Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design of an X-Band GaAs MMIC Doherty amplifier accounting for device RON resistance

This contribution focus on the role played by the active device ON-resistance in the load modulation phenomena occurring in a Doherty power amplifier (DPA). This issue is analyzed from both theoretical and experimental point of view. The former demonstrates that to properly account for the ON-resistance of the Main device, a simultaneous optimization of the Auxiliary amplifier is mandatory to properly optimize the DPA performances. The theoretical results have been experimentally confirmed by presenting the design of two MMIC DPAs in GaAs technology, based on neither standard or advanced proposed approach. Both DPAs are designed to operate at X-Band (9.5GHz), showing an output power of 30dBm, while, in the overall range of 6 dB of output power back off (OBO), the achieved efficiency is no lower than 30%.
Molecular Detection of Human Calicivirus in Young Children Hospitalized with Acute Gastroenteritis in Melbourne, Australia, during 1999

ABSTRACT Reverse transcription-PCR and sequence analysis identified calciviruses in 32 of 60 stool specimens (negative for other enteric pathogens) obtained from children admitted to our hospital with acute gastroenteritis. The overall annual incidence rate for calcivirus was 9% (32 of 354 children). Molecular analysis identified 30 “Norwalk-like virus” genogroup II (predominantly Lordsdale cluster) and 2 “Sapporo-like virus” strains.
Double Layer Image Security System using Encryption and Steganography

The image security on internet transfers is the concern of the hour as the breaching attacks into the image databases are rising every year. The hackers take advantage of the stolen personal and important images to fulfill their dangerous and unethical intentions. The image data theft can be used to defame a person on the internet by posting the illegal and unacceptable images of that person (internet user). Hence the images transfers have to be secure to ensure the privacy of the user’s image data. In this research, a number of image security systems have been studied to evaluate the research gap. Majority of the existing image security systems are not up to date to protect against the latest breaching attacks. So, we have proposed an effective and robust image security framework particularly designed for the images. The proposed has been designed and implemented using MATLAB. In this research, a hybrid image security framework has been proposed to overcome the problem stated earlier, which will be implemented by combining various techniques together to achieve the image security goal. The techniques included in the combination would beimage compression, cryptography and steganography. DWT compression has been used, because it is a stronger compression algorithm. The steganographed image would be compressed to reduce its size. Blowfish encryption algorithm would be used for the encryption purposes. It offers maximum throughput (faster) and also energy efficient. Compressed image would be encrypted to enhance the image security. Real image will be hidden into another image. A cluster based steganographic technique will be used. Real image and face image would be analyzed, and the real image would be embedded in those areas of face image, where color schemes of the real image and face image would be most similar. Kmeans or Hierarchical clustering would be used as a clustering technique. An all new comparative analysis technique would be applied to make the comparison between real image and base image on the basis of color patterns.
Passive scalar mixing in vortex rings

Direct numerical simulation is used to study the mixing of a passive scalar by a vortex ring issuing from a nozzle into stationary fluid. The ‘formation number’ (Gharib et al. J. Fluid Mech. vol. 360, 1998, p. 121), is found to be 3.6. Simulations are performed for a range of stroke ratios (ratio of stroke length to nozzle exit diameter) encompassing the formation number, and the effect of stroke ratio on entrainment and mixing is examined. When the stroke ratio is greater than the formation number, the resulting vortex ring with trailing column of fluid is shown to be less effective at mixing and entrainment. As the ring forms, ambient fluid is entrained radially into the ring from the region outside the nozzle exit. This entrainment stops once the ring forms, and is absent in the trailing column. The rate of change of scalar-containing fluid is found to depend linearly on stroke ratio until the formation number is reached, and falls below the linear curve for stroke ratios greater than the formation number. This behaviour is explained by considering the entrainment to be a combination of that due to the leading vortex ring and that due to the trailing column. For stroke ratios less than the formation number, the trailing column is absent, and the size of the vortex ring increases with stroke ratio, resulting in increased mixing. For stroke ratios above the formation number, the leading vortex ring remains the same, and the length of the trailing column increases with stroke ratio. The overall entrainment decreases as a result.
Rapid Global Fitting of Large Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy Datasets

Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) is widely applied to obtain quantitative information from fluorescence signals, particularly using Förster Resonant Energy Transfer (FRET) measurements to map, for example, protein-protein interactions. Extracting FRET efficiencies or population fractions typically entails fitting data to complex fluorescence decay models but such experiments are frequently photon constrained, particularly for live cell or in vivo imaging, and this leads to unacceptable errors when analysing data on a pixel-wise basis. Lifetimes and population fractions may, however, be more robustly extracted using global analysis to simultaneously fit the fluorescence decay data of all pixels in an image or dataset to a multi-exponential model under the assumption that the lifetime components are invariant across the image (dataset). This approach is often considered to be prohibitively slow and/or computationally expensive but we present here a computationally efficient global analysis algorithm for the analysis of time-correlated single photon counting (TCSPC) or time-gated FLIM data based on variable projection. It makes efficient use of both computer processor and memory resources, requiring less than a minute to analyse time series and multiwell plate datasets with hundreds of FLIM images on standard personal computers. This lifetime analysis takes account of repetitive excitation, including fluorescence photons excited by earlier pulses contributing to the fit, and is able to accommodate time-varying backgrounds and instrument response functions. We demonstrate that this global approach allows us to readily fit time-resolved fluorescence data to complex models including a four-exponential model of a FRET system, for which the FRET efficiencies of the two species of a bi-exponential donor are linked, and polarisation-resolved lifetime data, where a fluorescence intensity and bi-exponential anisotropy decay model is applied to the analysis of live cell homo-FRET data. A software package implementing this algorithm, FLIMfit, is available under an open source licence through the Open Microscopy Environment.
Gravity inversion of a discontinuous relief stabilized by weighted smoothness constraints on depth

We present a new stable gravity inversion method applied to the mapping of an interface separating two homogeneous media. In contrast with previous similar methods, it does not impose an overall smoothness on the estimated interface to stabilize the solution. The density contrast between the media is assumed to be known. The interpretation model for the upper medium consists of rectangular juxtaposed prisms whose thicknesses represent the depths to the interface and are the parameters to be estimated. The true interface is assumed to be flat everywhere except at faults. To incorporate this attribute into the estimated relief, we developed an iterative process in which three kinds of constraints are imposed on parameters: (1) proximity between values of adjacent parameters, (2) lower and upper bounds to parameters, and (3) proximity between the values of parameters and fixed numerical values. Starting with an initial solution which presents an overall smooth relief, the method enhances initially estimated .
The dynamics of two‐phase hydrothermal systems at a seafloor pressure of 25 MPa

We present 2‐D numerical simulations of two‐phase flow in seafloor hydrothermal systems using the NaCl‐H2O numerical code Fully Implicit Seafloor Hydrothermal Event Simulator to better understand phase separation and the evolution of the temperature and salinity of vent fluids in seafloor hydrothermal systems. We consider a fixed seafloor pressure of 25 MPa, a range of homogeneous and isotropic permeabilities, and various constant bottom temperatures to represent a subaxial magma chamber. The goal is to investigate how permeability and maximum bottom temperature affect vent fluid temperature and salinity. The simulations show that hydrothermal heat output increases nearly linearly with permeability, or Rayleigh number, but maximum bottom temperature has a greater effect on vent fluid temperature and salinity than the permeability. Although plume structures are relatively stable, the high Rayleigh numbers considered here result in temporal and spatial variations in temperature and salinity of vent fluids. The frequency of the fluctuations in the temperature and salinity of vent fluids increases with Rayleigh number. Vapor‐ and brine‐derived fluids can vent simultaneously in close proximity and at different times and locations throughout a simulation. The simulations also show that vent fluids are complex mixtures between phase separated fluids formed near the base of the system and seawater. Consequently, neither the spatial and temporal variability, nor the temperature and salinity of vent fluids can be used to uniquely determine P‐T conditions or indicate temporal changes in such conditions at depth.
Detection of incipient object slippage by skin-like sensing and neural network processing

Detection of incipient slippage is of great importance in robotics for the control of grasping and manipulation tasks. Together with fine-form reconstruction and primitive recognition, it has to be the main feature of an artificial tactile system. The system presented here is based on a neural network used to detect incipient slippage and on a skin-like sensor sensible to normal and shear stresses. Normal and shear stresses components inside the sensor are the input data of the neural net. An important feature of the system is that the a priori knowledge of the friction coefficient between the sensor and the object being manipulated is not needed. To validate the method we worked on both simulated and experimental data. In the first case, the finite element method is used to solve the direct problem of elastic contact in its full nonlinearity by resorting to the lowest number of approximations regarding the real problem. Simulation has shown that the network learns and is robust to noise. Then an experimental test was carried out. Experimental results show that, in a simple case, the method is able to detect the insipiency of slippage between an object and the sensor.
Organization of the Epstein-Barr virus DNA molecule. III. Location of the P3HR-1 deletion junction and characterization of the NotI repeat units that form part of the template for an abundant 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced mRNA transcript

A 1,400-base-pair (bp) region within the BamHI H fragment of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (B95-8) DNA consists of a cluster of tandemly duplicated direct repetitions characterized by single sites for the NotI restriction endonuclease. Nucleotide sequencing revealed a 125-bp repeat unit of 84% guanine-plus-cytosine content which is theoretically capable of extensive secondary structure formation. The flanking sequences adjacent to the NotI repeat cluster contained an additional 38-bp portion of repeat unit DNA, thus establishing that EBV(B95-8) contains a nonintegral number of NotI repeats totalling 11.3 copies. Restriction site mapping of the homologous cloned BamHI "H" fragment from the nontransforming EBV (P3HR-1) isolate revealed that a contiguous 6,650-bp region including the entire NotI repeat cluster has been deleted from the BamHI-H, -Y, and -W regions of the P3HR-1 genome. By nucleotide sequencing across the novel junction, we have precisely identified the P3HR-1 deletion boundaries in BamHI-H and the internal repeat and suggest that a complex pattern of direct and inverted partial DNA homologies may have been involved in the original recombination event. The cloned BamHI H fragment and isolated NotI repeat unit have also been used as probes to detect homologous mRNA transcripts in the B95-8 and Raji cell lines of EBV-transformed lymphoblasts. These experiments showed that the NotI repeats form part of the template for a polyadenylated 2.5-kilobase mRNA transcript which becomes much more abundant after 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate treatment of the cultures. The direction of transcription of this mRNA and the nucleotide sequence of most of its template and 5' flanking regions have been determined. The probable promoter for the 2.5-kilobase mRNA initiates transcription efficiently in an in vitro assay and contains several TAATGA-like elements that may be indicative of herpesvirus immediate-early class promoters. The need to repress expression of this gene during latency suggests a possible novel regulatory role for tandem repeat structures inside a eucaryotic virus transcription unit. The deletion in EBV(P3HR-1), which has been associated with the loss of lymphocyte "immortalizing" capacity in this isolate, eliminates part of the coding region as well as the NotI repeats from the 2.5-kilobase mRNA transcript, but the promoter and proximal 340-bp portions of the template remain.
The Decision to Engage Cognitive Control Is Driven by Expected Reward-Value: Neural and Behavioral Evidence

Cognitive control is a fundamental skill reflecting the active use of task-rules to guide behavior and suppress inappropriate automatic responses. Prior work has traditionally used paradigms in which subjects are told when to engage cognitive control. Thus, surprisingly little is known about the factors that influence individuals' initial decision of whether or not to act in a reflective, rule-based manner. To examine this, we took three classic cognitive control tasks (Stroop, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, Go/No-Go task) and created novel ‘free-choice’ versions in which human subjects were free to select an automatic, pre-potent action, or an action requiring rule-based cognitive control, and earned varying amounts of money based on their choices. Our findings demonstrated that subjects' decision to engage cognitive control was driven by an explicit representation of monetary rewards expected to be obtained from rule-use. Subjects rarely engaged cognitive control when the expected outcome was of equal or lesser value as compared to the value of the automatic response, but frequently engaged cognitive control when it was expected to yield a larger monetary outcome. Additionally, we exploited fMRI-adaptation to show that the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) represents associations between rules and expected reward outcomes. Together, these findings suggest that individuals are more likely to act in a reflective, rule-based manner when they expect that it will result in a desired outcome. Thus, choosing to exert cognitive control is not simply a matter of reason and willpower, but rather, conforms to standard mechanisms of value-based decision making. Finally, in contrast to current models of LPFC function, our results suggest that the LPFC plays a direct role in representing motivational incentives.
Calming aggressive reactions--a preventive program.

1. Aggressive behavior of nursing home residents towards caregivers, specifically nurse aides, is increasingly a problem in nursing homes. 2. The C.A. R.E. Program was developed to educate nursing personnel about prevention of aggressive incidents through early identification of residents most likely to become abusive. 3. The C.A. R.E. Program utilizes didactic presentation, role playing, sharing experiences, and group support as teaching strategies. 4. A major implication for professional nurses is to assume responsibility for identifying elders at risk for aggression and to provide the nursing team with the training to best care for these residents.
Spatial regulation of tumor cell protrusions by RhoC

Systemic metastasis is the dissemination of cancer cells from the primary tumor to distant organs and is the primary cause of death in cancer patients. How do cancer cells leave the primary tumor mass? The ability of the tumor cells to form different types of actin-rich protrusions including invasive protrusions (invadopodia) and locomotory protrusions (lamellipodia [2D] or pseudopodia [3D]), facilitate the invasion and dissemination of the tumor cells. Rho-family of p21 small GTPases plays a direct role in regulating the actin dynamics in these intracellular compartments. Recent studies have shown that the signaling molecules including RhoC/p190RhoGEF/p190RhoGAP acts as a “molecular compass” in order to direct the spatial and temporal dynamics of the formation of these invasive and locomotory protrusions leading to efficient invasion.
TEMPORAL VARIATIONS OF FRACTURE DIRECTIONS AND FRACTURE DENSITIES IN THE COSO GEOTHERMAL FIELD FROM ANALYSES OF SHEAR-WAVE SPLITTING

This project aims to improve understanding of the subsurface fracture system in the Coso geothermal field, located in the east central California. We applied shear-wave splitting technique on a set of high quality, locally recorded microearthquake (MEQ) data. Four major fracture directions have been identified from the seismograms recorded by the permanent sixteen-station down-hole array: N1020W, NS, N20E, and N40-45E, of which the first and the third are the most prominent. All orientations are consistent with the known strike of local sets of faults and fractures at depth and at the surface, as well as with previous analyses of seismic anisotropy in the region. Significant changes in shear-wave time delays, which are governed by crack density, have been detected from data recorded during five consecutive years (1996-2000). Variations in shearwave time delays were simulated using synthetic seismograms and tentatively interpreted as due to a local ~3% decrease in shear-wave anisotropy in the southwestern part of the field during 1999.
Housing market analysis using a hierarchical–spatial approach: the case of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The paper analyzes the determinants of apartments’ prices in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, with the use of hierarchical models, spatial models and a hierarchical-spatial approach. Besides the apartments’ characteristics, such as area, age and building standard, prices were determined by local urban amenities. The hierarchical models indicated that local variables, such as urban violence, infrastructure and services, explained over 75% of prices’ remaining variability. The spatial models analyzed if, after controlling for price variability with the explanatory variables in the second level of the hierarchical models, spatial correlations still existed in price determination. The positive and significant spatial coefficient in spatial autoregressive models (SAR) indicated spatial dependency. The hierarchical-spatial approach showed that over 70% of apartment prices’ remaining variability could be explained by local variables and that the lagged urban services variable explained another 12% of this variability.
High-fat diet versus habitual diet prior to carbohydrate loading: effects of exercise metabolism and cycling performance.

We examined the effects of a high-fat diet (HFD-CHO) versus a habitual diet, prior to carbohydrate (CHO)-loading on fuel metabolism and cycling time-trial (TT) performance. Five endurance-trained cyclists participated in two 14-day randomized cross-over trials during which subjects consumed either a HFD (> 65% MJ from fat) or their habitual diet (CTL) (30 +/- 5% MJ from fat) for 10 day, before ingesting a high-CHO diet (CHO-loading, CHO > 70% MJ) for 3 days. Trials consisted of a 150-min cycle at 70% of peak oxygen uptake (VáO2peak), followed immediately by a 20-km TT. One hour before each trial, cyclists ingested 400 ml of a 3.44% medium-chain triacylglycerol (MCT) solution, and during the trial, ingested 600 ml/hour of a 10% 14C-glucose + 3.44% MCT solution. The dietary treatments did not alter the subjects' weight, body fat, or lipid profile. There were also no changes in circulating glucose, lactate, free fatty acid (FFA), and b-hydroxybutyrate concentrations during exercise. However, mean serum glycerol concentrations were significantly higher (p < .01) in the HFD-CHO trial. The HFD-CHO diet increased total fat oxidation and reduced total CHO oxidation but did not alter plasma glucose oxidation during exercise. By contrast, the estimated rates of muscle glycogen and lactate oxidation were lower after the HFD-CHO diet. The HFD-CHO treatment was also associated with improved TT times (29.5 +/- 2.9 min vs. 30.9 +/- 3.4 min for HFD-CHO and CTL-CHO, p <.05). High-fat feeding for 10 days prior to CHO-loading was associated with an increased reliance on fat, a decreased reliance on muscle glycogen, and improved time trial performance after prolonged exercise.
Trends in Italian total cloud amount, 1951‐1996

Trends in Italian total cloud amount are analysed for the period 1951‐1996. The data are a set of 35 station records that were extracted from the 3‐hourly Italian Air Force dataset. A method is discussed to obtain daily mean cloud amounts avoiding biases due to missing observations: less than 2% of the days have no observations, but more than 20% of them have at least one missing value. Trend analysis is applied to regional Northern and Southern Italy average series. Seasonal and annual trends were estimated by means of least squares linear fitting. Significance was tested using the non parametric Mann‐Kendall test. The results show that there is a highly significant negative trend in total cloud amount all over Italy. It is evident in all seasons and is particularly steep in winter where both in Northern and Southern Italy the decrease exceeds 1 okta in 50 years.