Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Efficient Implementation of Least Squares Sine Fitting Algorithms

In this paper, three- and four-parameter least squares (LS) sine fitting algorithms are investigated. It is pointed out that the three-parameter fitting is well conditioned in its standard form, both for short and long records. Then, the conditioning of the four-parameter fitting (4PF) is investigated. A scaling factor is derived in order to ensure good conditioning of the equations. A Monte Carlo analysis is carried out to demonstrate that in practical cases, using this scaling factor ensures good conditioning for the four-parameter system. It is also shown that parameters can be determined precisely using direct pseudoinverse calculation for both methods. Hence, in this case, there is no need to use the computationally more demanding decomposition methods, although these are generally recommended for the solution of LS problems. In addition, data centering for time instants is introduced in order to further improve the numerical properties of the 4PF. It is shown that with this method, the four-parameter problem can be approximated with a diagonal matrix. Finally, an evaluation method is presented to significantly decrease roundoff errors of the widely used LS methods.
Physicochemical and sensory attributes assessment of functional low‐fat yogurt produced by incorporation of barley bran and Lactobacillus acidophilus

Abstract The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of different amounts of barley bran (0.3%, 0.6%, 0.9%, and 1.2%) on the viability of Lactobacillus acidophilus and the physicochemical and sensory properties of low‐fat yogurt during storage period (28 days). Results showed that L. acidophilus number and viscosity in samples containing barley bran was significantly higher than the control group (p < .05). High levels of barley bran (1.2%) decreased sensory prosperity scores and led to viscosity increment; although sensory prosperity scores of samples containing 0.6% barley bran did not show significant difference with control sample, while the number of L. acidophilus in this treatment was higher than minimal acceptable level (106 CFU/g). Therefore, level of 0.6% of barley bran is recommended for symbiotic yogurt production. According to the present study, a positive correlation was observed between barley bran concentrations in the yogurt with L. acidophilus number.
Feshbach resonances in ultracold mixtures of the fermionic quantum gases 6Li and 40K

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Linking children's neuropsychological processing of emotion with their knowledge of emotion expression regulation

Understanding of emotions has been shown to develop between the ages of 4 and 10 years; however, individual differences exist in this development. While previous research has typically examined these differences in terms of developmental and/or social factors, little research has considered the possible impact of neuropsychological development on the behavioural understanding of emotions. Emotion processing tends to be lateralised to the right hemisphere of the brain in adults, yet this pattern is not as evident in children until around the age of 10 years. In this study 136 children between 5 and 10 years were given both behavioural and neuropsychological tests of emotion processing. The behavioural task examined expression regulation knowledge (ERK) for prosocial and self-presentational hypothetical interactions. The chimeric faces test was given as a measure of lateralisation for processing positive facial emotion. An interaction between age and lateralisation for emotion processing was predictive of children's ERK for only the self-presentational interactions. The relationships between children's ERK and lateralisation for emotion processing changes across the three age groups, emerging as a positive relationship in the 10-year-olds. The 10-years-olds who were more lateralised to the right hemisphere for emotion processing tended to show greater understanding of the need for regulating negative emotions during interactions that would have a self-presentational motivation. This finding suggests an association between the behavioural and neuropsychological development of emotion processing.
Unbinding forces of single pertussis toxin–antibody complexes measured by atomic force spectroscopy correlate with their dissociation rates determined by surface plasmon resonance

An inactivated form of pertussis toxin (PTX) is the primary component of currently available acellular vaccines against Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough. The PTX analyzed here is purified at industrial scale and is subsequently inactivated using glutaraldehyde. The influence of this treatment on antibody recognition is of crucial importance and is analyzed in this study. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) experiments using PTX and its inactivated form (toxoid) with 10 different monoclonal antibodies were conducted. PTX was found to recognize the antibodies with an average affinity of 1.34 ± 0.50 nM, and chemical inactivation caused only a modest decrease in affinity by a factor of approximately 4.5. However, glutaraldehyde treatment had contrary effects on the kinetic association constant ka and the dissociation constant kd. A significant reduction in ka was observed, whereas the dissociation of the toxoid from the bound antibody occurred slower than PTX. These data indicate that the chemical inactivation of PTX not only reduces the velocity of antibody recognition but also stabilizes the interaction with antibodies as shown by a reduction in kd. The same interactions were also studied by dynamic force spectroscopy (DFS). Data reveal a correlation between the kd values determined by SPR and the mean unbinding force as measured by DFS. The unbinding forces of one complex were determined as a function of the loading rate to directly estimate the kd value. Several interactions were impossible to be analyzed using SPR because of ultratight binding. Using DFS, the unbinding forces of these interactions were determined, which in turn could be used to estimate kd values. The use of DFS as a technique to study ultratight binding is discussed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Forecasting of Indian stock market using time-series ARIMA model

The most reliable way to forecast the future is to try to understand the present and thus, accordingly we have set our prior objective as the analysis of the present scenario of the Indian Stock Market so as to understand and try to create a better future scope for investment. On this context, we have collected data on the monthly closing stock indices of sensex for six years(2007-2012) and based on these we have tried to develop an appropriate model which would help us to forecast the future unobserved values of the Indian stock market indices. This study offers an application of ARIMA model based on which we predict the future stock indices which have a strong influence on the performance of the Indian economy. The Indian Stock market is the centre of interest for many economists, investors and researchers and hence it is quite important for them to have a clear understanding of the present status of the market. To establish the model we applied the validation technique with the observed data of sensex of 2013.
Fiber-Reinforced Cement Composites

Historical developments mechanics of fibers basic concepts of mechanical properties - tension, bending constitutive materials mixture proportions - mixing and casting procedures properties of freshly mixed FRC properties of hardened FRC compression, tension and flexure FRC under impact and fatigue loading creep, shrinkage and long-term performance of FRC plastic drying shrinkage fiber-reinforced shotcrete glass fiber reinforced cement (GFRF) thin sheet products slurry infiltrated fiber concrete (SIFCON) use of FRC in structural components field performance and case studies.
A two-input two-output robust multiple model adaptive control (RMMAC) case study

We use the RMMAC architecture and design methodology, introduced in the work of M. Athans et al. (2005) and S. Fekri et al. (2004), to design and evaluate a truly multivariable adaptive control system; this fills a void that is present in the literature. A three-cart problem with two uncertain parameters, two controls, and two outputs is used as the case study. We show that the RMMAC significantly improves disturbance-rejection compared with the "best" non-adaptive controller designed by mixed-mu synthesis. In the example considered, in addition to two uncertainties in mass and spring constants, there are unmodeled dynamics as well as (unmeasured) stochastic disturbance inputs and noisy sensor measurements. Numerous simulation results are presented that demonstrate the superior performance of the RMMAC
A comparison of language mapping by preoperative navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation and direct cortical stimulation during awake surgery.

BACKGROUND Navigated transcranial magnetic stimulation (nTMS) is increasingly used in presurgical brain mapping. Preoperative nTMS results correlate well with direct cortical stimulation (DCS) data in the identification of the primary motor cortex. Repetitive nTMS can also be used for mapping of speech-sensitive cortical areas. OBJECTIVE The current cohort study compares the safety and effectiveness of preoperative nTMS with DCS mapping during awake surgery for the identification of language areas in patients with left-sided cerebral lesions. METHODS Twenty patients with tumors in or close to left-sided language eloquent regions were examined by repetitive nTMS before surgery. During awake surgery, language-eloquent cortex was identified by DCS. nTMS results were compared for accuracy and reliability with regard to DCS by projecting both results into the cortical parcellation system. RESULTS Presurgical nTMS maps showed an overall sensitivity of 90.2%, specificity of 23.8%, positive predictive value of 35.6%, and negative predictive value of 83.9% compared with DCS. For the anatomic Broca's area, the corresponding values were a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 13.0%, positive predictive value of 56.5%, and negative predictive value of 100%, respectively. CONCLUSION Good overall correlation between repetitive nTMS and DCS was observed, particularly with regard to negatively mapped regions. Noninvasive inhibition mapping with nTMS is evolving as a valuable tool for preoperative mapping of language areas. Yet its low specificity in posterior language areas in the current study necessitates further research to refine the methodology.
Effects of Xylanase on Growth and Gut Development of Broiler Chickens Given a Wheat-based Diet

To study the working mechanisms for non-starch polysaccharidases to improve the growth performance of broiler chickens, a 21-day feeding trial was conducted. Two dietary treatments were included: 1) wheat diet (the control); 2) wheat+xylanase diet (xylanase, Allzyme PT, Alltech, Kentucky, USA). There were 8 replicates with 8 birds each for each treatment and the experimental diets were given to birds from hatch. Feed intake and body weight were measured on days 7 and 21. At the same ages, samples were taken for the determination of selected groups of luminal and mucosa-associated bacteria, mucosal morphology, brush-border membrane (BBM) bound enzyme activity and ileal nutrient digestibility. The xylanase supplement increased (p 0.05) by xylanase. Up to day 7, xylanase increased the counts of C. perfringens in the ileum and total anaerobic bacteria (TAB) in the caeca (p 0.05) by the supplement but crypt depth at the same site was reduced at day 7. Also, xylanase tended to increase the concentration of BBM protein (p = 0.09) and the specific activity of sucrase (p = 0.07) at day 21. (Key Words : Xylanase, Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Gut Microflora, Intestinal Mucosal Morphology, Specific Activity of BBM Bound Enzymes)
Global genome splicing analysis reveals an increased number of alternatively spliced genes with aging

Alternative splicing (AS) is a key regulatory mechanism for the development of different tissues; however, not much is known about changes to alternative splicing during aging. Splicing events may become more frequent and widespread genome‐wide as tissues age and the splicing machinery stringency decreases. Using skin, skeletal muscle, bone, thymus, and white adipose tissue from wild‐type C57BL6/J male mice (4 and 18 months old), we examined the effect of age on splicing by AS analysis of the differential exon usage of the genome. The results identified a considerable number of AS genes in skeletal muscle, thymus, bone, and white adipose tissue between the different age groups (ranging from 27 to 246 AS genes corresponding to 0.3–3.2% of the total number of genes analyzed). For skin, skeletal muscle, and bone, we included a later age group (28 months old) that showed that the number of alternatively spliced genes increased with age in all three tissues (P < 0.01). Analysis of alternatively spliced genes across all tissues by gene ontology and pathway analysis identified 158 genes involved in RNA processing. Additional analysis of AS in a mouse model for the premature aging disease Hutchinson–Gilford progeria syndrome was performed. The results show that expression of the mutant protein, progerin, is associated with an impaired developmental splicing. As progerin accumulates, the number of genes with AS increases compared to in wild‐type skin. Our results indicate the existence of a mechanism for increased AS during aging in several tissues, emphasizing that AS has a more important role in the aging process than previously known.
U. S. Health Researchers Review Their Ethics Review Boards: A Qualitative Study

Virtually all research involving human subjects in the United States must be reviewed by an institutional review board, a form of research ethics review board. This article reports the results of qualitative research on how investigators regard this regulatory regime. Interviews were conducted with forty investigators conducting health-related research. Most respondents shared the regulations' goals, but doubted that the regulations, as implemented, promoted these goals efficiently, effectively and fairly. The interviews suggest that efforts to raise researchers' ethical consciousness have been, over time, quite successful, but that implementation of the regulations remains problematic. Research aimed at better defining the problem to be solved by the regulatory system, and at assessing the effectiveness of the regulatory tools for solving properly defined problems, could guide a more productive debate about human subject protection.
Some Hematological Parameters In Malaria Parasitaemia

Differential white blood count in children between the age of 5-10 years in Owerri was investigated in 50 malaria positive children and 20 age matched children who were negative for malaria. Their differential count where estimated in addition with their PCV and platelet. The mean total white blood cell count was also estimated the result obtained shows that The mean total white blood cell count was significantly lower in malaria subjects than in non infected subjects (5.1±0.98), (7.9 ± 1.2), (p<0.05) the results obtained also shows that neutrophil count of infected subjects (42.7± 7.90) was significantly lower (P<0.05) when compared with that of non infected subjects (49.0±8.60). The mean value of lymphocyte count of malaria subjects was significantly increased (p<0.05)(52.5±9.35) when compared with non infected subjects (48.9±8.80). The mean value of eosinophil count of malaria subjects was significantly increased (2.2±0.49) when compared with non infected subjects (1.1±0.27). The mean value of monocyte was significantly increased in malaria infected subjects (3.3±0.66) when compared with non infected subjects (1.0±0.25), (p<0.05). The PCV and platelet of infected subjects respectively were significantly decreased when compared with that of non infected subjects (p<0.05). Conclusively, malaria parasite infection affects almost all the blood cells.
Corrosion resistance of Mg–8·8Li alloy compared with AZ91

The superlight Mg–Li alloys exhibit good formability but poor corrosion resistance due to the alloying of lithium. In this paper, the corrosion behaviour of Mg–8·8Li alloy was investigated by electrochemical measurements, corrosion morphology observations and weight loss determination. The results indicate that Mg–8·8Li alloy displays worse corrosion resistance than AZ91D alloy in the early stages of corrosion. However, the corrosion resistance of AZ91D alloy declines and becomes worse than Mg–8·8Li alloy with increasing exposure time. In addition, it is found that a 250°C annealing treatment has a detrimental effect on the corrosion resistance of Mg–8·8Li alloy.
Respiratory mechanics and morphology of Tibetan and Andean high-altitude geese with divergent life histories

ABSTRACT High-altitude bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) and Andean geese (Chloephaga melanoptera) have been shown to preferentially increase tidal volume over breathing frequency when increasing ventilation during exposure to hypoxia. Increasing tidal volume is a more effective breathing strategy but is also thought to be more mechanically and metabolically expensive. We asked whether there might be differences in the mechanics or morphology of the respiratory systems of high-altitude transient bar-headed geese and high-altitude resident Andean geese that could minimize the cost of breathing more deeply. We compared these two species with a low-altitude migratory species, the barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis). We ventilated anesthetized birds to measure mechanical properties of the respiratory system and used CT scans to quantify respiratory morphology. We found that the respiratory system of Andean geese was disproportionately larger than that of the other two species, allowing use of a deeper breathing strategy for the same energetic cost. The relative size of the respiratory system, especially the caudal air sacs, of bar-headed geese was also larger than that of barnacle geese. However, when normalized to respiratory system size, the mechanical cost of breathing did not differ significantly among these three species, indicating that deeper breathing is enabled by morphological but not mechanical differences between species. The metabolic cost of breathing was estimated to be <1% of basal metabolic rate at rest in normoxia. Because of differences in the magnitude of the ventilatory response, the cost of breathing was estimated to increase 7- to 10-fold in bar-headed and barnacle geese in severe hypoxia, but less than 1-fold in Andean geese exposed to the same low atmospheric PO2. Summary: Larger, but mechanically similar, respiratory systems enable the slow, deep breathing pattern of geese that reside (Andean geese) or migrate (bar-headed geese) at high altitude compared with low-altitude resident species (barnacle geese).
Limiting zeros of decouplable MIMO systems

For sufficiently rapid zero-order hold (ZOH) sampling, it is known that the zeros of single-input/single-output discrete-time systems expressed in the forward shift operator converge to values determined only by the degrees of the finite and infinite zeros of the underlying continuous-time system. In this paper, it is shown how this result can be generalized to multi-input/multi-output (MIMO) systems decouplable by static-state feedback (equivalently, having a diagonal interactor matrix). In the fast sampling limit, the authors show how invariant and infinite zero structure is mapped under ZOH sampling for discrete-time systems expressed in either the delta (forward difference) or forward shift operators.
Practices and Perceptions of Animal Contact and Associated Health Outcomes in Pregnant Women and New Mothers

Companion animals play an important role in our society. However, pregnant women and new mothers might have specific concerns about animal-associated health outcomes because of their altered immune function and posture as well as their newborn babies. The study was conducted to collect baseline data for developing an evidence-based intervention for pregnant women and new mothers to help them adopt certain behaviors to prevent adverse animal-associated health outcomes. A survey, using the Health Belief Model as the theoretical framework, was developed and administered to 326 women attending the Women, Infants, and Children programs in Illinois and Indiana in 2015. Prevalence of dog and cat ownership was estimated to be 39% (95% CI: 33–45%) and 26% (95% CI: 21–31%), respectively. Regardless of pet ownership, 74% of the respondents reported having some type of animal contact in the past month. Pregnancy or the birth of a child altered some animal contact practices among the study participants; particularly a discontinuation or decrease in cleaning cat litter boxes. Reports of diseases contracted from animals were low (4%) in this study. By contrast, animal-associated injuries were prevalent (42%), and the majority were caused by animals the respondents owned (56%). Overall, respondents indicated that they appreciated the benefits of a program addressing animal-associated health outcomes and did not indicate strong resistance to adopt certain behaviors. The majority recognized human health-care providers as a source of information about animal contact and associated health outcomes but less frequently identified veterinarians as a source for such information. In addition, although most of the respondents felt that health-care providers and veterinarians should initiate discussions about preventing animal-associated illness and injuries, only 41% among those who had visited doctors or prenatal care services reported that their health-care providers discussed these issues with them. The results indicate the importance of an intervention concerning animal contact and associated health outcomes for the target population and provide insights to the potential implications of program implementation.
Do practice nurses have the knowledge to provide diabetes self-management education?

Abstract Purpose: Practice nurses are ideally positioned to provide key aspects of self-management education to a large majority of people with diabetes within a primary care setting. However, practice nurses have seldom had comprehensive training in this field and consequently their role may have limitations. A study was designed to determine the diabetes related knowledge levels of practice nurses in a regional/rural setting in Australia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken using a questionnaire to identify the knowledge of practice nurses. A convenience sample of PNs (N = 52) was drawn from a Division of General Practice in a regional/rural area of NSW. Data was collected using a 14 item knowledge survey from the National Association of Diabetes Centres. Results: Twenty-nine PNs (55%) responded to the survey; primarily the participants were registered nurses (89.6%), only one had completed a postgraduate qualification in diabetes, although 76% had recently completed one or more short courses in diabetes management. Pathophysiology related knowledge was strong (M = 88%) as was knowledge concerning blood glucose monitoring (87%). Less strong was dietary knowledge (79.5%), although one particular question relating to sources of carbohydrate contributed to the lower score. The weakest knowledge area was medication management, with PNs scoring a mean score of only 54%. Conclusion: These findings suggest that PNs have deficits in the knowledge required for DSME and therefore, this must be addressed through targetting continuing professional development.