Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Primary and secondary biomass burning aerosols determined by proton nuclear magnetic resonance ( 1 H-NMR) spectroscopy during the 2008 EUCAARI campaign in the Po Valley (Italy)

Abstract. Atmospheric organic aerosols are generally classified as primary and secondary (POA and SOA) according to their formation processes. An actual separation, however, is challenging when the timescales of emission and gas-to-particle formation overlap. The presence of SOA formation in biomass burning plumes leads to scientific questions about whether the oxidized fraction of biomass burning aerosol is rather of secondary or primary origin, as some studies would suggest, and about the chemical compositions of oxidized biomass burning POA and SOA. In this study, we apply nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to investigate the functional group composition of fresh and aged biomass burning aerosols during an intensive field campaign in the Po Valley, Italy. The campaign was part of the EUCAARI project and was held at the rural station of San Pietro Capofiume in spring 2008. Factor analysis applied to the set of NMR spectra was used to apportion the wood burning contribution and other organic carbon (OC) source contributions, including aliphatic amines. Our NMR results, referred to the polar, water-soluble fraction of OC, show that fresh wood burning particles are composed of polyols and aromatic compounds, with a sharp resemblance to wood burning POA produced in wood stoves, while aged samples are clearly depleted of alcohols and are enriched in aliphatic acids with a smaller contribution of aromatic compounds. The comparison with biomass burning organic aerosols (BBOA) determined by high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometry (HR-TOF-AMS) at the site shows only a partial overlap between NMR BB-POA and AMS BBOA, which can be explained by either the inability of BBOA to capture all BB-POA composition, especially the alcohol fraction, or the fact that BBOA account for insoluble organic compounds unmeasured by the NMR. Therefore, an unambiguous composition for biomass burning POA could not be derived from this study, with NMR analysis indicating a higher O / C ratio compared to that measured for AMS BBOA. The comparison between the two techniques substantially improves when adding factors tracing possible contributions from biomass burning SOA, showing that the operational definitions of biomass burning organic aerosols are more consistent between techniques when including more factors tracing chemical classes over a range of oxidation levels. Overall, the non-fossil total carbon fraction was 50–57%, depending on the assumptions about the 14C content of non-fossil carbon, and the fraction of organic carbon estimated to be oxidized organic aerosol (OOA) from HR-TOF-AMS measurements was 73–100% modern.
A Built-In Self-Repair Scheme for Multiport RAMs

Built-in self-repair (BISR) techniques have been widely used for enhancing the yield of embedded memories. This paper presents an efficient BISR scheme for multiport RAMs (MPRAMs). The BISR scheme has a defect-location module (DLM) executing a defect-location algorithm to locate inter-port defects. This enhances the fault-location capability of the applied test algorithm with only a few amount of cost of testing time. A built-in redundancy analyzer (BIRA) executing a proposed redundancy analysis algorithm is also proposed to allocate two-dimension redundancy of MPRAMs. Experimental results show that if a faulty MPRAM has 20% inter-port faults, the DLM can boost the increment of repair rate from 8.4% to 14.4% for different redundancy configurations. The area cost of the BIRA and DLM is small, it is only about 1% for a 4096 times 128-bit MPRAM with 1 spare row and 1 spare IO.
Twenty-one-year trends in the use of inferior vena cava filters.

BACKGROUND Improved inferior vena cava (IVC) filters have led to liberalization of the indications for insertion. Increased use, however, has been followed with a potential for unwarranted insertion. There are only sparse data on trends in the use of IVC filters in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE), patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) alone, and patients at high risk. We analyzed the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) database for such trends. METHODS We used data from the NHDS, which is based on a national probability sample of discharges from short-stay nonfederal hospitals in 50 states and the District of Columbia. The numbers of sampled patients with DVT, PE, and IVC filters were determined from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes at discharge. RESULTS The number of patients who had IVC filters increased from 2000 in 1979 to 49 000 in 1999. In 1999, 45% of IVC filter insertions were in patients with DVT alone, 36% were in patients with PE, and 19% were in patients who presumably were at high risk but did not have DVT or PE listed as a discharge code. The use of IVC filters was more frequent in northeastern states than in western states (P =.01). CONCLUSIONS The use of IVC filters increased markedly during the last 2 decades in patients with PE, patients with DVT alone, and patients at risk who had neither PE nor DVT. Randomized controlled trials may lead to improved risk stratification and limit the number of unnecessary filter insertions.
Effects of isoflavone supplementation on the bone mineral density of growing female rats

This study was focused on whether or not isoflavones affect the increase in bone mineral density of growing females. Female Sprague-Dawley rats (60 ± 5 g) were randomly assigned to two groups and provided control diets (control group) or isoflavone-supplemented diet (IF group, 57.8 mg isoflavones/100 g diet) for 9 weeks in growing female rats. Measurements of Bone Mineral Density (BMD) and Bone Mineral Content (BMC) on the experimental animals were executed in the 3rd, 6th, 9th weeks. In result, there was no significant difference in spine BMD between the isoflavones supplemented group and the control group. But, the IF group tended to have higher BMD than the control group in between 3 and 9 experimental weeks, and the striking difference could be shown in the 6th week of feeding. In case of femur BMD, the effects of added isoflavones appeared in the 6th week of feeding, and it became intensified in the 9th week of feeding to the extent that the BMD in the IF group was significantly higher than that of the control group (p<0.05). In conclusion, isoflavone supplementation increased spine BMD per weight in the 6th week of feeding, and affected the increase of femur BMD in the 9th week. The result of the experiment implies that it affects positively the formation of spine and femur BMD of growing female rats. The study also suggests that the effects of isoflavone on the pattern of BMD formation might differ from the parts of bones.
Pregnancy Outcomes Among Asian Americans.

PURPOSE: The study examines differentials in various measures of pregnancy outcomes among all Asian Americans (N=328, 890) in the United States. METHODS: Cumulative data from the linked birth and infant/fetal death files for the period 1985­87 were used to study such Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) groups as Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian, and "Other Asian and Pacific Islanders. " White and black infants were considered as main comparison groups. Race/ethnic differences in pregnancy outcome measures such as perinatal, neonatal, postneonatal, and infant mortality rates, rates of low birth weight and preterm birth as well as those in maternal characteristics (e.g., maternal age, education, marital status, parity, nativity, and prenatal care) were analyzed. SUMMARY OF IMPORTANT FINDINGS: Results of the descriptive analyses indicate important race/ethnic differences, with Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, and "Other Asians and Pacific Islanders" showing generally more favorable pregnancy outcomes and lower maternal risk profiles than Whites, Blacks, and Hawaiians. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: There is substantial heterogeneity among the AAPI groups, with Chinese exhibiting the most favorable and Hawaiians the least favorable pregnancy outcomes. The lower maternal risk profile appears to contribute to the relatively advantageous pregnancy outcomes of the Chinese and Japanese Americans compared to the other groups. The ethnically diverse group "Other Asian and Pacific Islanders" needs to be further subdivided so that specific Asian subgroups within this category, which may be at increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, can be identified. RELEVANCE TO ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICAN POPULATIONS: This study reports comparative analyses of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian, and "Other Asian and Pacific Islanders. " KEY WORDS: Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, pregnancy, infant, perinatal, preterm, low birth weight
Anti-Ω : the weakest failure detector for set agreement

In the set agreement problem, n processes have to decide on at most n− 1 of the proposed values. This paper shows that the anti-Ω failure detector is both sufficient and necessary to implement set agreement in an asynchronous sharedmemory system equipped with registers. Each query to anti-Ω returns a single process id; the specification ensures that there is a correct process whose id is returned only finitely many times.
Occult hepatitis B infection and HBV replicative activity in patients with cryptogenic cause of hepatocellular carcinoma

We aimed to investigate the incidence of occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) in patients with “cryptogenic” hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to study the HBV replicative activity in these patients. Tumorous and adjacent nontumorous liver tissues were obtained from 33 cryptogenic HCC patients and 28 HCC patients with identifiable causes (13 with chronic hepatitis B [CHB], six with chronic hepatitis C, and nine alcohol‐related). OBI was identified by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Intrahepatic HBV DNA, covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), and pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) were quantified by real‐time PCR and reverse‐transcription PCR (RT‐PCR), respectively. OBI was identified in 24 (73%) cryptogenic HCC patients, one (17%) HCC patient with HCV, and five (56%) patients with alcohol‐related HCC. In HCC patients with OBI, HBV DNA were detected in ≥2 HBV genomic regions more often in nontumorous tissues than in tumorous tissues (90% versus 57%, respectively; P = 0.007). Cryptogenic HCC patients with OBI had lower intrahepatic total HBV DNA levels than HCC patients with CHB (median: 0.010 versus 3.19 copies/cell, respectively; P < 0.0001). Only six (26%) cryptogenic HCC patients with OBI had detectable cccDNA (median: <0.0002 copies/cell), which was significantly lower than that of the CHB patients (median: 0.005 copies/cell; P < 0.0001). HBV pgRNA were detectable in 12 (52%) cryptogenic HCC patients with OBI (median: 0.0001 copies/cell), which was significantly lower than that of the CHB patients (median: 2.90 copies/cell; P < 0.001). Conclusion: 73% of patients with apparently unidentifiable causes for HCC were HBV‐related. The detection rate was higher in nontumorous tissues than tumorous tissues. The low intrahepatic HBV DNA and pgRNA levels indicated that persistent viral replication and possibly HBV integration are the likely causes of HCC in OBI patients. (HEPATOLOGY 2011;)
Bit Rate Maximising Per-Tone Equalisation with Adaptive Implementation for DMT-Based Systems

We present a bit rate maximising per-tone equalisation (BM-PTEQ) cost function that is based on an exact subchannel SNR as a function of per-tone equaliser in discrete multitone (DMT) systems. We then introduce the proposed BM-PTEQ criterion whose derivation for solution is shown to inherit from the methodology of the existing bit rate maximising time-domain equalisation (BM-TEQ). By solving a nonlinear BM-PTEQ cost function, an adaptive BM-PTEQ approach based on a recursive Levenberg-Marquardt (RLM) algorithm is presented with the adaptive inverse square-root (iQR) algorithm for DMT-based systems. Simulation results confirm that the performance of the proposed adaptive iQR RLM-based BM-PTEQ converges close to the performance of the proposed BM-PTEQ. Moreover, the performance of both these proposed BM-PTEQ algorithms is improved as compared with the BM-TEQ.
Learning epipolar geometry from image sequences

We wish to determine the epipolar geometry of a stereo camera pair from image measurements alone. This paper describes a solution to this problem, which does not require a parametric model of the camera system, and consequently applies equally well to a wide class of stereo configurations. Examples in the paper range from a standard pinhole stereo configuration to more exotic systems combining curved mirrors and wide-angle lenses. The method described here allows epipolar curves to be learnt from multiple image pairs acquired by stereo cameras with fixed configuration. By aggregating information over the multiple image pairs, a dense map of the epipolar curves can be determined on the images. The algorithm requires a large number of images, but has the distinct benefit that the correspondence problem does not have to be explicitly solved. We show that for standard stereo configurations the results are comparable to those obtained from a state of the art parametric model method, despite the significantly weaker constraints on the non-parametric model. The new algorithm is simple to implement, so it may easily be employed on a new and possibly complex camera system.
Potent Activation of the Human Tandem Pore Domain K Channel TRESK with Clinical Concentrations of Volatile Anesthetics

The tandem pore domain K channel family mediates background K currents present in excitable cells. Currents passed by certain members of the family are enhanced by volatile anesthetics, thus suggesting a novel mechanism of anesthesia. The newest member of the family, termed TRESK (TWIK [tandem pore domain weak inward rectifying channel]-related spinal cord K channel), has not been studied for anesthetic sensitivity. We isolated the coding sequence for TRESK from human spinal cord RNA and functionally expressed it in Xenopus oocytes and transfected COS-7 cells. With both whole-cell voltage-clamp and patch-clamp recording, TRESK currents increased up to three-fold by clinical concentrations of isoflurane, halothane, sevoflurane, and desflurane. Nonanesthetics (nonimmobilizers) had no effect on TRESK. Various IV anesthetics, including etomidate, thiopental, and propofol, have a minimal effect on TRESK currents. Amide and ester local anesthetics inhibit TRESK in a concentration-dependent manner but at concentrations generally larger than those that inhibit other tandem pore domain K channels. We also determined that TRESK is found not only in spinal cord, but also in human brain RNA. These results identify TRESK as a target of volatile anesthetics and suggest a role for this background K channel in mediating the effects of inhaled anesthetics in the central nervous system.
A comparative analytic study on the Gaussian mixture and context dependent deep neural network hidden Markov models

We conducted a comparative analytic study on the contextdependent Gaussian mixture hiddenMarkov model (CD-GMMHMM) and deep neural network hidden Markov model (CDDNN-HMM) with respect to the phone discrimination and the robustness performance. We found that the DNN can significantly improve the phone recognition performance for every phoneme with 15.6% to 39.8% relative phone error rate reduction (PERR). It is particularly good at discriminating certain consonants, which are found to be “hard” in the GMM. On the robustness side, the DNN outperforms the GMM at all SNR levels, across different devices, and under all speaking rate with nearly uniform improvement. The performance gap with respect to different SNR levels, distinct channels, and varied speaking rate remains large. For example, in CD-DNNHMM, we observed 1∼2% performance degradation per 1dB SNR drop; 20∼25% performance gap between the best and least well performed devices; 15∼30% relative word error rate increase when the speaking rate speeds up or slows down by 30% from the “sweet” spot. Therefore, we conclude the robustness remains to be a major challenge in the deep learning acoustic model. Speech enhancement, channel normalization, and speaking rate compensation are important research areas in order to further improve the DNN model accuracy.
Robust Sliding Mode Control with Integral Sliding surface of an underactuated rotary hook system

In this paper, robust Integral Sliding Mode Control (ISMC) will be proposed for an underactuated rotary hook system in order to deal with parametric uncertainties presenting in the system parameters. By using the proposed ISMC, the reaching phase encountered in the conventional SMC will be eliminated and as a consequence, the dynamic ambiguity, which occurs when the system is in the transient state forwarding to the sliding mode, can be completely avoided. Furthermore, when the system slides on the sliding surface, the constraints for controller gains will be clarified in order to ensure the robust stability of the closed-loop system. All of conclusions will be drawn through both simulation and experimental results.
Assessment of ascending aorta wall stiffness in hypertensive patients by tissue Doppler imaging and strain Doppler echocardiography

Background Aortic stiffness may be associated with an increased incidence of cardiovascular events and has been reported to be related to arterial wall motion velocities as measured by tissue Doppler imaging. Objective To investigate the potential clinical application of tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) for assessment of aortic function parameters in healthy and hypertensive adults. Methods 110 hypertensive and 80 healthy adults were examined. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (Aix) were measured as standard parameters of arterial stiffness by an oscillometric system. Aortic M-mode and TDI parameters were measured. Aortic distensibility (D) and aortic stiffness index (SI) were calculated using accepted formulae. Anterior wall aortic expansion velocity (SAo), acceleration time (ATAo), early (EAo) and late (AAo) diastolic retraction velocity and peak systolic radial strain (εAo) were determined. Comprehensive echocardiography was performed for the assessment of left ventricular (LV) systolic/diastolic function. Results SAo, EAo and eAo were significantly lower in hypertensive subjects (p<.001, p<.001, and p<.0001, respectively). Reduced D (p<.05 vs controls) and increased PWV (p<.05 vs controls) and SI (p<.01 vs controls) were consistent with evidence of increased aortic stiffness in both male and female hypertensive patients. PWV and Aix increased and D decreased with increasing age or systolic blood pressure. Multivariate analysis showed εAo to be independently related (R2 = 0.63) to pulse pressure, LV mass index and diastolic function. Conclusion Ascending aorta TDI provides wall velocity and strain data differentiating hypertensive from healthy adults and reflecting aortic compliance changes related to age and sex and LV diastolic function.
Support for and reported compliance with smoke-free restaurants and bars by smokers in four countries: findings from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey

Objective: To explore determinants of support for and reported compliance with smoke-free policies in restaurants and bars across the four countries of the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Four Country Survey. Design: Separate telephone cross-sectional surveys conducted between October and December 2002 with broadly representative samples of over 2000 adult (⩾ 18 years) cigarette smokers in each of the following four countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Outcome measures: Support for smoke-free policies in restaurants and pubs/bars and reported compliance with existing policies. Results: Reported total bans on indoor smoking in restaurants varied from 62% in Australia to 5% in the UK. Smoking bans in bars were less common, with California in the USA being the only major part of any country with documented bans. Support for bans in both restaurants and bars was related to the existence of bans, beliefs about passive smoking being harmful, lower average cigarette consumption, and older age. Self-reported compliance with a smoking ban was generally high and was associated with greater support for the ban. Conclusions: Among current cigarette smokers, support for smoking bans was associated with living in a place where the law prohibits smoking. Smokers adjust and both accept and comply with smoke-free laws. Associates of support and compliance are remarkably similar across countries given the notably different levels of smoke-free policies.
Type IIB solutions with interpolating supersymmetries

We study type IIB supergravity solutions with four supersymmetries that interpolate between two types widely considered in the literature: the dual of Becker and Becker's compactifications of M-theory to 3 dimensions and the dual of Strominger's torsion compactifications of heterotic theory to 4 dimensions. We find that for all intermediate solutions the internal manifold is not Calabi-Yau, but has SU(3) holonomy in a connection with a torsion given by the 3-form flux. All 3-form and 5-form fluxes, as well as the dilaton, depend on one function appearing in the supersymmetry spinor, which satisfies a nonlinear differential equation. We check that the fields corresponding to a flat bound state of D3/D5-branes lie in our class of solutions. The relations among supergravity fields that we derive should be useful in studying new gravity duals of gauge theories, as well as possibly compactifications.
Recent results

This project pertains to the development of a systematic methodology for the design of dyes, fibers and textile auxiliaries, to provide a unified ‘language’ for industrial and academic textile scientists working in these areas. The benefits of such an approach would include a reduction in the number of organic compounds requiring synthesis before a commercially viable product is obtained, thereby providing more efficient use of R&D resources. Our approach to the development of such a methodology has involved utilizing recent advances in computational chemistry in the design process. Having established the scope and limitations of modern desktop hardware and MO-based molecular modeling methods, we are presently demonstrating that high strength polymers and lightfast dyes can be designed for key textile applications.
Tracking of a non-rigid object via patch-based dynamic appearance modeling and adaptive Basin Hopping Monte Carlo sampling

We propose a novel tracking algorithm for the target of which geometric appearance changes drastically over time. To track it, we present a local patch-based appearance model and provide an efficient scheme to evolve the topology between local patches by on-line update. In the process of on-line update, the robustness of each patch in the model is estimated by a new method of measurement which analyzes the landscape of local mode of the patch. This patch can be moved, deleted or newly added, which gives more flexibility to the model. Additionally, we introduce the Basin Hopping Monte Carlo (BHMC) sampling method to our tracking problem to reduce the computational complexity and deal with the problem of getting trapped in local minima. The BHMC method makes it possible for our appearance model to consist of enough numbers of patches. Since BHMC uses the same local optimizer that is used in the appearance modeling, it can be efficiently integrated into our tracking framework. Experimental results show that our approach tracks the object whose geometric appearance is drastically changing, accurately and robustly.