Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
On the scattering power of radiotherapy protons.

PURPOSE First, to show that accurate formulas for scattering power T must take into account the competition between the Gaussian core and the single scattering tail of the angular distribution, which affects the rate of change in the Gaussian width and leads to the single scattering correction (SSC). Second, to show that the SSC requires that T(x) be nonlocal: Besides material properties and energy at the point of interest, it must depend in some fashion on how much multiple scattering has already taken place. Third, after reviewing five previous formulas (three local and two nonlocal), to derive an improved "differential Molière" formula T(dM). Last, to investigate, by studying some practical cases, when an accurate formula for T is actually needed. METHODS We first take the numerical derivative of the Molière/Fano/Hanson (theta2) in order to find the true SSC. We simplify the formula for T(IC) (ICRU Report 35) for protons, introducing a new material dependent property, the "scattering length" X(s), analogous to radiation length X(0). We then use T(IC) as a basis for T(dM) by including a nonlocal correction factor fdM which, by virtue of the Øverås approximation, parametrizes the single scattering correction. RESULTS The improved scattering power is T(dM)[triple band]f(dM)(pv,p1v1) x (E(s)/pv)(2)1/X(s) where fdM 0.5244+0.1975 lg(1-(pv/p1v1)2)+0.2320 lg(pv)-0.0098 lg(pv)lg(1-(pv/p1v1)2), P1v1 (MeV) is the initial product of proton momentum and speed, pv is the same at the point of interest, and E(s) = 15.0 MeV. T(dM) is easily computed and generalizes readily to mixed slabs because fdM is not material dependent. CONCLUSIONS Whether an accurate formula for T is required depends very much on the problem at hand. For beam spreading in water, five of the six formulas for T give almost identical results, suggesting that patient dose calculations are insensitive to T. That is not true, however, of beam spreading in Pb. At the opposite extreme, the projected rms beam width at the end of a Pb/Lexan/air stack, analogous to the upstream modulator in a passive beam spreading system, is sensitive to T. In this case a simple experiment would discriminate between all but two of the six formulas discussed. Scattering power applies as much to Monte Carlo as to deterministic transport calculations. Using T in any of its forms will avoid step size dependence. Using the best available T could be important in general purpose Monte Carlo codes, which are expected to give the correct answer to many different problems.
Application of the variability-size relationship to atmospheric aerosol studies: estimating aerosol lifetimes and ages

Aerosol variability is examined as function of particle size for data collected over the Northern Indian Ocean in February 1999 as part of the INDOEX experiment. It was found that for particles believed to be of terrestrial or oceanic origin, the variability correlated with the average number concentration. For particles that are thought to be formed and grow in the atmosphere through coagulation and condensation an anticorrelation was observed, the minimum in variability coinciding with the maximum in the number concentration. Three altitude ranges were examined (0–1, 4–8 and 8–13 km) and the minimum in variability was found to occur at lower particle sizes in the free troposphere (0.065 μm) than in the boundary layer (0.165 μm). The observed variability has been compared to that generated by a numerical model in order to determine the relative importance of the physical processes. Modelled variability of 0.02 μm particles caused by nucleation was not observed in the measurements. A previously derived empirical relationship for aerosol residence time was compared with the measured variability as a function of bin size. The aerosol variability / residence time relationship was characterised by a coefficient ( b) at all altitudes and for both correlating and anticorrelating regimes. By combining the derived coefficient with the model predicted lifetime for 0.020μm particles we estimated residence times and ages as a function of particle size and altitude. General agreement was found with previous estimates of aerosol residence time. In the upper atmosphere aerosols of 0.065 μm in size have residence times of approximately 1 month and can be transported on a hemispheric scale. The same size aerosol has a lifetime one order of magnitude less in the boundary layer and therefore will not be transported far from the source regions. Correspondence to: J. Williams (williams@mpch-mainz.mpg.de)
Inhibition of Rotavirus Infectivity by a Neoglycolipid Receptor Mimetic

Group A rotaviruses are a major cause of diarrhea in the young of many mammalian species. In rotavirus infected piglets mortality can be as high as 60%. Previous research in this laboratory has identified a porcine intestinal GM3 ganglioside receptor that is required for sialic acid-dependent rotavirus recognition of host cells. In addition, we previously demonstrated exogenously added GM3 can competitively inhibit porcine rotavirus binding and infectivity of host cells in vitro. Sialyllactose, the carbohydrate moiety of GM3, is approximately 3 orders of magnitude less effective than GM3 at inhibiting rotavirus binding to cells. Furthermore, production of therapeutic quantities of GM3 ganglioside for use as an oral carbomimetic in swine is cost prohibitive. In an effort to circumvent these problems, a sialyllactose-containing neoglycolipid was synthesized and evaluated for its ability to inhibit rotavirus binding and infectivity of host cells. Sialyllactose was coupled to dipalmitoylphosphatidylethanolamine (PE) by reductive amination and the product (SLPE) purified by HPLC. Characterization of the product showed a single primulin (lipid) and resorcinol (sialic acid) positive band by thin layer chromatography and quantification of phosphate and sialic acid yielded a 1:1 molar ratio. Mass spectroscopy confirmed a molecular weight coinciding with SLPE. Concentration-dependent binding of rotavirus to SLPE was demonstrated using a thin-layer overlay assay. Using concentrations comparable to GM3, SLPE was also shown to inhibit rotavirus binding to host cells by 80%. Furthermore, SLPE was shown to decrease rotavirus infection of host cells by over 90%. Finally, preliminary results of in vivo animal challenge studies using newborn piglets in their natural environment, demonstrated SLPE afforded complete protection from rotavirus disease. The efficacy of SLPE in inhibiting rotavirus binding and infection in vitro and in vivo, coupled with its relatively low-cost, large-scale production capabilities make SLPE a promising candidate for further exploration as a possible prophylactic or therapeutic nutriceutical for combating rotavirus disease in animals. Most importantly, the results presented here provide proof of concept that the nutriceutical approach of providing natural or synthetic dietary receptor mimetics for protection against gastrointestinal virus infectious disease in all species is plausible.
SPICE Library for Low-Cost RFID Applications Based on Pentacene Organic FET

A device-level SPICE library based on an integrated organic pentacene OFET process by Philips, developed to carry out the design of complete low-cost high-volume RFID architectures, is presented. The OFET model, fitted through a modified MOSFET SPICE model, is employed for the design and simulation of some meaningful RFID architecture building blocks such as logic gates, nand logical port, flip-flop, asynchronous counter and ring oscillator and of a complete RFID system.
New Connections across Pathways and Cellular Processes: Industrialized Mutant Screening Reveals Novel Associations between Diverse Phenotypes in Arabidopsis1[W][OA]

In traditional mutant screening approaches, genetic variants are tested for one or a small number of phenotypes. Once bona fide variants are identified, they are typically subjected to a limited number of secondary phenotypic screens. Although this approach is excellent at finding genes involved in specific biological processes, the lack of wide and systematic interrogation of phenotype limits the ability to detect broader syndromes and connections between genes and phenotypes. It could also prevent detection of the primary phenotype of a mutant. As part of a systems biology approach to understand plastid function, large numbers of Arabidopsis thaliana homozygous T-DNA lines are being screened with parallel morphological, physiological, and chemical phenotypic assays (www.plastid.msu.edu). To refine our approaches and validate the use of this high-throughput screening approach for understanding gene function and functional networks, approximately 100 wild-type plants and 13 known mutants representing a variety of phenotypes were analyzed by a broad range of assays including metabolite profiling, morphological analysis, and chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics. Data analysis using a variety of statistical approaches showed that such industrial approaches can reliably identify plant mutant phenotypes. More significantly, the study uncovered previously unreported phenotypes for these well-characterized mutants and unexpected associations between different physiological processes, demonstrating that this approach has strong advantages over traditional mutant screening approaches. Analysis of wild-type plants revealed hundreds of statistically robust phenotypic correlations, including metabolites that are not known to share direct biosynthetic origins, raising the possibility that these metabolic pathways have closer relationships than is commonly suspected.
Effects of release time and directionality on unilateral and bilateral hearing aid fittings in complex sound fields.

In studies to date, the effectiveness of the directional microphone has been investigated independently of the signal processing scheme used in the hearing aid. In addition, the number and placement of the background noise speakers can create an advantage for a particular polar pattern (i.e., cardioid, supercardioid, and hypercardioid) in any laboratory design. With these considerations in mind, the purpose of this investigation was twofold: (1) to determine the effect of different amplitude-compression release times on speech perception ability in noise, measured with directional microphone hearing aids, and (2) to determine the impact of environment (classroom vs anechoic chamber) on those measures. Ten subjects with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss participated. Using an eight-speaker complex sound field, speech perception was assessed in an anechoic chamber and a typical classroom environment. None of the release times resulted in superior performance in either the anechoic or classroom environment.
Tree interactive encoding and decoding: Conditionally Φ-mixing sources

Interactive encoding and decoding with tree decoding (referred to simply as tree interactive encoding and decoding (TRIED)) is considered for the problem of lossless source coding with decoder only side information. A TRIED scheme is proposed and demonstrated that when applied to encode any conditionally Φ-mixing source of length n, its error probability decays polynomially with respect to n, average rate is around conditional entropy rate, and average computational complexity of encoding and decoding is O(n ln n).
Long‐term infrared variability of the UX Ori‐type star SV Cep

We investigate the long-term optical–infrared variability of SV Cep and explain it in the context of an existing UX Ori (UXOR) model. A 25-month monitoring programme was completed with the Infrared Space Observatory in the 3.3–100 μm wavelength range. Following a careful data reduction, the infrared light curves were correlated with the variations of SV Cep in the V band. A remarkable correlation was found between the optical and the far-infrared light curves. In the mid-infrared regime, the amplitude of variations is lower, with a hint for a weak anti-correlation with the optical changes. In order to interpret the observations, we modelled the spectral energy distribution of SV Cep assuming a self-shadowed disc with a puffed-up inner rim, using a two-dimensional radiative transfer code. We found that modifying the height of the inner rim, the wavelength dependence of the long-term optical–infrared variations is well reproduced, except the mid-infrared domain. The origin of variation of the rim height might be fluctuation in the accretion rate in the outer disc. In order to model the mid-infrared behaviour, we tested adding an optically thin envelope to the system, but this model failed to explain the far-infrared variability. Infrared variability is a powerful tool to discriminate between models of the circumstellar environment. The proposed mechanism of variable rim height may not be restricted to UXOR stars, but might be a general characteristic of intermediate-mass young stars.
Curcumin and its Derivatives: Their Application in Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience in the 21st Century

Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), a polyphenol extracted from the plant Curcuma longa, is widely used in Southeast Asia, China and India in food preparation and for medicinal purposes. Since the second half of the last century, this traditional medicine has attracted the attention of scientists from multiple disciplines to elucidate its pharmacological properties. Of significant interest is curcumin’s role to treat neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and Parkinson’s disease (PD) and malignancy. These diseases all share an inflammatory basis, involving increased cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and oxidative damage to lipids, nucleic acids and proteins. The therapeutic benefits of curcumin for these neurodegenerative diseases appear multifactorial via regulation of transcription factors, cytokines and enzymes associated with (Nuclear factor kappa beta) NFκB activity. This review describes the historical use of curcumin in medicine, its chemistry, stability and biological activities, including curcumin's anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, and anti-inflammatory properties. The review further discusses the pharmacology of curcumin and provides new perspectives on its therapeutic potential and limitations. Especially, the review focuses in detail on the effectiveness of curcumin and its mechanism of actions in treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and brain malignancies.
NON-SYNCHRONIZED H∞ ESTIMATION OF DISCRETE-TIME PIECEWISE LINEAR SYSTEMS

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the non-synchronized H ∞ estimation problem for a class of discrete-time piecewise linear systems. In many applications, the system is partitioned based on its state variables. Due to the estimation error, the transitions of actual state and its estimate may not be synchronized. In this paper, a Luenberger type estimator is presented to guarantee the non-synchronized H ∞ performance. Our approach employs S-procedure and partition-dependent slack variables to reduce design conservatism.
SIMULATION OF SYNTHETIC APERTURE RADAR IMAGING USING CAPON SPECTRUM ESTIMATION METHOD

The matched-filter bank (MAFI) spectral estimators have received considerable attention in a number of applications. In this paper we present an adaptive finite impulse response (FIR) filtering approach which is Capon algorithm. We compare the Capon method with fast Fourier transform (FFT) and also we compare the forward only Capon with the forwardbackward Capon.
A Recombinant Novirhabdovirus Presenting at the Surface the E Glycoprotein from West Nile Virus (WNV) Is Immunogenic and Provides Partial Protection against Lethal WNV Challenge in BALB/c Mice

West Nile Virus (WNV) is a zoonotic mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that can infect and cause disease in mammals including humans. Our study aimed at developing a WNV vectored vaccine based on a fish Novirhabdovirus, the Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHSV). VHSV replicates at temperatures lower than 20°C and is naturally inactivated at higher temperatures. A reverse genetics system has recently been developed in our laboratory for VHSV allowing the addition of genes in the viral genome and the recovery of the respective recombinant viruses (rVHSV). In this study, we have generated rVHSV vectors bearing the complete WNV envelope gene (EWNV) (rVHSV-EWNV) or fragments encoding E subdomains (either domain III alone or domain III fused to domain II) (rVHSV-DIIIWNV and rVHSV-DII-DIIIWNV, respectively) in the VHSV genome between the N and P cistrons. With the objective to enhance the targeting of the EWNV protein or EWNV-derived domains to the surface of VHSV virions, Novirhadovirus G-derived signal peptide and transmembrane domain (SPG and TMG) were fused to EWNV at its amino and carboxy termini, respectively. By Western-blot analysis, electron microscopy observations or inoculation experiments in mice, we demonstrated that both the EWNV and the DIIIWNV could be expressed at the viral surface of rVHSV upon addition of SPG. Every constructs expressing EWNV fused to SPG protected 40 to 50% of BALB/cJ mice against WNV lethal challenge and specifically rVHSV-SPGEWNV induced a neutralizing antibody response that correlated with protection. Surprisingly, rVHSV expressing EWNV-derived domain III or II and III were unable to protect mice against WNV challenge, although these domains were highly incorporated in the virion and expressed at the viral surface. In this study we demonstrated that a heterologous glycoprotein and non membrane-anchored protein, can be efficiently expressed at the surface of rVHSV making this approach attractive to develop new vaccines against various pathogens.
Development Perspectives of Rural Tourism Policy – a Comparative Study of Rural Tourism Competitiveness Based on Perceptions of Tourism Workers in Slovenia and Serbia

Abstract This paper deals with the development of rural areas in Slovenia and Serbia. The article identifies the main characteristics of rural tourism competitiveness in Slovenia and Serbia, analysing the main contributions and making a series of proposals to guide a future research agenda. The aim of the paper is simplified and clarified around one clearly defined objective: point out the competitiveness of rural tourism. The data for this study was collected using Dwyer and Kim’s (2003) Integrated Model of Destination Competitiveness to observe Slovenia’s and Vojvodina’s (Serbia) destination competitiveness. Determinants were assessed using a survey evaluating 24 indicators (demand factors and supporting factors), based upon a Likert Scale.
Relationship between attachment styles and happiness in medical students

Background: Attachment theory is one of the most important achievements of contemporary psychology. Role of medical students in the community health is important, so we need to know about the situation of happiness and attachment style in these students. Objectives: This study was aimed to assess the relationship between medical students′ attachment styles and demographic characteristics. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on randomly selected students of Medical Sciences in Kurdistan University, in 2012. To collect data, Hazan and Shaver′s attachment style measure and the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire were used. The results were analyzed using the SPSS software version 16 (IBM, Chicago IL, USA) and statistical analysis was performed via t-test, Chi-square test, and multiple regression tests. Results: Secure attachment style was the most common attachment style and the least common was ambivalent attachment style. Avoidant attachment style was more common among single persons than married people (P = 0.03). No significant relationship was observed between attachment style and gender and grade point average of the studied people. The mean happiness score of students was 62.71. In multivariate analysis, the variables of secure attachment style (P = 0.001), male gender (P = 0.005), and scholar achievement (P = 0.047) were associated with higher happiness score. Conclusion: The most common attachment style was secure attachment style, which can be a positive prognostic factor in medical students, helping them to manage stress. Higher frequency of avoidant attachment style among single persons, compared with married people, is mainly due to their negative attitude toward others and failure to establish and maintain relationships with others.
A CAPACITY-CONSTRAINED SINGLE-FACILITY MULTI- PRODUCT PRODUCTION PLANNING MODEL

A single-facility multi-product production planning model with time-variant capacity constraints is analyzed, in which known demands must be satisfied. In the model, in every production period the single facility produces a fixed number of distinct products each taking a prespecifIed part of the involved production activity (or input resource quantity). Concave production and inventory costs are assumed. Both the cases of nonbacklogging and backlogging are considered, and piecewise concave inventory costs are assumed for the case of backlogging. The structure of an optimal solution is characterized and this is used in developing a tree-search algorithm.
Ultra-Long-Haul WDM Transmission with High Spectral Efficiency

We review our recent work on ultra-long-haul wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) transmission with high spectral efficiency (SE) employing tight pre-filtering and multi-symbol detection. We start the discussion with a theoretical evaluation of the SE limit of pre-filtered modulation in optical fiber communication systems. We show that pre-filtering induced symbol correlation generates a modulation with memory and thus, a higher SE limit than that of the original memory-less modulation. We also investigate the merits of utilizing the pre-filtering induced symbol correlation with multi-symbol detection to achieve high SE transmission. We demonstrate transoceanic WDM transmission of a pre-filtered polarization division multiplexed return-to-zero quaternary phased shift keying (PDM-RZ-QPSK) modulation format with multi-symbol detection, achieving 419% SE which is higher than the SE limit of the original memory-less PDM-RZ-QPSK format.
Self-directed learning readiness and learning styles among Taibah nursing students

Background: Advancements in nursing education programs stimulate the modifications in teaching and learning approaches to enhance nursing students' capabilities. Assessing students' learning styles and readiness to learn are essential components to guide such changes. Aim: This study aims to determine the nursing students' readiness for self-directed learning (SDL) and their learning styles. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive, analytical research design was utilized in the present study. Two-hundred and thirteen nursing students studying two programs (regular and bridging) responded to the study instruments: demographics, SDL readiness (SDLR), and student-recorded responses to an online visual, aural/auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic (VARK) survey. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS (version 20) to identify the descriptive and bivariate outcomes. Results: The response rate was 76%. Learning style results showed that aural, read-write, visual, and kinesthetic learning styles accounted for 19.7%, 8.5%, 6.6%, and 25.8% of participants, respectively. Desire for learning subscales were statistically significant for gender (t = 1.985, P = 0.048), academic level (F = 2.969, P = 0.033), and mode (t = 3.610, P = 0.001). The overall SDLR scale scores were significant for residence (t = 4.938, P = 0.001) and learning style (F = 5.197, P = 0.002). Conclusion: The study revealed that participants prefer to learn using unimodal VARK modalities, and the dominant learning style was kinesthetic. The participants' level of readiness for SDL and their self-control were high compared to the other SDLR subscales. The results showed a significant connection between the participants' learning styles and the variables of their readiness for SDL.