Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fringe Capacitance Correction for a Coaxial Soil Cell

Accurate measurement of moisture content is a prime requirement in hydrological, geophysical and biogeochemical research as well as for material characterization and process control. Within these areas, accurate measurements of the surface area and bound water content is becoming increasingly important for providing answers to many fundamental questions ranging from characterization of cotton fiber maturity, to accurate characterization of soil water content in soil water conservation research to bio-plant water utilization to chemical reactions and diffusions of ionic species across membranes in cells as well as in the dense suspensions that occur in surface films. One promising technique to address the increasing demands for higher accuracy water content measurements is utilization of electrical permittivity characterization of materials. This technique has enjoyed a strong following in the soil-science and geological community through measurements of apparent permittivity via time-domain-reflectometry (TDR) as well in many process control applications. Recent research however, is indicating a need to increase the accuracy beyond that available from traditional TDR. The most logical pathway then becomes a transition from TDR based measurements to network analyzer measurements of absolute permittivity that will remove the adverse effects that high surface area soils and conductivity impart onto the measurements of apparent permittivity in traditional TDR applications. This research examines an observed experimental error for the coaxial probe, from which the modern TDR probe originated, which is hypothesized to be due to fringe capacitance. The research provides an experimental and theoretical basis for the cause of the error and provides a technique by which to correct the system to remove this source of error. To test this theory, a Poisson model of a coaxial cell was formulated to calculate the effective theoretical extra length caused by the fringe capacitance which is then used to correct the experimental results such that experimental measurements utilizing differing coaxial cell diameters and probe lengths, upon correction with the Poisson model derived correction factor, all produce the same results thereby lending support and for an augmented measurement technique for measurement of absolute permittivity.
Robust Optical Time-of-Flight Range Imaging Based on Smart Pixel Structures

The reliable detection of the three-dimensional position of arbitrary objects in a scene is a key capability of most animals and one of the most important tasks in machine vision. Today's preferred technical solution is optical time-of-flight (TOF) range imaging, due to its simplicity, its distance resolution, its large and adaptable measurement range, as well as the absence of shadowing problems. In order significantly to extend the application areas of TOF 3-D cameras, in particular for outdoor use, we show how their performance can be improved in all relevant respects: background light suppression is improved by an order of magnitude by the minimum charge transfer method. Multicamera operation is achieved by a binary pseudo-noise modulation/demodulation technique. This method also avoids all practical ambiguity problems typically encountered with harmonic modulation. Higher temporal demodulation resolution becomes possible with a pixel structure employing lateral electric fields. We have realized such pixels with a commercially available CCD/CMOS process, and our measurement results confirm that gigahertz demodulation imaging is possible. The practicality of all theoretical concepts is demonstrated with a miniaturized TOF 3-D camera platform whose LED array light source is modulated at a typical rate of 20 MHz. Our work contributes, therefore, to opening up new application domains of the soaring optical TOF range imaging techniques.
Unified understanding of superconductivity and Mott transition in alkali-doped fullerides from first principles

A quantitative theory unveils unique synergy of phonons and electron correlations behind exotic pairing next to the Mott phase. Alkali-doped fullerides A3C60 (A = K, Rb, Cs) are surprising materials where conventional phonon-mediated superconductivity and unconventional Mott physics meet, leading to a remarkable phase diagram as a function of volume per C60 molecule. We address these materials with a state-of-the-art calculation, where we construct a realistic low-energy model from first principles without using a priori information other than the crystal structure and solve it with an accurate many-body theory. Remarkably, our scheme comprehensively reproduces the experimental phase diagram including the low-spin Mott-insulating phase next to the superconducting phase. More remarkably, the critical temperatures Tc’s calculated from first principles quantitatively reproduce the experimental values. The driving force behind the surprising phase diagram of A3C60 is a subtle competition between Hund’s coupling and Jahn-Teller phonons, which leads to an effectively inverted Hund’s coupling. Our results establish that the fullerides are the first members of a novel class of molecular superconductors in which the multiorbital electronic correlations and phonons cooperate to reach high Tc s-wave superconductivity.
Salmonella Enteritidis Infections, United States, 1985–1999

Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis emerged as an important illness during the 1980s. Investigations showed that consumption of undercooked eggs was the major risk factor for disease, and a variety of prevention and control efforts were initiated during the 1990s. We describe sporadic infections and outbreaks of S. Enteritidis in the United States from 1985 through 1999 and discuss prevention and control efforts. After reaching a high of 3.9 per 100,000 population in 1995, S. Enteritidis infections declined to 1.98 per 100,000 in 1999. While the total number of outbreaks decreased by half, those in the western states tripled. Outbreaks of S. Enteritidis phage type 4 infections accounted for 49% of outbreaks in 1999. Outbreak-associated deaths in health facilities decreased from 14 in 1987 to 0 in 1999. Overall, rates of sporadic S. Enteritidis infection, outbreaks, and deaths have declined dramatically. For further reductions, control measures should continue to be applied along the entire farm-to-table continuum.
Planning Long Dynamically Feasible Maneuvers for Autonomous Vehicles

In this paper, we present an algorithm for generating complex dynamically feasible maneuvers for autonomous vehicles traveling at high speeds over large distances. Our approach is based on performing anytime incremental search on a multi-resolution, dynamically feasible lattice state space. The resulting planner provides real-time performance and guarantees on and control of the suboptimality of its solution. We provide theoretical properties and experimental results from an implementation on an autonomous passenger vehicle that competed in, and won, the Urban Challenge competition.
Ribosomal ribonucleic acid is transcribed at the 4-cell stage in in vitro-produced bovine embryos.

Ribosomal RNA, rRNA genes, and silver-staining nucleolar proteins were visualized in in vitro-produced bovine embryos from the 2-cell stage to the blastocyst using a sequential fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) and a silver-staining procedure. At FISH, the rRNA was differentiated from the signal of the rRNA genes through comparison of RNase- and non-RNase-treated embryos. Both RNase- and non-RNase-treated 2-cell embryos revealed up to 10 small clusters of fluorescein isothiocynate (FITC) labeling in interphase nuclei. The RNase-treated 4-cell embryos displayed the same FITC pattern as the 2-cell embryos. In the non-RNase-treated 4-cell embryos, in contrast, the clusters were larger and included numerous small spots. In 2-cell as well as 4-cell embryos, almost all FITC-labeled clusters colocalized with silver-stained spots. In the RNase-treated 8- to 16-cell embryos, up to 10 clusters of FITC labeling were organized as one or more large spots surrounding a central faint but homogeneously labeled area. The non-RNase-treated 8- to 16-cell embryos displayed similar complexes, but the central areas consisted of small labeled spots. In 8- to 16-cell embryos, all FITC-labeled clusters were again colocalized with silver-stained areas. In the blastocysts, 1-6 big clusters of FITC labeling colocalized with silver staining. In the RNase-treated blastocysts, the FITC labeling was typically located at the edges of the silver-stained areas, whereas in the non-RNase-treated blastocysts, the FITC labeling totally covered the silver-stained areas. In conclusion, there is a close association between the rRNA genes and silver-staining nucleolar proteins in in vitro-produced bovine embryos from the second cell cycle, i.e., the 2-cell stage; the first rRNA is apparently transcribed during the third cell cycle, and during the fourth cell cycle the molecular composition of functional nucleoli is established.
Studying InterNational Mobility through IP Geolocation

The increasing ubiquity of Internet use has opened up new avenues in the study of human mobility. Easily-obtainable geolocation data resulting from repeated logins to the same website offer the possibility of observing long-term patterns of mobility for a large number of individuals. We use data on the geographic locations from where over 100 million anonymized users log into Yahoo! services to generate the first global map of shortand medium-term mobility flows. We develop a protocol to identify anonymized users who, over a one-year period, had spent more than 3 months in a different country from their stated country of residence (“migrants”), and users who spent less than a month in a country different from their country of residence (“tourists”). We compute aggregate estimates of migration probabilities between countries, as inferred from a user’s location over the observed period. Geolocation data allow us to characterize also the pendularity of migration flows – i.e., the extent to which migrants travel back and forth between their countries of origin and destination. We use data regarding visa regimes, colonial ties, geographic location and economic development to predict migration and tourism flows. Our analysis shows the persistence of traditional migration patterns as well as the emergence of new routes. Migrations tend to be more pendular between countries that are close to each other. We observe particularly high levels of pendularity within the European Economic Area, even after we control for distance and visa regimes. The dataset, methodology and results presented have important implications for the travel industry, as well as for several disciplines in social sciences, including geography, demography and the sociology of networks.
Thermal stability of ultrathin amorphous carbon films synthesized by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition and filtered cathodic vacuum arc

Abstract Ultrathin hydrogenated amorphous carbon (a-C:H) films deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and hydrogen-free amorphous carbon (a-C) films of similar thickness deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) were subjected to rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) were used to study the structural stability of the films. While RTA increased the thickness of the intermixing layer and decreased the sp3 content of the a-C:H films, it did not affect the thickness or the sp3 content of the a-C films. The superior structural stability of the FCVA a-C films compared with PECVD a-C:H films, demonstrated by the TEM and EELS results of this study, illustrates the high potential of these films as protective overcoats in applications where rapid heating is critical to the device functionality and performance, such as heat-assisted magnetic recording.
EFFECT OF SOIL AND FOLIAR APPLICATION OF SILICON ON FRUIT QUALITY PARAMETERS OF BANANA cv. NEYPOOVAN UNDER HILL ZONE

A field experiment was conducted at College of Horticulture, Mudigere to know the effect of soil and foliar application of silicon on fruit quality of banana cv. Neypoovan. Potassium silicate was given 90 days after planting as a foliar spray at a concentration of 2.0 and 4.0 ml/lit per plant at 15 and 30 days interval. Similarly, soil application of calcium silicatev @ 1000 g per plant at once and in combination with foliar spray of potassium silicate was tried during the same period. The quality parameters viz., days taken for full ripening of the fruits, acidity, total soluble solids, shelf life, reducing sugar, non reducing sugars and pulp peel ratio of the fruit were significantly influenced by foliar and soil application of silicon compare to control.
Imaging body composition in obesity and weight loss: challenges and opportunities

Obesity is a threat to public health worldwide primarily due to the comorbidities related to visceral adiposity, inflammation, and insulin resistance that increase risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The translational research portfolio that originally described these risk factors was significantly enhanced by imaging techniques, such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this article, we briefly review the important contributions of these techniques to understand the role of body composition in the pathogenesis of obesity-related complications. Notably, these imaging techniques have contributed greatly to recent findings identifying gender and racial differences in body composition and patterns of body composition change during weight loss. Although these techniques have the ability to generate good-quality body composition data, each possesses limitations. For example, DEXA is unable to differentiate type of fat, CT has better resolution but provides greater ionizing radiation exposure, and MRI tends to require longer imaging times and specialized equipment for acquisition and analysis. With the serious need for efficacious and cost-effective therapies to appropriately identify and treat at-risk obese individuals, there is greater need for translational tools that can further elucidate the interplay between body composition and the metabolic aberrations associated with obesity. In conclusion, we will offer our perspective on the evolution toward an ideal imaging method for body composition assessment in obesity and weight loss, and the challenges remaining to achieve this goal.
Growth Hormone Is Permissive for Skeletal Adaptation to Mechanical Loading

The Lewis dwarf (DW) rat was used as a model to test the hypothesis that growth hormone (GH) is permissive for new bone formation induced by mechanical loading in vivo. Adult female Lewis DW rats aged 6.2 ± 0.1 months (187 ± 18 g) were allocated to four vehicle groups (DW), four GH treatment groups at 32.5 μg/100 g body mass (DWGH1), and four GH treatment groups at 65 μg/100 g (DWGH2). Saline vehicle or GH was injected intraperitoneally (ip) at 6:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. before mechanical loading of tibias at 7:30 a.m. A single period of 300 cycles of four‐point bending was applied to right tibias at 2.0 Hz, and magnitudes of 24, 29, 38, or 48N were applied. Separate strain gauge analyses in 5 DW rats validated the selection of loading magnitudes. After loading, double‐label histomorphometry was used to assess bone formation at the periosteal surface (Ps.S) and endocortical surface (Ec.S) of tibias. Comparing left (unloaded) tibias among groups, GH treatment had no effect on bone formation. Bone formation in tibias in DW rats was insensitive to mechanical loading. At the Ec.S, mechanically induced lamellar bone formation increased in the DWGH2 group loaded at 48N (p < 0.05), and no significant increases in bone formation were observed among other groups. The percentage of tibias expressing woven bone formation (Wo.B) at the Ps.S was significantly greater in the DWGH groups compared with controls (p < 0.05). We concluded that GH influences loading‐related bone formation in a permissive manner and modulates the responsiveness of bone tissue to mechanical stimuli by changing thresholds for bone formation.
Thyroxine prescription in the community: serum thyroid stimulating hormone level assays as an indicator of undertreatment or overtreatment.

Examination of thyroxine usage in a study in the United States of America revealed that many patients were prescribed thyroxine for non-thyroid indications, such as obesity and fatigue. Many of those receiving thyroxine had high or low serum thyroid stimulating hormone levels, indicating prescription of incorrect doses or lack of patient compliance with therapy. Long term thyroxine therapy may have effects upon the risk of osteoporosis. The aims of this study were to investigate indications for thyroxine prescription in the United Kingdom and to examine the frequency of abnormal serum thyroid stimulating hormone concentrations in those prescribed thyroxine for hypothyroidism. This was in order to determine the relevance of measurement of thyroid stimulating hormone level in monitoring thyroxine therapy. Subjects receiving thyroxine were identified from the computerized prescribing records of four general practices in the West Midlands. Of 18,944 patients registered, 146 (0.8%) were being prescribed thyroxine; 134 of these had primary hypothyroidism and the remainder had other thyroid or pituitary diseases prior to treatment. Of the 97 patients with primary hypothyroidism who agreed to have their thyroid stimulating hormone level measured, abnormal serum levels were found in 48%, high levels in 27% and low levels in 21%. There was a significant relationship between prescribed thyroxine dose and median serum thyroid stimulating hormone level: high hormone levels were found in 47% of those prescribed less than 100 micrograms thyroxine per day, while low levels were found in 24% of those prescribed 100 micrograms or more. Thus, thyroxine prescription was common in the four practices sampled, although indications for its use were appropriate. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Repair activity of base and nucleotide excision repair enzymes for guanine lesions induced by nitrosative stress

Nitric oxide (NO) induces deamination of guanine, yielding xanthine and oxanine (Oxa). Furthermore, Oxa reacts with polyamines and DNA binding proteins to form cross-link adducts. Thus, it is of interest how these lesions are processed by DNA repair enzymes in view of the genotoxic mechanism of NO. In the present study, we have examined the repair capacity for Oxa and Oxa–spermine cross-link adducts (Oxa–Sp) of enzymes involved in base excision repair (BER) and nucleotide excision repair (NER) to delineate the repair mechanism of nitrosative damage to guanine. Oligonucleotide substrates containing Oxa and Oxa–Sp were incubated with purified BER and NER enzymes or cell-free extracts (CFEs), and the damage-excising or DNA-incising activity was compared with that for control (physiological) substrates. The Oxa-excising activities of Escherichia coli and human DNA glycosylases and HeLa CFEs were 0.2–9% relative to control substrates, implying poor processing of Oxa by BER. In contrast, DNA containing Oxa–Sp was incised efficiently by UvrABC nuclease and SOS-induced E.coli CFEs, suggesting a role of NER in ameliorating genotoxic effects associated with nitrosative stress. Analyses of the activity of CFEs from NER-proficient and NER-deficient human cells on Oxa–Sp DNA confirmed further the involvement of NER in the repair of nitrosative DNA damage.
Effects of Boron on Rhizobium-Legume Cell-Surface Interactions and Nodule Development

Boron (B) is an essential micronutrient for the development of nitrogen-fixing root nodules in pea (Pisum sativum). By using monoclonal antibodies that recognize specific glycoconjugate components implicated in legume root-nodule development, we investigated the effects of low B on the formation of infection threads and the colonization of pea nodules by Rhizobium leguminosarum bv viciae. In B-deficient nodules the proportion of infected host cells was much lower than in nodules from plants supplied with normal quantities of B. Moreover, the host cells often developed enlarged and abnormally shaped infection threads that frequently burst, releasing bacteria into damaged host cells. There was also an over-production of plant matrix material in which the rhizobial cells were embedded during their progression through the infection thread. Furthermore, in a series of in vitro binding studies, we demonstrated that the presence of B can change the affinity with which the bacterial cell surface interacts with the peribacteroid membrane glycocalyx relative to its interaction with intercellular plant matrix glycoprotein. From these observations we suggest that B plays an important role in mediating cell-surface interactions that lead to endocytosis of rhizobia by host cells and hence to the correct establishment of the symbiosis between pea and Rhizobium.
Effects of excessive dietary methionine on oxidative stress and dyslipidemia in chronic ethanol-treated rats

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to examine the effect of high dietary methionine (Met) consumption on plasma and hepatic oxidative stress and dyslipidemia in chronic ethanol fed rats. MATERIALS/METHODS Male Wistar rats were fed control or ethanol-containing liquid diets supplemented without (E group) or with DL-Met at 0.6% (EM1 group) or 0.8% (EM2 group) for five weeks. Plasma aminothiols, lipids, malondialdehyde (MDA), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase were measured. Hepatic folate, S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), and S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) were measured. RESULTS DL-Met supplementation was found to increase plasma levels of homocysteine (Hcy), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and MDA compared to rats fed ethanol alone and decrease plasma ALT. However, DL-Met supplementation did not significantly change plasma levels of HDL-cholesterol, cysteine, cysteinylglycine, and glutathione. In addition, DL-Met supplementation increased hepatic levels of folate, SAM, SAH, and SAM:SAH ratio. Our data showed that DL-Met supplementation can increase plasma oxidative stress and atherogenic effects by elevating plasma Hcy, TG, and TC in ethanol-fed rats. CONCLUSION The present results demonstrate that Met supplementation increases plasma oxidative stress and atherogenic effects by inducing dyslipidemia and hyperhomocysteinemia in ethanol-fed rats.
Next-generation sequencing: emerging lessons on the origins of human cancer

Purpose of review This review describes recent advances in technologies for massive parallel sequencing of human genomes and discusses their application to the analysis of cancer genomes. Recent findings Several different instruments are now available for next-generation sequencing (NGS). Although they use different sample preparation and sequencing technologies, they all rely on large computing capacity for assembling sequences and identifying somatic mutations against the background of genetic variations. Recent examples of NGS application to cancer genomes include the sequencing of 22 cases of glioblastoma multiforme that identified IDH1, the gene encoding isocitrate dehydrogenase 1, as target for cancer-driving mutations. Analysis of entire genomes of single samples of lung cancer and melanoma has brought unprecedented details on how tobacco carcinogens and UV exposure, respectively, may sculpt specific mutation landscapes. In breast cancer, comparative genome sequencing of primary and secondary lesions of a single patient has revealed clues on the phylogeny of tumor cells. Summary NGS is opening a new era for understanding how environmental factors alter the human genome to generate cancerous cells, paving the way to a better understanding of the origins of human cancer.