Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Outbursts of EX Hydrae revisited

We present optical spectroscopy of EX Hya during its 1991 outburst. This outburst is characterized by strong irradiation of the front face of the secondary star by the white dwarf, an overflowing stream which is seen strongly in He II λ 4686 and by a dip in the light curves, which extends from 0.1 to 0.6 in the binary and spin phases. Strong irradiation of the accretion curtain and that of the inner regions of the disc led to strong emission of He II λ 4686 and to the suppression of the Hy and Hβ emission. Disc overflow was observed in quiescence in earlier studies, where the overflow stream material was modulated at high velocities close to 1000 km s- 1 . In outburst, the overflowing material is modulated at even higher velocities (∼1500 km s -1 ). These are streaming velocities down the field lines close to the white dwarf. Evidence for material collecting near the outer edge of the disc and corotating with the accretion curtain was observed. In decline, this material and the accretion curtain obscured almost all the emission near binary phase 0.4, causing a dip. The dip minimum nearly corresponds with spin pulse minimum. This has provided additional evidence for an extended accretion curtain, and for the corotation of material with the accretion curtain at the outer edge of the disc. From these observations we suggest that a mechanism similar to that of Spruit and Taam, where outbursts result due to the storage and release of matter outside the magnetosphere, triggers the outbursts of EX Hya. This is followed by the irradiation of the secondary star due to accretion induced radiation.
Accuracy of implant casts generated with splinted and non-splinted impression techniques for edentulous patients: an optical scanning study.

BACKGROUND The accuracy of implant casts generated with various impression techniques was mainly investigated in vitro resulting in limited clinical data. PURPOSE (1) To compare the three-dimensional (3-D) accuracy of splinted and non-splinted impression techniques to the control casts (verification jigs) that had been used for actual patient treatment; and (2) to determine the maximum level of clinically undetectable misfit. The null hypothesis was that there would be no significant difference in the accuracy of casts generated with different impression techniques. MATERIALS AND METHODS The implant casts used for the prosthetic rehabilitation of 12 edentulous jaws with CAD/CAM zirconia, implant-fixed complete dental prosthesis (IFCDP) were included in this study. Intraoral acrylic jigs were used to fabricate index casts. Splinted and non-splinted, open-tray techniques were used to generate two casts. Optical scanning acquisition of the x-coordinates, y-coordinates and z-coordinates of the implant positions for each individual cast was performed. The "best fit" algorithm was used with computer software to superimpose the scanning datasets. Group I (n=12) included casts from the splinted impression technique vs. acrylic jig casts, and group II (n=12) included casts from non-splinted technique vs. jig casts. RESULTS The paired t-test and Wilcoxon's signed ranks test were used to compare the 3-D discrepancies within and between groups I (splinted vs. jig) and II (non-splinted vs. jig), respectively. Significant difference was found at the x-axis, y-axis and 3-D between groups I and II (P<0.05), but not in the vertical z-axis (P>0.05). Within subject, global 3-D discrepancies between groups I and II were significantly different (P<0.05), corroborated by in vivo observations of clinical fit. Implant position in the arch affected the 3-D accuracy of casts for both anterior and posterior implants (P<0.05). CONCLUSION The splinted technique generated more accurate master casts than the non-splinted technique for one-piece IFCDPs in edentulous jaws and the null hypothesis was rejected. These clinical implications demonstrate improved accuracy of splinted impression techniques compared with the non-splinted technique. For the external connection, the implant system used in this study, a 3-D misfit ranging from 59 to 72 μm, may be considered the maximum discrepancy resulting in an acceptable clinical fit with one-piece IFCDPs.
Analysis of Metabolic Indices in Regions of Abnormal Perfusion in Patients with High-Grade Glioma

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) and dynamic susceptibility-contrast MR imaging (DSC-MR imaging) are functional in vivo techniques for assessing tumor metabolism and vasculature characteristics. Because tumor hypoxia is influenced by tortuous, degraded, swollen, and angiogenic tumor vasculature, regions of abnormal perfusion parameters should coexist with changes in lactate and creatine metabolite levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: DSC-MR imaging and lactate-edited MRSI were performed on 38 treatment-naive patients with high-grade gliomas (17 grade III, 21 grade IV) before surgical diagnosis. Regions of abnormal perfusion were determined from peak height and percent recovery maps for each voxel within the spectroscopic imaging volume. Choline, creatine, and lactate levels within voxels experiencing only abnormal peak height (aPH), only abnormal recovery (aRec), and both abnormal peak height and recovery (aPH+aRec) were determined and compared to the surrounding T2 hyperintensity (T2h) and normal-appearing white matter. RESULTS: There were decreasing trends in volume from aPH to aRec to aPH+aRec regions for both grade III and grade IV gliomas. Grade IV gliomas exhibited significantly elevated choline in all abnormal perfusion regions, with reduced creatine and increased lactate in the aRec region relative to the surrounding T2h. Grade III gliomas showed trends toward increased creatine within the aPH region and reduced levels within the aRec region. CONCLUSION: Depressed creatine and elevated lactate levels confirmed the lack of oxygenation within regions of compromised vascular integrity. Identification of regions with leaky or dense vasculature and metabolic markers of hypoxia and cellular proliferation could be useful in determining the more aggressive part of the tumor for targeting, monitoring, and assessing effects of treatment.
Active Pedestrian Protection

Vulnerable road users, especially pedestrians, are more susceptible to fatal and serious injury compared with vehicle occupants. Although the frequency of accidents involving pedestrians has reduced in recent years, there are still approximately 800 pedestrians killed and 7,000 seriously injured every year in Great Britain. Furthermore, in the late nineties, more than 6,000 pedestrians were fatally injured annually on EU roads, accounting for approximately 20% of all road fatalities. The kinematics of pedestrian impacts has been well documented and test procedures have been adopted by EuroNCAP and changes made to EU regulation. Whilst this is aimed at driving improved pedestrian-friendly car design, further benefits could be achieved with the use of pre-crash sensing and active safety systems. Such systems require sensors capable of accurately and reliably detecting the presence of a pedestrian prior to a collision, and activating protective countermeasures effectively in order to reduce the pedestrian injury risk. Accident data has been collected as part of a project developing a sensing system for cars capable of detecting and reacting to the presence of pedestrians. Systems that use radar, infra-red, laser, or ultrasound sensors to scan the 'target area' for obstacles, must be intrinsically safe, accurate and reliable, yet low cost in mass-production. A sensor array comprising both radar and infra-red devices has been developed as part of a project for the UK Foresight Vehicle programme. Other work has involved systems that have been developed to demonstrate the potential for using external airbags to provide a means of protecting pedestrians during a frontal impact. This paper examines the pedestrian accident data, and the specification and application for pre-crash sensing. Systems for pedestrian detection and protection have been developed and the research in these areas is described.
High‐latitude oceanography using the Autosub autonomous underwater vehicle

A combination of measurements from Autosub, an autonomous underwater vehicle, and ship‐based instruments are used to describe the oceanographic conditions beneath Fimbul Ice Shelf, Antarctica. The data show an intricate oceanographic regime that is suggestive of variability at seasonal or longer time scales. Results from a numerical model of the flow beneath the ice shelf lend support to a strong seasonal variability, and data from instruments moored beneath the ice shelf show substantial temporal variations. The Autosub data indicate temperatures within the cavity somewhat lower than our model results would suggest; thus, our modeled melt rates (average of 0.85 m yr−1) might be overestimates, although they are substantially lower than from previously published model studies (4.9 and 1.9 m yr−1). The contribution of ice shelf melt in the freshwater balance of the waters upstream of the climatically important Filchner‐Ronne Ice Shelf needs to be reassessed.
Molecular Basis for Nucleotide Conservation at the Ends of the Dengue Virus Genome

The dengue virus (DV) is an important human pathogen from the Flavivirus genus, whose genome- and antigenome RNAs start with the strictly conserved sequence pppAG. The RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), a product of the NS5 gene, initiates RNA synthesis de novo, i.e., without the use of a pre-existing primer. Very little is known about the mechanism of this de novo initiation and how conservation of the starting adenosine is achieved. The polymerase domain NS5PolDV of NS5, upon initiation on viral RNA templates, synthesizes mainly dinucleotide primers that are then elongated in a processive manner. We show here that NS5PolDV contains a specific priming site for adenosine 5′-triphosphate as the first transcribed nucleotide. Remarkably, in the absence of any RNA template the enzyme is able to selectively synthesize the dinucleotide pppAG when Mn2+ is present as catalytic ion. The T794 to A799 priming loop is essential for initiation and provides at least part of the ATP-specific priming site. The H798 loop residue is of central importance for the ATP-specific initiation step. In addition to ATP selection, NS5PolDV ensures the conservation of the 5′-adenosine by strongly discriminating against viral templates containing an erroneous 3′-end nucleotide in the presence of Mg2+. In the presence of Mn2+, NS5PolDV is remarkably able to generate and elongate the correct pppAG primer on these erroneous templates. This can be regarded as a genomic/antigenomic RNA end repair mechanism. These conservational mechanisms, mediated by the polymerase alone, may extend to other RNA virus families having RdRps initiating RNA synthesis de novo.
Proton spectroscopy and diffusion imaging on the first day of life after perinatal asphyxia: preliminary report.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE MR techniques have proved useful in assessing brain injury from perinatal asphyxia when the injury is subacute or chronic. Recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms of brain injury have made medical intervention plausible, creating a need for assessment of the brain within the first few hours of life. We report the results of early (first 24 hours after birth) MR imaging in seven patients, including proton MR spectroscopy in six. METHODS MR studies were performed within the first 24 hours of life in seven consecutive patients who were encephalopathic after complicated deliveries. Standard T1-, T2-, and diffusion-weighted sequences were performed in all patients; single-voxel MR spectroscopy was performed in two locations in six of the seven patients. Follow-up MR studies were performed in four patients at ages 7, 8, 9, and 15 days, respectively. RESULTS T1-weighted images were normal in all seven patients. T2-weighted images were normal in three patients and showed T2 prolongation in the basal ganglia or white matter in the other four. Diffusion images showed small abnormalities in the lateral thalami or internal capsules in all seven patients. Comparison with clinical course in all seven patients and with follow-up MR studies in four showed that the diffusion images underestimated the extent of brain injury. Proton MR spectroscopy showed substantial lactate elevation in all six of the patients studied. Two patients died in the neonatal period and the other five were left with clinically significant neurologic impairment. CONCLUSION MR spectroscopy performed in the first 24 hours after birth is sensitive to the presence of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, whereas diffusion imaging may help identify but underestimate the extent of the injury. Further studies are ongoing in an attempt to expand upon this observation.
Variable-length codes and the Fano metric

It is shown that the metric proposed originally by Fano for sequential decoding is precisely the required statistic for minimum-error-probability decoding of variable-length codes. The analysis shows further that the "natural" choice of bias in the metric is the code rate and gives insight into why the Fano metric has proved to be the best practical choice in sequential decoding. The recently devised Jelinek-Zigangirov "stack algorithm" is shown to be a natural consequence of this interpretation of the Fano metric. Finally, it is shown that the elimination of the bias in the "truncated" portion of the code tree gives a slight reduction in average computation at the sacrifice of increased error probability.
A Meta-Analysis of the Diagnostic Accuracy of Two Commercial NS1 Antigen ELISA Tests for Early Dengue Virus Detection

Background Dengue virus (DENV) NS1 antigen detection is regarded as an early diagnostic marker. Accordingly, several studies have evaluated the performance of tests that utilize NS1 capture, but the results of individual studies may be limited due to the restricted sample size of the patients recruited. Therefore, our objective was to perform a meta-analysis of the diagnostic accuracy of two commercial NS1 ELISAs (Panbio and Platelia). Methods and Results Studies of interest were found in PubMed, Embase and Google Scholar databases using defined inclusion/exclusion criteria. A total of 30 studies containing 12,105 total enrolled patients were included. The results were as follows: 1) Panbio assays showed low overall performance, sensitivity 66% (95% confidence interval (CI) 61–71), specificity 99% (95% CI 96–100), positive likelihood ratio (LR+) 98 (95% CI 20–464), negative likelihood ratio (LR-) 0.3 (95% CI 0.2–0.4), diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) 289 (95% CI 59–1412); 2) Platelia assays showed high overall performance, sensitivity 74% (95% CI 63–82), specificity 99% (95% CI 97–100), LR+ 175 (95% CI 28–1099), LR- 0.3 (95% CI 0.2–0.4), DOR 663 (95% CI 98–4478). The lowest sensitivity values were for secondary infections (57% [95% CI 47–67] and 66% [95% CI 53–77] for Panbio and Platelia, respectively) and for the detection of DENV4. Regarding clinical manifestations, the sensitivity of Platelia was 69% (95% CI 43–86) and 60% (95% CI 48–70) for fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever, respectively. In addition, the sensitivity of both tests was slightly lower for samples from Southeast Asia and Oceania. Conclusion DENV1 samples gave higher sensitivity results for both tests. We observed that factors negatively influencing the tests, such as the type of infection, geographical origins of samples and viral serotypes, require further investigation to optimize the diagnostic accuracy.
Multisite disaggregation of monthly to daily streamflow

Streamflow disaggregation is used to preserve statistical attributes of time series across multiple sites and timescales. Several algorithms for spatial disaggregation and for disaggregation of annual to monthly flows are available. However, the disaggregation of monthly to daily or weekly to daily flows remains a challenge. A new algorithm is presented for simultaneously disaggregating monthly flows at a number of sites and daily flows at an index site to daily flows at a number of sites on a drainage network. The continuity of flow in time across months at each site as well as the intersite flow pattern are preserved. The disaggregated daily flows at the multiple sites are conditioned on the spatial (across site) pattern of monthly flows at the respective sites. The probability distribution of the vector of disaggregated flows conditional on the multisite monthly flows is approximated nonparametrically using the k nearest neighbors of the monthly spatial flow pattern. A constrained optimization problem is solved to adaptively estimate the disaggregated flows in space and time for each such neighborhood. An application to data from a tributary of the Colorado River is used to illustrate the modeling process.
Time-Varying Competition

Normative models typically suggest that prices rise in periods of high demand and cost. However, in many markets, prices fall when demand or costs rise. This inconsistency occurs because the normative models assume that competitive intensity does not change with demand and cost conditions over time. We therefore introduce the notion of time-varying competition by suggesting that it is important not only to account for the direct effect of demand and cost on prices e.g., higher demand means higher prices, but also the indirect effect of demand and cost changes on competition e.g., higher demand could cause more competition and, hence, lower prices. We develop a general, unified framework to empirically model the direct and indirect effects of demand and cost shifts on pricing in differentiated product markets. Our approach allows us to measure the indirect effect of multiple demand and cost drivers on competitive intensity and test predictions from alternative theories of repeated games. The empirical application is to the U.S. photographic film industry, where there are two main players, Kodak and Fuji. We find that the indirect effects are highly significant and comparable in magnitude to the direct effects. Competitive intensity is greater in periods of high demand and lower cost and is moderated by whether demand or costs are expected to grow or decline. Interestingly, we find asymmetries in the competitive responses of Kodak and Fuji. While Kodak is sensitive to demand factors, Fuji is sensitive to costs. Our results suggest that market characteristics such as observability of competitor prices can be an important determinant of how competitive intensity is affected by demand and cost conditions.
An Analytical Design Method for Milling Cutters With Nonconstant Pitch to Increase Stability, Part 2: Application

Chatter stability in milling can be improved significantly using variable pitch cutters. The pitch angles can be optimized for certain chatter frequency and spindle speed ranges using the analytical method presented in the first part of this two-part paper. In this part, the improvement of productivity and surface finish are demonstrated in three example applications. It is shown that chatter stability can be improved significantly even at slow cutting speeds by properly designing the pitch angles. A roughing example demonstrates substantially reduced peak milling forces which allows higher material removal rate.
Sexual dimorphism in the feeding mechanism of threespine stickleback

SUMMARY Sexual dimorphism is common in nature and has the potential to increase intraspecific variation in performance and patterns of resource use. We sought to determine whether anadromous threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, exhibit sexual dimorphism in feeding kinematics. We filmed four males and four females consuming live prey in a total of 51 sequences filmed at 500 Hz, then tested for differences in cranial kinematics using a combination of principal component analysis and linear mixed models. We document, for the first time in fishes, divergence between males and females in both the timing of key movements and the magnitude of excursions reached by the hyoid, jaws and neurocranium during prey capture. Some of the largest differences are in jaw protrusion, with males exhibiting faster time to peak jaw protrusion but females exhibiting greater maximum jaw protrusion. Measurements of morphological jaw protrusion on cleared and stained specimens significantly predict jaw protrusion in kinematics. This morphological divergence could reflect ecological divergence between the sexes, or the demands of nest building and territory defense compromising male feeding performance. Remarkably, the morphological jaw protrusion divergence in anadromous males and females is similar to jaw protrusion divergence between ecomorphs in a benthic–limnetic species pair, with limnetics exhibiting female-like patterns of protrusion and benthics exhibiting male-like patterns. These results suggest that sexual dimorphism in feeding functional morphology exists in nature and may have played an important role in the radiation of threespine stickleback.
Somatostatin analogues and bombesin/gastrin-releasing peptide antagonist RC-3095 inhibit the growth of human glioblastomas in vitro and in vivo.

We investigated the effects of somatostatin analogues and a synthetic bombesin/gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) antagonist on the growth of the human malignant glioma cell lines U-87MG and U-373MG transplanted to nude mice or cultured in vitro. Nude mice bearing s.c. implanted U-87MG or U-373MG tumors were treated for 4 and 6 weeks, respectively, with various somatostatin analogues or bombesin/GRP antagonist RC-3095. Somatostatin analogues RC-160, RC-160-II, and RC-101-I, given s.c. in doses of 100 micrograms/animal/day, inhibited the growth of U-87MG xenografts as shown by more than 60% reduction in tumor volumes and 45% reduction in tumor weights compared with the control group. Bombesin/GRP antagonist RC-3095, given s.c. at a dose of 20 micrograms/animal twice daily, had the greatest inhibitory effect and decreased tumor volumes and weights by approximately 79% and 72%, respectively. The growth of U-373MG xenografts was also significantly inhibited by treatment with analogue RC-160 or antagonist RC-3095. The mean survival time of nude mice, inoculated orthotopically with U-87MG cells into the brain, was significantly prolonged by 4.9 days by treatment with antagonist RC-3095. Serum gastrin levels in animals bearing U-87MG tumors, treated with antagonist RC-3095 or somatostatin analogues, were decreased compared with controls. All three somatostatin analogues also reduced serum growth hormone levels. Receptor analyses demonstrated high-affinity binding sites for bombesin, somatostatin, and epidermal growth factor on membranes of U-87MG and U-373MG tumors. The concentration of binding sites for epidermal growth factor on both tumors was significantly decreased after in vivo treatment with antagonist RC-3095 or the somatostatin analogues. In studies in vitro, RC-3095, added to the culture medium, significantly inhibited the proliferation of U-87MG and U-373MG cells in the presence of GRP(14-27), as measured by cell number, but only a moderate suppression of growth of both cell lines was observed with somatostatin analogue RC-160. These results demonstrate that bombesin/GRP antagonist RC-3095 and somatostatin analogues such as RC-160 can inhibit the growth of human glioblastoma cell lines U-87MG and U-373MG in vitro as well as in vivo. Our work suggests the merit of further investigations of these analogues for the possible development of new approaches for treatments of patients with malignant gliomas.