Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Subspace identification of multivariable LPV systems: a novel approach

In this paper we present a novel algorithm to identify LPV systems with affine parameter dependence. Ideas from closed-loop LTI subspace identification are used to formulate the input-output behavior of an LPV system. From this input-output behavior the LPV equivalent of the Markov parameters can be estimated. We show that with this estimate the product between the observability matrix and state sequence can be reconstructed and an SVD can be used to estimate the state sequence and consequently the system matrices. The curse of dimensionality in subspace LPV identification will appear and the kernel method is proposed as a partial remedy. The working of the algorithm is illustrated with two simulation examples.
Mining sequential patterns with constraints in large databases

Constraints are essential for many sequential pattern mining applications. However, there is no systematic study on constraint-based sequential pattern mining. In this paper, we investigate this issue and point out that the framework developed for constrained frequent-pattern mining does not fit our missions well. An extended framework is developed based on a sequential pattern growth methodology. Our study shows that constraints can be effectively and efficiently pushed deep into sequential pattern mining under this new framework. Moreover, this framework can be extended to constraint-based structured pattern mining as well.
Treatment with a Broad-Spectrum Cephalosporin versus Piperacillin-Tazobactam and the Risk for Isolation of Broad-Spectrum Cephalosporin-Resistant Enterobacter Species

ABSTRACT Receipt of a broad-spectrum cephalosporin is a strong risk factor for isolation of broad-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacter species, and yet the risk from other broad-spectrum β-lactams hydrolyzed by group 1 β-lactamases has not been well characterized. We compared the risk conferred by broad-spectrum cephalosporins to that conferred by piperacillin-tazobactam, alone or in combination with an aminoglycoside or a fluoroquinolone. A retrospective cohort was monitored from treatment onset until a broad-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacter strain was isolated or the patient was discharged. There were 447 patients in the piperacillin-tazobactam group and 2,341 patients in the broad-spectrum cephalosporin group. Groups were similar in age (mean, 62.5 years). The piperacillin-tazobactam group had a smaller percentage of men (32% versus 44%, P < 0.001) and a lower rate of intensive care unit stay (25% versus 38%, P < 0.001) but a higher rate of surgery (41% versus 26%, P < 0.001). Groups differed in the distribution of comorbidities. Resistant Enterobacter strains were isolated from 62 patients, 2% in each group (hazard ratio [RR] = 1.02 [P = 0.95]). In multivariable analysis, risk was similar among treatment groups (RR = 0.71 [P = 0.32]). Intensive care unit stay and surgery were associated with increased risk (RR = 4.53 [P < 0.001] and RR = 1.97 [P = 0.015], respectively), fluoroquinolones were protective (RR = 0.24 [P = 0.003]), and aminoglycosides did not affect risk (RR = 0.98 [P = 0.95]). The protective effect of fluoroquinolones against isolation of broad-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacter spp. and the equivalence in risk associated with piperacillin-tazobactam and broad-spectrum cephalosporins may have important clinical and epidemiologic implications.
Photophysics of Structural Color in the Morpho Butterflies

The Morpho butterflies exhibit surprisingly brilliant blue wings originating from the submicron structure created on scales of the wing. It shows extraordinarily uniform color with respect to the observation direction which cannot be explained using a simple multilayer interference model. We have performed microscopic, optical and theoretical investigations on the wings of four Morpho species and have found separate lamellar structure with irregular heights is extremely important. Using a simple model, we have shown that the combined action of interference and diffraction is essential for the structural color. It is also shown that the presence of pigment beneath the iridescent scales greatly enhances the blue coloring by reducing the unwanted background light. Further, variations of color tones and gloss in the Morpho wings are discussed in terms of the combination of cover and ground scales with various structures and functions.
Targeting Mitochondria with Organelle‐Specific Compounds: Strategies and Applications

Mitochondria are the energy factories of the cell and also serve as a checkpoint regulating programmed cell death. Not surprisingly, dysfunctional mitochondria are implicated in a variety of diseases ranging from metabolic disorders to cancer. Treatment of these diseases through the delivery of targeted drugs, however, is impeded by the difficulty of penetrating the membranes that define this organelle. The properties of this barrier serve as a major obstacle to drug delivery and a lack of effective transporters has hindered the advancement of mitochondrial medicine. Recently, however, synthetic transporters that show promise for the mito‐specific delivery of bioactive cargos have begun to emerge. This review summarizes the most exciting of these developments and discusses their applications.
Communication Quantization for Data-Parallel Training of Deep Neural Networks

We study data-parallel training of deep neural networks on high-performance computing infrastructure. The key problem with scaling data-parallel training is avoiding severe communication/computation imbalance. We explore quantizing gradient updates before communication to reduce bandwidth requirements and compare it against a baseline implementation that uses the MPI allreduce routine. We port two existing quantization approaches, one-bit and threshold, and develop our own adaptive quantization algorithm. The performance of these algorithms is evaluated and compared with MPI_Allreduce when training models for the MNIST dataset and on a synthetic benchmark. On an HPC system, MPI_Allreduce outperforms the existing quantization approaches. Our adaptive quantization is comparable or superior for large layers without sacrificing accuracy. It is 1.76 times faster than the next best approach for the largest layers in our benchmark and achieves near-linear speedup in data-parallel training.
Phylogenetic and Biologic Evidence That Babesia divergens Is Not Endemic in the United States

Abstract: The causative agent of human babesiosis in a Kentucky case, which was first identified as Babesia divergens , is identical to a parasite of eastern cottontail rabbits on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts based on piroplasm size, morphology, and ribosomal RNA sequence analysis. Studies showing differential infectivity for cattle, host erythrocyte specificity in vitro , parasite size and morphology in vitro , and ribosomal RNA sequences clearly demonstrate that the parasite from the rabbit (conspecific with the human Kentucky agent) is not the same organism as B. divergens.
Characterization of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in feces of healthy and diarrheic calves in Urmia region, Iran

Background and Objectives Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) have emerged as human pathogens and contamination of foods of animal origin has been a major public health concern. The aim of the present study was to determine the dissemination of STEC in healthy and diarrheic calves in Urmia region which is located in West Azerbaijan province, Iran. Materials and Methods In the current study, a total of 124 Escherichia coli isolates from clinically healthy (n = 73) and diarrheic calves (51) belonging to 6 different farms located in West Azerbaijan province, Iran, were screened by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the presence of virulence genes characteristic for STEC, that is, Shiga-toxin producing gene(s) (stx1, stx2), intimin (eaeA) and enterohemolysin (hlyA). Results STEC isolates were recovered from 21.92% (16/73) in healthy calves, and 19.6% (10/51) in diarrheic calves. Overall, PCR results showed that 6 (23.1%) isolates carried stx1 gene, 7 (26.92%) possessed stx2 gene while 13 isolates (50%) gave positive amplicon both for stx1 and stx2 genes. All stx positive isolates were assayed further to detect eaeA and hlyA sequences. Seven out of the 26 (26.92%) Shiga toxin gene positive isolates were positive for the eaeA gene, and 15 (57.69%) were positive for the hlyA gene. Both virulence genes (eaeA and hlyA) in the same isolate were observed in 5 (19.23%) of the stx + isolates. In total, diverse virulence gene profiles were detected, from which isolates with the genetic profile stx1 stx2 hlyA was the most prevalent. In addition, eaeA gene was more evident in isolates from diarrheic calves than in healthy calves. Conclusion There was no significant difference in detecting STEC isolates between healthy and diarrheic calves. It seems that calves to be the reservoir of STEC within the herds and calf management may represent specific control points for reducing STEC spread within dairy units.
A Framework for State-Space Exploration of Java-Based Actor Programs

The actor programming model offers a promising model for developing reliable parallel and distributed code. Actors provide flexibility and scalability: local execution may be interleaved, and distributed nodes may operate asynchronously. The resulting nondeterminism is captured by nondeterministic processing of messages. To automate testing, researchers have developed several tools tailored to specific actor systems. As actor languages and libraries continue to evolve, such tools have to be reimplemented. Because many actor systems are compiled to Java bytecode, we have developed Basset, a general framework for testing actor systems compiled to Java bytecode. We illustrate Basset by instantiating it for the Scala programming language and for the ActorFoundry library for Java. Our implementation builds on Java PathFinder, a widely used model checker for Java. Experiments show that Basset can effectively explore executions of actor programs; e.g., it discovered a previously unknown bug in a Scala application.
Segregated optical-near-infrared colour distributions of Medium Deep Survey Galaxies

We present a K survey of 29 fields covering approximately 90 arcmin(2) from the Medium Deep Survey (MDS) catalogue down to a completeness magnitude of K = 18.0 (limiting magnitude K = 19.0). The morphology obtained by the MDS team using high-resolution images from HST/WFPC2 along with our near-infrared (NIR) observations allows colour-magnitude and colour-colour analysis that agrees in general with spectral evolution models, especially if a reasonable range of metallicities for the simple stellar populations used (0.2 4.5, setting an upper limit to the number density of EROs dn(EROs)/d Omega < 0.011 arcmin(-2) (K less than or equal to 18.0).
An In-Depth Investigation into the Physicochemical, Thermal, Microstructural, and Rheological Properties of Petroleum and Natural Asphalts

Over the last decade, unexpected and sudden pavement failures have occurred in several provinces in South Korea. Some of these failures remain unexplained, further illustrating the gaps in our knowledge about binder chemistry. To prevent premature pavement distress and enhance road performance, it is imperative to provide an adequate characterization of asphalt. For this purpose, the current research aims at inspecting the chemistry, microstructure, thermal, and physico-rheological properties of two types of asphalt, namely petroleum asphalt (PA) and natural asphalt (NA). The binders were extensively investigated by using elemental analysis, thin-layer chromatography with flame ionization detection (TLC-FID), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-fight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF-MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy (RS), Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-NMR), ultraviolet and visible spectroscopy (UV-VIS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), penetration, softening point, ductility, and viscosity tests. The findings of this research have revealed the distinct variations between the chemical compositions, microstructures, and thermo-rheological properties of the two asphalts and provided valuable knowledge into the characteristics of the binders. Such insight has been effective in predicting the performance or distress of road pavement. This paper will, therefore, be of immediate interest to materials engineers in state highway agencies and asphalt industries.
Ultrasonic online monitoring of additive manufacturing processes based on selective laser melting

Additive manufacturing processes have become commercially available and are particularly interesting for the production of free-formed parts. Selective laser melting allows to manufacture components by localized melting of successive layers of metal powder. In order to be able to describe and to understand the complex dynamics of selective laser melting processes more accurately, online measurements using ultrasound have been performed for the first time. In this contribution, we report on the integration of the measurement technique into the manufacturing facility and on a variety of promising monitoring results.
Association between social influences and drinking outcomes across three years.

OBJECTIVE Multiple studies have shown social network variables to mediate and predict drinking outcome, but, because of self-selection biases, these studies cannot reliably determine whether the influence is causal or correlational. The goal of this study was to evaluate evidence for a causal role for social network characteristics in determining long-term outcomes using state-of-the-art statistical methods. METHOD Outpatient and aftercare clients enrolled in Project MATCH (N = 1,726) were assessed at intake and at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 months; the outpatient sample was also followed to 39 months. Generalized linear modeling with propensity stratification tested whether changes in social network ties (i.e., number of pro-abstainers and pro-drinkers) at Month 9 predicted percentage of days abstinent and drinks per drinking day at 15 and 39 months, covarying for Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) attendance at Month 9. RESULTS An increase in the number of pro-drinkers predicted worse drinking outcomes, measured by percentage of days abstinent and drinks per drinking day, at Months 15 and 39 (p < .0001). An increase in the number of pro-abstainers predicted more percentage of days abstinent for both time periods (p < .01). The social network variables uniquely predicted 5%-12% of the outcome variance; AA attendance predicted an additional 1%-6%. CONCLUSIONS Network composition following treatment is an important and plausibly causal predictor of alcohol outcome across 3 years, adjusting for multiple confounders. The effects are consistent across patients exhibiting a broad range of alcohol-related impairment. Results support the further development of treatments that promote positive social changes and highlight the need for additional research on the determinants of social network changes.
Topworking of mature walnut trees as affected by different bleeding control methods and scion cultivars.

Temporary covering of grafting point with moist sawdust has been reported effective on improving callus formation and grafting success in Persian walnut. In this study, we compared the effects of five kinds of grafting covers including sawdust, perlite, vermiculite, cocopeat and no covering (control) on callus quality, number of callused grafts, graft take, graft survival and scions growth. ‘Pedro’ and ‘Chandler’ were used as scion cultivars and modified bark grafting method was used to graft the main branches in the scaffolds of 10 to 15 years old walnut trees before mid April, 2008 and 2009. According to the results of first year experiment, among sawdust, perlite and no covering, the highest graft take (75.00%) and survival (66.04%) and the lowest graft take (10.00%) and survival (8.33%) was observed with sawdust cover and no covering, respectively. The results of second year experiment, among sawdust, coco peat and vermiculite showed the highest graft take (88.00%) and graft survival (84.67%) in sawdust cover treatment. Also the lowest graft take (38.33%) and survival (54.44%) was observed with vermiculite cover. The effect of scion cultivars was not statistically significant for all the studied characters except the scion growth in two years experiment. Our observations provide more support on the efficacy of moist sawdust for improvement of grafting success in Persian walnut. INTRODUCTION Traditionally walnut orchards have been established by seedling trees in most of walnut growing countries which limits orchard uniformity, profitability and causes production of large amount of commercially unacceptable nuts (Forde and McGranahan 1996; Stanisavljevic and Mitrovic 1997; Vahdati 2000; Achim and Botu 2001). In recent years higher market demands for high quality nuts and increased productivity of the superior walnut cultivars encouraged researchers to find satisfactory methods of vegetative production (Millikan 1971; Vahdati 2000). Vegetative propagation in walnut is very difficult and mostly limited to budding and grafting (Gautam 1990; Ferhatoglu 1997). However, walnut grafting is difficult as compared with the other fruit trees, and requires more attention in terms of grafting methods, date and selecting/handling of scions and stocks (Kuniyuki and Forde 1985; Rathore 1991; Rongting and Pinghai 1993; Vahdati 2000; Achim. and Botu 2001; Hartmann et al. 2001; Rezaee et al. 2008). Thus, propagation 1 Department of Horticulture, College of Abooraihan, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran. 2 Department of Seed and Plant Improvement, Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center, West Azerbaijan, Uromia, Iran. 3 Department of Horticulture, Seed and Plant Improvement Institute (SPII), Karaj, Iran 4 Department of Plant Production, Technological Educational Institute (TEI) of Larissa, Greece
Results of internal fixation and anterior muscle pedicle bone grafting in old femoral neck fracture

Sixteen cases of old fracture neck femur were treated by internal fixation and anterior muscle pedicle bone grafting of rectus femoris, sartorius bone block from anterior superior iliac spine. The treatment period were from January 2000 to December 2009 at Khulna Medical College Hospital and some private hospital. Different methods of fixation and bone grafting procedure were reported. We did this procedure by open reduction and internal fixation by cannulated hip screws and muscle pedicle bone grafting. Additional cancellous bone grafting were done in every cases. Follow up period was 2 to 7 years (average 5 years). Evaluation parameter were union, non union. collapse of neck, avascular necrosis of femoral head (AVN) coxavara, shortening, pain, range of movement and functional activities and over all satisfaction of patient. The results of fracture healing rate was good (9), fair (4) and poor (3). The technique is simple, rewarding and easy access of fixation and muscle pedicle bone grafting. Bone graft was placed by making a gutter at fracture site and maintained by a screw or prolin suture. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.3329/bmjk.v43i1-2.13016 Bang Med J (Khulna) 2010; 43: 10-11
Determinants of the Informativeness of Analyst Research

Analyst research helps prices reflect information about a security's fundamentals. However, analysts' private incentives potentially contribute to misleading research and it is possible that the market fixates on such misleading and/or optimistic reports. We examine cross-sectional determinants of the informativeness of analyst reports, i.e., their effect on security prices, controlling for endogeneity among the factors affecting informativeness. Analysts are more informative when the potential brokerage profits are higher (e.g., high trading volume and high volatility) and when they reveal "bad news. " Analyst informativeness is reduced in circumstances of increased information processing costs. We fail to find evidence that informativeness of analyst reports is due to market's fixation or over- or under-reaction to analyst reports.
Targeted Reduction in Expression ofTrypanosoma cruzi Surface Glycoprotein gp90 Increases Parasite Infectivity

ABSTRACT A previous study had shown that the expression of gp90, a stage-specific surface glycoprotein of Trypanosoma cruzimetacyclic trypomastigotes, is inversely correlated with the parasite's ability to invade mammalian cells. By using antisense oligonucleotides complementary to a region of the gp90 gene implicated in host cell adhesion, we investigated whether the selective inhibition of gp90 synthesis affected the capacity of metacyclic forms to enter target cells. Parasites were incubated for 24 h with 20 μM PS1, a phosphorothioate oligonucleotide based on a sequence of the gp90 coding strand; PS2, the antisense counterpart of PS1; or PO2, the unmodified version of PS2 containing phosphodiester linkages, and the expression of surface molecules was analyzed by flow cytometry and immunoblotting using specific monoclonal antibodies. PS2 but not PS1 or PO2 inhibited the expression of gp90. Inhibition by PS2 was dose dependent. Northern blot analysis revealed that steady-state gp90 mRNA levels were diminished in PS2-treated parasites compared to untreated controls. Treatment with PS2 did not affect the expression of other metacyclic stage surface glycoproteins involved in parasite-host cell interaction, such as gp82 and the mucin-like gp35/50. Expression of gp90 was also inhibited by other phosphorothioate oligonucleotides targeted to the gp90 gene (PS4, PS5, PS6, and PS7) but not by PS3, with the same base composition as PS2 but a mismatched sequence. Parasites treated with PS2, PS4, or PS5 entered HeLa cells in significantly higher numbers than untreated controls, whereas the invasive capacity of PS1- and PS3-treated parasites was unchanged, confirming the inverse association between infectivity and gp90 expression.
Ulnar nerve strain at the elbow in patients with cubital tunnel syndrome: effect of simple decompression

Simple decompression of the ulnar nerve at the elbow has not been shown to reduce nerve strain in cadavers. In this study, ulnar nerve strain at the elbow was measured intraoperatively in 11 patients with cubital tunnel syndrome, before and after simple decompression. Statistical analysis was performed using a paired Student’s t-test. Mean ulnar nerve strain before and after simple decompression was 30.5% (range 9% to 69%) and 5.5% (range −2% to 11%), respectively; this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.01) with a statistical power of 96%. Simple decompression reduced ulnar nerve strain in all patients by an average of 24.5%. Our results suggest that the pathophysiology of cubital tunnel syndrome may be multifactorial, being neither a simple compression neuropathy nor a simple traction neuropathy, and simple decompression may be a favourable surgical procedure for cubital tunnel syndrome in terms of decompression and reduction of strain in the ulnar nerve.