueous Blends of Piperazine and Potassium Carbonate as Carbon Dioxide Capture Solvent

This project concerns the thermophysical behavior of aqueous blends of Piperazine (PZ) and Potassium Carbonate as carbon dioxide, capture solvent. The blends of amine solution has the potential to increase the rate of absorption of . The objectives of this project are: (1) to find out the physical properties of PZ to activate potassium carbonate solution in water; (2) to study the effect of temperature change on the physical properties of PZ, potassium carbonate and blends of PZ and potassium carbonate solutions; (3) to study the effect of concentration change on the physical properties of the blends of amines and (5) compare the result with conventional solvent. The scope of study of this project covers the refractive index surface tension for the physical properties of the chemicals solution and also the effect of temperature change and concentration change on the amines. Different set of concentration of PZ and potassium carbonate will be prepared for the blends solution. This experimental based project also will be conducted on the different set of temperatures. Each of potassium carbonate solution will be blended with five different set of percentage (wt%) of PZ and water during the experiment. This experiment will be conducted at different temperatures which are from 293.15K to 323.15K. The result of the experiment will be the refractive index and surface tension for each blends solution. When the data is obtained, further analysis and appropriate discussion will be explained.
Estimating the Fuel Efficiency Technology Potential of Heavy-Duty Trucks in Major Markets Around the World

road freight vehicles is increasingly important to mitigate the resulting climate impacts. GFEI Working Paper 14 investigates the potential for more efficient freight-hauling tractor-trailers and rigid delivery trucks using known efficiency technologies. It does this by developing a baseline tractor-trailer and a representative rigid delivery truck for the 2015 EU, US, Brazil, India, and China fleets. These two truck categories account for the vast majority of road freight oil use and climate emissions. The baseline fuel consumption is determined over regionspecific duty cycles and payloads.
On Investment-Consumption with Regime-Switching

In a continuous time stochastic economy, this paper considers the problem of consumption and investment in a financial market in which the representative investor exhibits a change in the discount rate. The investment opportunities are a stock and a riskless account. The market coefficients and discount factor switches according to a finite state Markov chain. The change in the discount rate leads to time inconsistencies of the investor's decisions. The randomness in our model is driven by a Brownian motion and Markov chain. Following Ekeland etc (2008) we introduce and characterize the equilibrium policies for power utility functions. Moreover, they are computed in closed form for logarithmic utility function. We show that a higher discount rate leads to a higher equilibrium consumption rate. Numerical experiments show the effect of both time preference and risk aversion on the equilibrium policies.
Contribution of stratospheric ozone to the interannual variability of tropospheric ozone in the northern extratropics

[1] We examined the role of variability in the input of stratospheric ozone on the interannual variability of tropospheric ozone in the northern extratropics using correlations of monthly ozone anomalies for the lower stratosphere and the troposphere. We used output from a multiyear simulation of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) Chemistry and Transport Model (CTM), and evaluated model results using ozonesonde data. The GSFC CTM explicitly calculates stratospheric ozone and simulates separate tracers of stratospheric and tropospheric ozone (O3-strat and O3-trop, respectively). The climatological seasonal cycle of ozone shows that O3-strat contributes significantly to the spring maximum of ozone at 500 hPa, ∼40% at high latitudes and ∼30% at midlatitudes. We find large regional differences in the correlation of ozone in the lower stratosphere and troposphere in the model that are supported by the ozonesonde data. Highest correlations are found from the eastern Atlantic to Europe, from the eastern Pacific to the western United States, and over the polar regions, in winter-spring. This spatial pattern is due to the input of O3-strat into the troposphere. The distribution and time lag of the correlations (highest with no lag for midlatitudes and a 1–2 month lag for polar regions) are consistent with the dynamical indicators of stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE), such as storm tracks in the midlatitudes and slow descending motion in the polar region. Our simple approach can be widely applied to diagnose the effect of STE on tropospheric ozone.
Pneumococcal Virulence Gene Expression and Host Cytokine Profiles during Pathogenesis of Invasive Disease

ABSTRACT Pneumococcal disease continues to account for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. For the development of novel prophylactic and therapeutic strategies against the disease spectrum, a complete understanding of pneumococcal behavior in vivo is necessary. We evaluated the expression patterns of the proven and putative virulence factor genes adcR, cbpA, cbpD, cbpG, cpsA, nanA, pcpA, piaA, ply, psaA, pspA, and spxB after intranasal infection of CD1 mice with serotype 2, 4, and 6A pneumococci by real-time reverse transcription-PCR. Simultaneous gene expression patterns of selected host immunomodulatory molecules, CCL2, CCL5, CD54, CXCL2, interleukin-6, and tomor necrosis factor alpha, were also investigated. We show that pneumococcal virulence genes are differentially expressed in vivo, with some genes demonstrating niche- and serotype-specific differential expression. The in vivo expression patterns could not be attributed to in vitro differences in expression of the genes in transparent and opaque variants of the three strains. The host molecules were significantly upregulated, especially in the lungs, blood, and brains of mice. The pneumococcal-gene expression patterns support their ascribed roles in pathogenesis, providing insight into which protein combinations might be more appropriate as vaccine antigens against invasive disease. This is the first simultaneous comparison of bacterial- and host gene expression in the same animal during pathogenesis. The strategy provides a platform for prospective evaluation of interaction kinetics between invading pneumococci and human patients in culture-positive cases and should be feasible in other infection models.
Highest Treeline in the Northern Hemisphere Found in Southern Tibet

Abstract Three new records of the highest treelines in the northern hemisphere are presented here, based on the definition of a “tree. ” The tree species with the highest treeline in the northern hemisphere is Juniperus tibetica Kom. The highest forest stand is located at 4900 m in southeast Tibet. The highest tree stands of Juniperus indica Bertol. in the Himalaya were found in northern Bhutan at 4750 m. Information from such observations is decisive for the development of hypotheses on the limits of tree growth. We compare the present findings with findings on highest treelines in other mountain areas worldwide and draw some conclusions.