Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Directional Antenna With Consistent H-Plane Dual-Band Beamwidth for Wi-Fi Applications

A Wi-Fi dual-band directional antenna is presented herein. The proposed antenna consists of a bent ground-backed slot-loop structure to form a directional antenna. The aperture of the antenna element and the offset from the ground plane have opposing functional variation for the beamwidth adjustment. By utilizing both factors, a consistent Wi-Fi dual-band beamwidth is achieved. The antenna has high radiation efficiency over both bands. The proposed antenna achieves H-plane dual-band beamwidth consistency, which varies within 5° over the two bands. The gain is 9 and 9.5 dBi, respectively, in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands, and a stable H-plane beamwidth of 66°–71° over the operating bands is achieved. The proposed antenna can be used for the sectorized Wi-Fi access point application or as an element to form an array.
Birefringence free planar optical waveguide made by flame hydrolysis deposition (FHD) through tailoring of the overcladding

Stresses developing in a planar waveguide resulting from the different thermal expansion coefficients of the substrate and the three glass layers (buffer, core and cladding) were analyzed using a finite element method. It can be shown that mainly the thermal expansion of the overcladding determines the birefringence in the finished waveguide. Based on that result, recipes for an overcladding made with the flame-hydrolysis-deposit ion (FHD)-process were devised. We demonstrate the absence of birefringence in a commercial waveguide layer overclad with this glass. The high doping levels required for the cladding to have a thermal expansion coefficient sufficient for this raises concerns about the moisture sensitivity of such a glass. We examined the depth dependent composition of the glass using WD-ESCA (wavelength dispersive electron microprobe) and show, that at the surface a layer depleted of dopants is formed during the high temperature sintering process, This layer can serve as a protective coating to isolate the underlying, higher doped layer from the effects of moisture. Analysis of the stresses shows that this does not effect the birefringence behavior of the waveguide.
Let Your Photos Talk: Generating Narrative Paragraph for Photo Stream via Bidirectional Attention Recurrent Neural Networks

Automatic generation of natural language description for individual images (a.k.a. image captioning) has attracted extensive research attention. In this paper, we take one step further to investigate the generation of a paragraph to describe a photo stream for the purpose of storytelling. This task is even more challenging than individual image description due to the difficulty in modeling the large visual variance in an ordered photo collection and in preserving the long-term language coherence among multiple sentences. To deal with these challenges, we formulate the task as a sequence-to-sequence learning problem and propose a novel joint learning model by leveraging the semantic coherence in a photo stream. Specifically, to reduce visual variance, we learn a semantic space by jointly embedding each photo with its corresponding contextual sentence, so that the semantically related photos and their correlations are discovered. Then, to preserve language coherence in the paragraph, we learn a novel Bidirectional Attention-based Recurrent Neural Network (BARNN) model, which can attend on the discovered semantic relation to produce a sentence sequence and maintain its consistence with the photo stream. We integrate the two-step learning components into one single optimization formulation and train the network in an end-to-end manner. Experiments on three widely-used datasets (NYC/Disney/SIND) show that the proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods with large margins for both retrieval and paragraph generation tasks. We also show the subjective preference of the machine-generated stories by the proposed approach over the baselines through a user study with 40 human subjects.
ELM-based Multiple Classifier Systems

With random weights between the inputs and the hidden units of three-layer feed-forward neural networks (namely extreme learning machine (ELM)), some favorable performance may be achieved for pattern classifications in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. This paper aims to investigate properties of ELM-based multiple classifier systems (MCS). A protein database with ten classes of super-families is employed in this study. Our results indicate that (1) integration of the base ELM classifiers with better learning performance may result in a MCS with better generalization power; (2) smaller size of weights in ELM classifiers does not imply a better generalization capability; and (3) under/over-fitting phenomena occurs for classification as inappropriate network architectures are used
Network-based control with real-time prediction of delayed/lost sensor data

We present and experimentally verify two control architectures: supervisory control and feedback control over network. With the client/server architecture we developed for supervisory control, a client can give the control commands, tune the control parameters, and receive the experimental results remotely and in real time. Real-time feedback control over network is also investigated with a ball magnetic-levitation (Maglev) system as a test bed. We devised a novel timeout scheme and derived an autoregressive (AR) prediction model for delayed/lost sensor data. By applying this timeout and prediction scheme to the cases of consecutive data loss, we showed that the test bed could survive sporadic delays of as long as three sampling periods without losing stability. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed network-based real-time control methodologies was demonstrated experimentally.
Resveratrol Suppresses Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in GBM by Regulating Smad-Dependent Signaling

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and malignant intracranial tumor in adults. Despite continuous improvements in diagnosis and therapeutic method, the prognosis is still far away from expectations. The invasive phenotype of GBM is the main reason for the poor prognosis. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is recognized as a participator in this invasive phenotype. Resveratrol, a natural plant-derived compound, is reported to be able to regulate EMT. In the present study, we used TGF-β1 to induce EMT and aimed to evaluate the effect of resveratrol on EMT and to explore the underline mechanism in GBM. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of EMT-related markers, stemness markers, and Smad-dependent signaling. Wound healing assay and transwell invasion assay were performed to evaluate the migratory and invasive ability of GBM cells. Gliosphere formation assay was used to investigate the effect of resveratrol on the ability of self-renewal. Xenograft experiment was conducted to examine the effect of resveratrol on EMT and Smad-dependent signaling in vivo. Our data validated that resveratrol suppressed EMT and EMT-associated migratory and invasive ability via Smad-dependent signaling in GBM cells. We also confirmed that resveratrol obviously inhibited EMT-induced self-renewal ability of glioma stem cells (GSCs) and inhibited EMT-induced cancer stem cell markers Bmi1 and Sox2, suggesting that resveratrol is able to suppress EMT-generated stem cell-like properties in GBM cells. Furthermore, we also showed the inhibitory effect of resveratrol on EMT in xenograft experiments in vivo. Overall, our study reveals that resveratrol suppresses EMT and EMT-generated stem cell-like properties in GBM by regulating Smad-dependent signaling and provides experimental evidence of resveratrol for GBM treatment.
Fertility Onset, Spermatogenesis, and Pubertal Development in Male Rats: Effect of Graded Underfeeding

ABSTRACT: Undernutrition has proven to be a useful model for exploring the relationship between growth and pubertal development in female rats, such as the “critical body weight” hypothesis of pubertal timing, but corresponding studies in the male have been hampered by lack of specific discrete markers of puberty similar to vaginal opening or first estrus in females. In the current study, we explored the effect of five different levels of food intake (as low as one-thrid of normal) beginning at weaning on pubertal development and timing in male rats, using the date of the initial successful conception with normal females as a discrete marker for puberty in males. In underfed males, there was a weak inverse correlation (r=–0.31, P<0.05) between the age at puberty and the growth rate, the latter being used as an index of the degree of underfeeding. In contrast, there was a strong direct correlation (r=0.78, P<0.001) between body weight at puberty and growth rate. In the most severely underfed groups, the Lee index of body fat remained subnormal before and after puberty. Initial litter size also tended to be reduced when the males were underfed. At age 51 days (prior to puberty), graded underfeeding led to progressive reductions in serum luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone levels as well as in parameters of androgen status (serum and testicular testosterone, prostate, and seminal vesicle weights). Testicular size was also reduced, but daily sperm production rate was not greatly affected by underfeeding. Testicular histology at age 51 days revealed mature step 19 spermatids in all groups, with some reduction in seminiferous tubular diameter in the most severely underfed group. The effect of underfeeding on testicular testosterone and spermatogenesis appeared to decrease as underfeeding was continued for an additional 70 days. We conclude that graded underfeeding beginning at weaning leads to major reductions in gonadotropins and androgens but has less effect on spermatogenesis or the timing of puberty. Therefore, in normal rats, the timing of puberty is closely related to spermatogenic development, which can proceed once initiated despite low gonadotropin and androgen levels. Underfed male rats have low body weights and low body fats at puberty, refuting the “critical body weight” and “critical body fat” hypotheses of pubertal timing.
Effect of Capsulation of Opportunistic Pathogenic Bacteria on Binding of the Pattern Recognition Molecules Mannan-Binding Lectin, L-Ficolin, and H-Ficolin

ABSTRACT Mannan-binding lectin (MBL), L-ficolin, and H-ficolin are pattern recognition molecules of the innate immune system. We investigated their ability to bind to different serotypes and noncapsulated variants of two gram-positive bacterial species, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus. MBL did not bind to capsulated S. aureus or capsulated S. pneumoniae but did bind to a noncapsulated S. aureus variant (Wood). L-ficolin bound to some capsulated S. aureus serotypes (serotypes 1, 8, 9, 11, and 12) and capsulated S. pneumoniae serotypes (11A, 11D, and 11F) but not to noncapsulated strains. H-ficolin did not bind to any of the S. pneumoniae and S. aureus serotypes included in this study but did bind to one strain of Aerococcus viridans. The concentrations of the three proteins in 97 plasma samples were estimated. The median concentrations were 0.8 μg per ml for MBL, 3.3 μg per ml for L-ficolin, and 18.4 μg per ml for H-ficolin.
Molecular Signatures of Hemagglutinin Stem-Directed Heterosubtypic Human Neutralizing Antibodies against Influenza A Viruses

Recent studies have shown high usage of the IGHV1-69 germline immunoglobulin gene for influenza hemagglutinin stem-directed broadly-neutralizing antibodies (HV1-69-sBnAbs). Here we show that a major structural solution for these HV1-69-sBnAbs is achieved through a critical triad comprising two CDR-H2 loop anchor residues (a hydrophobic residue at position 53 (Ile or Met) and Phe54), and CDR-H3-Tyr at positions 98±1; together with distinctive V-segment CDR amino acid substitutions that occur in positions sparse in AID/polymerase-η recognition motifs. A semi-synthetic IGHV1-69 phage-display library screen designed to investigate AID/polη restrictions resulted in the isolation of HV1-69-sBnAbs that featured a distinctive Ile52Ser mutation in the CDR-H2 loop, a universal CDR-H3 Tyr at position 98 or 99, and required as little as two additional substitutions for heterosubtypic neutralizing activity. The functional importance of the Ile52Ser mutation was confirmed by mutagenesis and by BCR studies. Structural modeling suggests that substitution of a small amino acid at position 52 (or 52a) facilitates the insertion of CDR-H2 Phe54 and CDR-H3-Tyr into adjacent pockets on the stem. These results support the concept that activation and expansion of a defined subset of IGHV1-69-encoded B cells to produce potent HV1-69-sBnAbs does not necessarily require a heavily diversified V-segment acquired through recycling/reentry into the germinal center; rather, the incorporation of distinctive amino acid substitutions by Phase 2 long-patch error-prone repair of AID-induced mutations or by random non-AID SHM events may be sufficient. We propose that these routes of B cell maturation should be further investigated and exploited as a pathway for HV1-69-sBnAb elicitation by vaccination.
Viscoelastic properties of normal rat liver measured by ultrasound elastography: Comparison with oscillatory rheometry.

BACKGROUND Ultrasound elastography has been widely used to measure liver stiffness. However, the accuracy of liver viscoelasticity obtained by ultrasound elastography has not been well established. OBJECTIVE To assess the accuracy of ultrasound elastography for measuring liver viscoelasticity and compare to conventional rheometry methods. In addition, to determine if combining these two methods could delineate the rheological behavior of liver over a wide range of frequencies. METHODS The phase velocities of shear waves were measured in livers over a frequency range from 100 to 400 Hz using the ultrasound elastography method of shearwave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry (SDUV), while the complex shear moduli were obtained by rheometry over a frequency range of 1 to 30 Hz. Three rheological models, Maxwell, Voigt, and Zener, were fit to the measured data obtained from the two separate methods and from the combination of the two methods. RESULTS The elasticity measured by SDUV was in good agreement with that of rheometry. However, the viscosity measured by SDUV was significantly different from that of rheometry. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that the high frequency components of the dispersive data play a much more important role in determining the dispersive pattern or the viscous value than the low frequency components. It was found that the Maxwell model is not as appropriate as the Voigt and Zener models for describing the rheological behavior of liver.
Measurement of Space Potential Distribution Around Overhead HVDC Transmission Lines Based on Potential Compensation on Suspended Conductor

An ion-flow field is very important for the design of an HVDC transmission line. Due to the space ions resulting from corona discharge, there are few practical methods to measure the space electric fields around HVDC transmission lines. In this paper, a compensation method is presented to measure the space potential in the ion-flow field. The space potential can be obtained by applying an adjustable voltage source to a suspended conductor, increasing the voltage step-by-step and measuring the current flowing through the voltage source or the ground-level ion current density under the suspended conductor. When the current is equal to zero or the ground-level ion current density is equal to that without the suspended conductor, the output voltage of the voltage source is the space potential to be measured. The paper first introduces the principle of the measurement method. Then, the feasibility of the method is testified on unipolar and bipolar reduced-scale models. Finally, the measured results are discussed and are compared with the results by the numerical method.
Energy Reduction through Differential Reliability and Lightweight Checking

As technology feature sizes shrink, aggressive voltage scaling is required to contain power density. However, this also increases the rate of transient upsets-potentially preventing us from scaling down voltage and possibly even requiring voltage increases to maintain reliability. Duplication with checking and triple-modular redundancy are traditional approaches to combat transient errors, but spending 2-3× the energy for redundant computation can diminish or reverse the benefits of voltage scaling. As an alternative, we explore the opportunity to use checking computations that are cheaper than the base computation they are guarding. We identify and evaluate the effectiveness of lightweight checks in a broad set of common FPGA tasks in scientific computing and signal and image processing. We find that the lightweight checks cost less than 14% of the base computation. Using an exponential model for the relationship between voltage and transient upset rate, we are able to show over 80% net energy reduction by aggressive voltage scaling without compromising reliability compared to operation at the nominal voltage.
wProjects : Dynamic Web Development Projects for Female High School Students

We report new developments for wConnect, an action research project aimed at recruiting more women into computer and information science. A key outreach activity for wConnect has been high school workshops, where we deliver hands-on web programming experiences. Over the past three years we have fielded and evaluated 11 workshops; nine used a Bridgetools enduser platform and two used wProjects, a Drupal-based tool. We report design and evaluation of the new tool, including some evidence that it improves on the earlier tools. We also report on new features allowing teachers to design their own workshop projects. Keywords-component; End-User Web Development; K-12 Education; Content Management Systems; Action Research
Patterns and Presentation of Prostate Cancer in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana: A 6-Year Single Center Retrospective Study

Introduction: Prostate cancer is gradually reaching a very high incidence in Africa, especially in the Sub-saharan region. Understanding the dynamics in occurrence of the disorder is one approach to developing effective public health programmes and interventions that will help curb the rising incidence. Objective: This study was aimed at reducing the paucity of data on prostate cancer by assessing the incidence, patterns and presentation in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. We sought to provide region-specific hardcore data that will help to assess the issue and provide remedies. Method and Materials: All prostate disease cases recorded from the year 2009 to 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Subjects from 40 years (based on previous studies) and above were eligible for screening. Diagnostic and screening tools for prostate cancer at the study site were family history, serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, digital rectal examination, urological ultrasound scan and histopathology (biopsy). Age, PSA values and year of screening/diagnosis were also retrieved from patient folders/archives for the purposes of the study. Histological findings and parameters considered in the study included diagnosis, carcinoma grading, perineural invasion (PNI) and percentage of affected tissues (%TA). Results: Prostate cancer constituted 236 cases (40.07%) of the 589 prostate diseases reviewed. The highest annual prevalence was recorded in 2014 with an incidence rate of 21.6% (51 cases). The ages of patients ranged from 46 to 101 years with a modal age range of 70 - 79 years and a mean ± SD of 71.7 ± 11.2. The mean PSA value recorded was 37.5 ng/ml (±68.9) with predominance in the 11 - 20.9 ng/ml (61 cases/patients) (27.9%) range. Moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma was the dominant grade of prostate cancer accounting for 61.4% (145 cases) of the 236 cases. There was a significant correlation (p = 0.001) between grading of prostate cancer and perineural invasion. Only 21.2% graded cancer cases had perineural invasion with >50% affected tissues found in half of them. Conclusion: There is a high incidence (40.07%) of prostate cancer in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana, presenting mostly with advanced prostatic carcinoma. Reported cases also show high %TA and PNI. Development and implementation of public health interventions are needed to address some of these issues.
Characterization of Oxidizing Activity of a Microbial Community in an Industrial Bioleaching Heap

In order to explore new options to optimize the low-grade copper ore bioleaching process, it is important to understand the kinetics of microbial oxidation at industrial level. This work studies the changes of iron and sulfur oxidation rates of microbial communities in solution from an industrial low grade copper bioleaching heap process at Escondida Mine in Chile. Pregnant leach solution (PLS) samples were analyzed periodically to determine physico-chemical parameters. The total numbers of the different microorganism species in industrial samples were determined by Real Time PCR. In addition, Most Probable Number assays (MPN) were performed for iron and sulfur oxidizing microorganisms. Kinetics incubation tests of PLS in the presence of iron or sulfur were performed to study the iron and sulfur oxidation, in total, 102 oxidation profile tests were obtained. Based on the oxidation profiles obtained, the tests were divided into four groups, labeled as fast, normal, stepped shape, and incomplete. The grouping system was established by considering oxidation time and rates, during the initial oxidation stages and accounted for any lag phase. A data mining technique, called decision trees was used to analyze the data and to generate rules that represented patterns in the data. Strong correlations were found between the predominant microorganisms and the behavior of the oxidation tests. Preliminary results indicate that the magnitude order of MPN of the iron oxidizing microorganisms is an important factor in the microbial oxidizing activity, followed by the predominant specie within the microbial population, PLS temperature and Eh.
A mouse model for an erythropoietin-deficiency anemia

SUMMARY In mammals, the production of red blood cells is tightly regulated by the growth factor erythropoietin (EPO). Mice lacking a functional Epo gene are embryonic lethal, and studying erythropoiesis in EPO-deficient adult animals has therefore been limited. In order to obtain a preclinical model for an EPO-deficient anemia, we developed a mouse in which Epo can be silenced by Cre recombinase. After induction of Cre activity, EpoKO/flox mice experience a significant reduction of serum EPO levels and consequently develop a chronic, normocytic and normochromic anemia. Furthermore, compared with wild-type mice, Epo expression in EpoKO/flox mice is dramatically reduced in the kidney, and expression of a well-known target gene of EPO signaling, Bcl2l1, is reduced in the bone marrow. These observations are similar to the clinical display of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease. In addition, during stress-induced erythropoiesis these mice display the same recovery rate as their heterozygous counterparts. Taken together, these results demonstrate that this model can serve as a valuable preclinical model for the anemia of EPO deficiency, as well as a tool for the study of stress-induced erythropoiesis during limiting conditions of EPO.