Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
How demand response from commercial buildings will provide the regulation needs of the grid

The statement “energy is not storable” is heard in energy conference lectures around the world, even though each person in the audience is sitting in a vast energy storage device. The heat storage in buildings is an enormous untapped resource for providing regulation services. This will be especially important as the grid is subject to more and more volatility from the introduction of power from renewable energy sources. This paper describes how regulation services can be obtained by exploiting the inherent flexibility of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning) systems in commercial buildings. A particular simulation test case is considered - A large commercial building at the University of Florida. The conclusions of this research demonstrate that, 1) A simplified model of the building that is adequate for control can be obtained from input-output measurements. In this study, the only control input considered is the supply fan power. 2) Control synthesis to regulate the building air temperature while simultaneously providing regulation to the grid can be cast as an LQR problem that admits a simple closed form solution. 3) Numerical experiments show that for this HVAC system, 15% of fan power capacity can be provided for regulation, while maintaining indoor temperature deviation to no more than ±0.2 °C. Based on these results, we conclude that the HVAC systems in 90, 000 medium-sized commercial buildings can provide the entire regulation service needed by PJM today, without any noticeable change in indoor air quality. The total regulation services that can be potentially provided by all the commercial buildings in the U.S. that have the necessary equipment in place are much higher. Our results indicate that supply fans in existing commercial buildings can provide about 70% of the current regulation capacity needed in the United States.
Transposon-Like Organization of the Plasmid-Borne Organophosphate Degradation (opd) Gene Cluster Found in Flavobacterium sp

ABSTRACT Several bacterial strains that can use organophosphate pesticides as a source of carbon have been isolated from soil samples collected from diverse geographical regions. All these organisms synthesize an enzyme called parathion hydrolase, and in each case the enzyme is encoded by a gene (opd) located on a large indigenous plasmid. These plasmids show considerable genetic diversity, but the region containing the opd gene is highly conserved. Two opd plasmids, pPDL2 from Flavobacterium sp. and pCMS1 from Pseudomonas diminuta, are well characterized, and in each of them a region of about 5.1 kb containing the opd gene shows an identical restriction pattern. We now report the complete sequence of the conserved region of plasmid pPDL2. The opd gene is flanked upstream by an insertion sequence, ISFlsp1, that is a member of the IS21 family, and downstream by a Tn3-like element encoding a transposase and a resolvase. Adjacent to opd but transcribed in the opposite direction is an open reading frame (orf243) with the potential to encode an aromatic hydrolase somewhat similar to Pseudomonas putida TodF. We have shown that orf243 encodes a polypeptide of 27 kDa, which plays a role in the degradation of p-nitrophenol and is likely to act in concert with opd in the degradation of parathion. The linkage of opd and orf243, the organization of the genes flanking opd, and the wide geographical distribution of these genes suggest that this DNA sequence may constitute a complex catabolic transposon.
Evaluating the Softness of Animal Fibers

Softness is an important property of textile fibers, and animal fibers in particular. At present, there is no reliable method for objectively evaluating fiber softness. This paper examines a simple technique of such evaluations by pulling a bundle of parallel fibers through a series of pins. Softer fibers with lower bending rigidities and smoother surfaces should have lower pulling forces. Alpaca and wool fibers are used in this study to validate this technique, and the results suggest that pulling force measurements can reflect differences in fiber softness.
Dynamics of particle settling and resuspension in viscous liquids

We derive and study a dynamic model for suspensions of negatively buoyant particles 11 on an incline. Our theoretical model includes the settling/sedimentation due to gravity 12 as well as the resuspension of particles induced by shear-induced migration, leading to 13 disaggregation of the dense sediment layer. Out of the three different regimes observed 14 in the experiments, we focus on the so-called settled case, where the particles settle out 15 of the flow, and two distinct fronts, liquid and particle, form. Using an approach relying 16 on asymptotics, we systematically connect our dynamic model with the previously de17 veloped equilibrium theory for particle-laden flows. We show that the resulting transport 18 equations for the liquid and the particles are of hyperbolic type, and study the dilute 19 limit, for which we compute exact solutions. We also carry out a systematic experimental 20 study of the settled regime, focusing on the motion of the liquid and the particle fronts. 21 Finally, we carry out numerical simulations of our transport equations. We show that 22 the model predictions for small to moderate values of the particle volume fraction and 23 the inclination angle of the solid substrate agree well with the experimental data. 24
Toss-it: intuitive information transfer techniques for mobile devices

In recent years, mobile devices have rapidly penetrated into our daily lives. However, several drawbacks of mobile devices have been mentioned so far. The proposed system called Toss-It provides intuitive information transfer techniques for mobile devices, by fully utilizing their mobility. A user of Toss-It can send information from the user's PDA to other electronic devices with a toss or swing action, as the user would toss a ball or deal cards to others. This paper describes the current implementation of Toss-It and its user studies.
Secular Stagnation, Debt Overhang and Other Rationales for Sluggish Growth, Six Years On

There is considerable controversy over why sluggish economic growth persists across many advanced economies six years after the onset of the financial crisis. Theories include a secular deficiency in aggregate demand, slowing innovation, adverse demographics, lingering policy uncertainty, post-crisis political fractionalisation, debt overhang, insufficient fiscal stimulus, excessive financial regulation, and some mix of all of the above. This paper surveys the alternative viewpoints. We argue that until significant pockets of private, external and public debt overhang further abate, the potential role of other headwinds to economic growth will be difficult to quantify.
Rapid Extraction of Lexical Tone Phonology in Chinese Characters: A Visual Mismatch Negativity Study

Background In alphabetic languages, emerging evidence from behavioral and neuroimaging studies shows the rapid and automatic activation of phonological information in visual word recognition. In the mapping from orthography to phonology, unlike most alphabetic languages in which there is a natural correspondence between the visual and phonological forms, in logographic Chinese, the mapping between visual and phonological forms is rather arbitrary and depends on learning and experience. The issue of whether the phonological information is rapidly and automatically extracted in Chinese characters by the brain has not yet been thoroughly addressed. Methodology/Principal Findings We continuously presented Chinese characters differing in orthography and meaning to adult native Mandarin Chinese speakers to construct a constant varying visual stream. In the stream, most stimuli were homophones of Chinese characters: The phonological features embedded in these visual characters were the same, including consonants, vowels and the lexical tone. Occasionally, the rule of phonology was randomly violated by characters whose phonological features differed in the lexical tone. Conclusions/Significance We showed that the violation of the lexical tone phonology evoked an early, robust visual response, as revealed by whole-head electrical recordings of the visual mismatch negativity (vMMN), indicating the rapid extraction of phonological information embedded in Chinese characters. Source analysis revealed that the vMMN was involved in neural activations of the visual cortex, suggesting that the visual sensory memory is sensitive to phonological information embedded in visual words at an early processing stage.
Incidence and Mortality of Spontaneous Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Martinique

Background Incidence of spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhages (SAH) varies wildly across the world and seems to be low in Central and South America (4.2 per 100 000 person-years; CI 95%; 3.1–5.7). The objective of our study was to describe the characteristics of SAH and to estimate its incidence and severity in Martinique, a small French island located in the Caribbean Sea. Methods Due to its insular nature and small captive population, Martinique is ideal for the setting up of population-based epidemiological studies with good exhaustiveness. Our study, spanning a 7 year period (2007–2013), consisted of retrospective case ascertainment with multiple overlapping methods. Crude incidence and 30 day case-fatality rates for SAH among the Martinican population were computed for the study period. Incidence and disease severity was also analyzed according to age, gender and aneurysm presence. World age-standardized incidence rates were also calculated. Results A total of 121 patients had a SAH during the study period, with a higher frequency of female cases (71.1% versus 28.9%, p<0.001). Patient mean age was 57.1 years (median = 55 [46–66]). An aneurysmal origin was found in 96 SAH cases (79.3%). Crude annual incidence was 4.36 per 100 000 person-years (CI 95% 2.30–6.42). World age-standardized incidence was 3.29 per 100 000 person-years (CI 95% 1.74–4.84). During the 30 days following SAH diagnosis, 29 patients died (case fatality rate: 24% (CI 95% 16.4–31.6)). Conclusions The incidence of spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage in Martinique is much lower than in other parts of the world and similar to countries in Central and South America. These results are possibly related to environmental factors and most particularly to a low rate of smoking in the Martinican population. Thirty-day case-fatality rate is similar to what is observed in developed countries.
Biochemical analysis and kinetic modeling of the thermal inactivation of MBP‐fused heparinase I: Implications for a comprehensive thermostabilization strategy

Enzymatic degradation of heparin by heparin lyases has not only largely facilitated heparin structural analysis and contamination detection, but also showed great potential to be a green and cost‐effective way to produce low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). However, the commercial use of heparinase I (HepI), one of the most studied heparin lyases, has been largely hampered by its low productivity and extremely poor thermostability. Here we report the thermal inactivation mechanism and strategic thermal stabilization of maltose‐binding protein (MBP)‐HepI, a fusion HepI produced in E. coli with high yield, solubility and activity. Biochemical studies demonstrated that the thermal inactivation of MBP‐HepI involves an unfolding step that is temperature‐dependently reversible, followed by an irreversible dimerization step induced by intermolecular disulfide bonds. A good consistency between the kinetic modeling and experimental data of the inactivation was obtained within a wide range of temperature and enzyme concentration, confirming the adequacy of the proposed inactivation model. Based on the inactivation mechanism, a comprehensive strategy was proposed for the thermal stabilization of MBP‐HepI, in which Ca2+ and Tween 80 were used to inhibit unfolding while site mutation at Cys297 and DTT were employed to suppress dimerization. The engineered enzyme exhibits remarkably improved storage and operational thermostability, for example, 16‐fold increase in half‐life at its optimum temperature of 30°C and 8‐fold increase in remaining activity of 95% after 1‐week storage at 4°C, and therefore shows great potential as a commercial biocatalyst for heparin degradation in the pharmaceutical industry. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2011; 108:1841–1851. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Efficacy and Safety of Long-Term Losartan Therapy Demonstrated by a Prospective Observational Study in Japanese Patients with Hypertension: The Japan Hypertension Evaluation with Angiotensin II Antagonist Losartan Therapy (J-HEALTH) Study

The Japan Hypertension Evaluation with Angiotensin II Antagonist Losartan Therapy (J-HEALTH) study is a nationwide, prospective, multicentered, observational study that was designed to enroll 30,000 hypertensive Japanese patients from more than 3,000 private practitioners. It is the first large-scale observational study to assess the efficacy and safety of losartan, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, in Japan. Patients were enrolled between June 2000 and May 2002, and followed up to June 2005. The data from 29,850 patients were used for the analysis of safety and efficacy. These patients were treated with losartan mostly at a daily dose of 25–50 mg. The mean follow-up period was 2.9 years. The patients were aged 62.4±12.1 years (mean±SD) and their mean systolic/diastolic blood pressure was 165.3±17.2/94.3±11.7 mmHg (mean±SD). Mean blood pressure in patients who were evaluated for efficacy decreased from 165.8/94.8 mmHg (n=26,512) at baseline to 145.5/84.4 mmHg after 3 months (n=21,269) and 138.6/80.0 mmHg after 36 months of treatment (n=13,879). Blood pressure was well controlled during the study period by losartan alone or losartan-based combination therapy. In nearly half of the patients, blood pressure was reduced to less than 140/90 mmHg during the study period. In addition to its antihypertensive effect, losartan reduced the uric acid level in patients whose baseline uric acid level was ≥7 mg/dL. Losartan also prevented acceleration of proteinuria. Adverse drug reactions occurred in 1,081 of the 29,850 patients. Long-term losartan therapy was effective and well tolerated in Japanese clinical practice.
A Human Coronavirus Responsible for the Common Cold Massively Kills Dendritic Cells but Not Monocytes

ABSTRACT Human coronaviruses are associated with upper respiratory tract infections that occasionally spread to the lungs and other organs. Although airway epithelial cells represent an important target for infection, the respiratory epithelium is also composed of an elaborate network of dendritic cells (DCs) that are essential sentinels of the immune system, sensing pathogens and presenting foreign antigens to T lymphocytes. In this report, we show that in vitro infection by human coronavirus 229E (HCoV-229E) induces massive cytopathic effects in DCs, including the formation of large syncytia and cell death within only few hours. In contrast, monocytes are much more resistant to infection and cytopathic effects despite similar expression levels of CD13, the membrane receptor for HCoV-229E. While the differentiation of monocytes into DCs in the presence of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-4 requires 5 days, only 24 h are sufficient for these cytokines to sensitize monocytes to cell death and cytopathic effects when infected by HCoV-229E. Cell death induced by HCoV-229E is independent of TRAIL, FasL, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and caspase activity, indicating that viral replication is directly responsible for the observed cytopathic effects. The consequence of DC death at the early stage of HCoV-229E infection may have an impact on the early control of viral dissemination and on the establishment of long-lasting immune memory, since people can be reinfected multiple times by HCoV-229E.
Medial localization of mineralization-regulating proteins in association with Mönckeberg's sclerosis: evidence for smooth muscle cell-mediated vascular calcification.

BACKGROUND Calcification of the media of peripheral arteries is referred to as Mönckeberg's sclerosis (MS) and occurs commonly in aged and diabetic individuals. Its pathogenesis is unknown, but its presence predicts risk of cardiovascular events and leg amputation in diabetic patients. Several studies have documented expression of bone-associated genes in association with intimal atherosclerotic calcification, leading to the suggestion that vascular calcification may be a regulated process with similarities to developmental osteogenesis. Therefore, we examined gene expression in vessels with MS to determine whether there was evidence for a regulated calcification process in the vessel media. METHODS AND RESULTS In situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry, and semiquantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction were used to examine the expression of mineralization-regulating proteins in human peripheral arteries with and without MS. MS occurred in direct apposition to medial vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in the absence of macrophages or lipid. These VSMCs expressed the smooth muscle-specific gene SM22alpha and high levels of matrix Gla protein but little osteopontin mRNA. Compared with normal vessels, vessels with MS globally expressed lower levels of matrix Gla protein and osteonectin, whereas alkaline phosphatase, bone sialoprotein, bone Gla protein, and collagen II, all indicators of osteogenesis/chondrogenesis, were upregulated. Furthermore, VSMCs derived from MS lesions exhibited osteoblastic properties and mineralized in vitro. CONCLUSIONS These data indicate that medial calcification in MS lesions is an active process potentially orchestrated by phenotypically modified VSMCs.
A Hypecube Algorithm for the 0/1 Knapsack Problem

Many combinatorial optimization problems are known to be NP-complete. A common point of view is that finding fast algorithms for such problems using polynomial number of processors is unlikely. However facts of this kind usually are established for "worst" case situations and in practice many instances of NP-complete problems are successfully solved in polynomial time by such traditional combinatorial optimization techniques as dynamic programming, branch-and-bound, etc. New opportunities for effective solution of combinatorial problems emerged with the advent of parallel machines. In this paper we describe an algorithm which generates an optimal solution for the 0/1 integer Knapsack problem on the NCUBE hypercube computer. It is also demonstrated that the same algorithm can be applied for the two-dimensional 0/1 Knapsack problem. Experimental data which supports the theoretical claims are provided for large instances of the oneand two-dimensional Knapsack problems.
A framework for cloud computing adoption by Saudi government overseas agencies

This study aims to identify key factors that organizations should consider when deciding whether to adopt cloud computing, and sets out a framework for how these factors can be weighed in order to make a decision. The study uses the Saudi Government agencies as a case study and makes several specific recommendations that pertain to the Saudi authorities' implementation of cloud computing. Although there are many benefits associated with deployment of cloud computing applications, there are also several challenges, such as compliance, legal issues, hosting issues, security, trust and privacy. There are also inadequate resources and guidelines for the policy makers and managers to inform their decision of whether or not to adopt cloud computing. This study identifies a number of factors; technological, environmental, organizational and societal, which need to be considered when an organization decides whether or not to adopt cloud computing. After identifying these factors, the study develops a comprehensive framework for organizations to assess their readiness for cloud computing. In addition, the feasibility of cloud computing applications is assessed so that different delivery and deployment models can be taken into account, and cloud computing evaluated from both business and customer perspectives.
Performance of the 2010 Classification Criteria for Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Literature Review and a Meta-Analysis

Objectives To evaluate the performance of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) 2010 classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with a systematic literature review and a meta-analysis. Methods PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and the abstracts of the ACR and EULAR meetings (2010–2012) were searched for original articles or abstracts with the following inclusion criteria: 1) recent onset arthritis, with at least one swollen joint and no alternative diagnosis; 2) the ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria as index test; 3) the prescription of methotrexate (MTX) or disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) at any time during follow-up as reference standard. Data were pooled using the bivariate model. Three meta-analyses were performed with MTX (primary analysis), DMARDs or their combination (secondary analyses) as reference standard. Heterogeneity was formally tested and explored performing an influence analysis. Results The search identified 1,277 references. Six full papers and 4 abstracts met the inclusion criteria. With MTX as reference standard, sensitivity (95% confidence interval, CI) was 0.80 (0.74,0.85), specificity 0.61 (0.56,0.67), positive likelihood ratio (LR) 2.11 (1.92,2.32), negative LR 0.31 (0.25,0.38) and the diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 6.74 (5.49,8.28). Using DMARDs as reference standard, sensitivity was 0.73 (0.64,0.80), specificity was 0.74 (0.68,0.79), LR+2.85 (2.53,3.22), LR− 0.35 (0.27,0.45) and DOR 8.03 (6.4,10.09). Using the combination of MTX and DMARDs as reference standard, intermediate results were obtained. The influence analysis detected one potentially influential study. However, its exclusion from the meta-analysis did not have a clinically relevant impact on the results. Conclusions The new classification criteria have good sensitivity, lower specificity and an overall moderate diagnostic accuracy. These results confirm that the criteria have classificative and not diagnostic function.
Lymphocyte Adhesion to Human Endothelial Cells Induces Tissue Factor Expression via a Juxtacrine Pathway

Summary To study the effect of lymphocyte adhesion on the procoagulant activity of endothelial cells, we have stimulated HUVECs with interferon-γ to upregulate adhesion molecules. Subsequent addition of lymphocytes induced the expression of tissue factor (TF) by HUVECs. Both CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells promoted this TF synthesis via distinct adhesion molecules (CD4+ T-cells: E-selectin and ICAM-1; CD8+ T-cells: MHC-I molecules). In addition, tumor necrosis factor-α and -β (TNFα, TNFβ) and platelet-activating factor (PAF) were involved in lymphocyte-mediated TF expression on HUVECs. We demonstrate that PAF plays a pivotal role in this process. Adhesion of lymphocytes to endothelial cell surface molecules induced the release of PAF. PAF, in turn, caused the production of T. NFα and TNFβ, both of which are potent stimulators of TF expression.