Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multilayers oil and oil-impregnated pressboard electric field simulation based on space charge

Space charge build-up has been considered as the major issue in the development of HVDC apparatus such as the converter transformer. The existence of space charge can distort the local electric field, which could lead to the degradation and even breakdown of insulation materials. Therefore, it is vital to investigate factors that can affect space charge formation and dissipation characteristics such as the temperature, moisture, ageing, thickness, multi-layered structure and electric fields. This paper mainly focuses on the effect of multilayers and thickness on space charge behaviour of oil and pressboard insulation system. Space charge was measured using the pulsed electroacoustic technique (PEA) method. The space charge results are quantitatively analysed to establish the relationship between interfacial charge density and different pressboard and oil thickness ratios. A new space charge interpolation methodology is utilized to input space charge into the multilayers oil and pressboard model using COMSOL software. The local electric field of multilayers oil-impregnated pressboard and oil could be simulated, with the emphasis on the electric field after the polarity reversal operation. From space charge results, they indicate that the increased thickness of pressboard could prohibit the interfacial charge increase while the increased oil thickness could facilitate interfacial charge increase. Moreover, from the electric field simulation results, they indicate that there is the electric field gradient caused by the space charge for multilayers oil and oil-impregnated pressboard structure. After the polarity reversal, the maximum electric field of the oil caused by the space charge is higher than electric field calculated based on the Maxwell-Wagner theory.
Clear-Sky Longwave Downward Radiation Estimation by Integrating MODIS Data and Ground-Based Measurements

Surface energy budget has great influence on earth surface biogeophysical and biogeochemical processes. As one of the components of surface energy budget, the longwave downward radiation (LWDR) is essential to many land applications. In this research, a new LWDR estimation scheme under clear sky by integrating MODIS thermal bands radiance and <italic>in situ</italic> measurements through the multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) has been proposed. The MODIS products and corresponding multinetwork <italic>in situ</italic> LWDR observations under clear skies in 2004 were extracted for model training and cross-validation. The <italic>in situ</italic> LWDR observations from seven SURFRAD sites in 2008 were used to test the new method. In training phase, the cross-validation RMSE, bias, and R-square of the new method are, respectively, 24.66 W/m<sup>2</sup>, −0.446 W/m<sup>2</sup>, and 0.88 in the daytime and 23.16 W/m<sup>2</sup>, −0.272 W/m<sup>2</sup>, and 0.92 in the nighttime. The test results at the seven SURFRAD sites show that the proposed method has good performance, with RMSE, bias, and R-square of 17.15 W/m<sup>2</sup>, 0.028 W/m<sup>2</sup>, and 0.91 in the daytime and 14.08 W/m<sup>2</sup>, −3.609 W/m<sup>2</sup>, and 0.94 in the nighttime, respectively. More importantly, the error analysis reveals that the predicted residual errors of the proposed method have a weak correlation with related meteorological parameters at global scale, which reflects the stability and robustness of the new method.
Hydrogen sulfide inhibits NLRP3 inflammasome activation and reduces cytokine production both in vitro and in a mouse model of inflammation

A variety of stimuli, including monosodium urate (MSU) crystals, activate the NLRP3 inflammasome, and this activation involves several molecular mechanisms including xanthine oxidase (XO) up-regulation and mitochondrial dysfunction. Upon oligomerization of apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD (ASC), caspase-1 becomes active and cleaves the proinflammatory cytokine IL-1β into its active secreted form. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), a gasotransmitter mainly produced by cystathionine γ-lyase (CSE) in macrophages, could modulate inflammation. Here, we sought to investigate the effects of exogenous and endogenous H2S on NLRP3 inflammasome activation in vitro and in vivo. Primed bone marrow–derived macrophages (BMDM) isolated from wildtype (wt) or CSE-deficient mice and human macrophages (THP1 cells and primary macrophages), were stimulated with MSU crystals in the presence or absence of a H2S donor, sodium thiosulfate (STS) or GYY4137 (GYY). In murine and human macrophages in vitro, both STS and GYY inhibited MSU crystal–induced IL-1β secretion in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the H2S donors inhibited MSU crystal–induced XO/caspase-1 activities, mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, and ASC oligomerization. Accordingly, IL-1β secretion and XO/caspase-1 activities were higher in CSE-deficient BMDMs than in wt BMDMs. For in vivo studies, we experimentally induced peritonitis by intraperitoneal injection of MSU crystals into mice. GYY pretreatment ameliorated inflammation, evidenced by decreased IL-6/monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) released into peritoneal lavages. Taken together, our results suggest that both exogenous (via H2S donors) and endogenous (via CSE) H2S production may represent approaches for managing, for example, acute gout or other inflammation conditions
Degenerate Motion Analysis for Aided INS With Online Spatial and Temporal Sensor Calibration

In this letter, we perform in-depth observability analysis for both spatial and temporal calibration parameters of an aided inertial navigation system (INS) with global and/or local sensing modalities. In particular, we analytically show that both spatial and temporal calibration parameters are observable if the sensor platform undergoes random motion. More importantly, we identify four degenerate motion primitives that harm the calibration accuracy and thus should be avoided in reality whenever possible. Interestingly, we also prove that these degenerate motions would still hold even in the case where global pose measurements are available. Leveraging a particular multi-state constrained Kalman filter based vision-aided INS with online spatial and temporal calibration, we perform extensively both Monte-Carlo simulations and real-world experiments with the identified degenerate motions to validate our analysis.
A Rapid Hybrid Clustering Algorithm for Large Volumes of High Dimensional Data

Clustering large volumes of high-dimensional data is a challenging task. Many clustering algorithms have been developed to address either handling datasets with a very large sample size or with a very high number of dimensions, but they are often impractical when the data is large in both aspects. To simultaneously overcome both the ‘curse of dimensionality’ problem due to high dimensions and scalability problems due to large sample size, we propose a new fast clustering algorithm called FensiVAT. FensiVAT is a hybrid, ensemble-based clustering algorithm which uses fast data-space reduction and an intelligent sampling strategy. In addition to clustering, FensiVAT also provides visual evidence that is used to estimate the number of clusters (cluster tendency assessment) in the data. In our experiments, we compare FensiVAT with nine state-of-the-art approaches which are popular for large sample size or high-dimensional data clustering. Experimental results suggest that FensiVAT, which can cluster large volumes of high-dimensional datasets in a few seconds, is the fastest and most accurate method of the ones tested.
On Proactive, Transparent, and Verifiable Ethical Reasoning for Robots

Previous work on ethical machine reasoning has largely been theoretical, and where such systems have been implemented, it has, in general, been only initial proofs of principle. Here, we address the question of desirable attributes for such systems to improve their real world utility, and how controllers with these attributes might be implemented. We propose that ethically critical machine reasoning should be proactive, transparent, and verifiable. We describe an architecture where the ethical reasoning is handled by a separate layer, augmenting a typical layered control architecture, ethically moderating the robot actions. It makes use of a simulation-based internal model and supports proactive, transparent, and verifiable ethical reasoning. To do so, the reasoning component of the ethical layer uses our Python-based belief–desire–intention (BDI) implementation. The declarative logic structure of BDI facilitates both transparency, through logging of the reasoning cycle, and formal verification methods. To prove the principles of our approach, we use a case study implementation to experimentally demonstrate its operation. Importantly, it is the first such robot controller where the ethical machine reasoning has been formally verified.
Filter Bank Multi-Sub-Band Transmission for Optical Systems With Mode Multiplexing

Mode-multiplexed optical transmission is subject to mode coupling and potentially large differential mode delays. In most recent implementations, these effects are compensated for at the receiver by complex adaptive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) equalizers. Although frequency-domain MIMO equalization requires a moderate complexity compared to time-domain equalization, the long required fast Fourier transforms may face implementation issues. In this paper, we evaluate an alternative transceiver architecture based on sub-band partitioning, implemented by filter banks, which enables concurrent time-domain equalization. Single-carrier (SC) and multi-sub-band (MSB) mode division multiplexing transmission are simulated using frequency-domain equalization and time-domain equalization, respectively. Their performance is compared in terms of static transmission performance, channel tracking capability, phase noise tolerance, and computational complexity. The results indicate that compared with an equivalent SC solution, the MSB architecture provides a high degree of parallelism at the cost of a penalty of 0.7–1.3 dB for a laser linewidth of 25–100 kHz and a moderate increase in complexity.
Investigation of the self‐association and hetero‐association interactions of H‐NS and StpA from Enterobacteria

The nucleoid‐associated protein H‐NS and its paralogue StpA are global regulators of gene expression and form an integral part of the protein scaffold responsible for DNA condensation in Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. Although protein oligomerization is a requirement for this function, it is not entirely understood how this is accomplished. We address this by reporting on the self‐association of H‐NS and its hetero‐association with StpA. We identify residues 1–77 of H‐NS as being necessary and sufficient for high‐order association. A multi‐technique‐based approach was used to measure the effects of salt concentration on the size distribution of H‐NS and the thermal stability of H‐NS and StpA dimers. The thermal stability of the StpA homodimer is significantly greater than that of H‐NS1−74. Investigation of the hetero‐association of H‐NS and StpA proteins suggested that the association of H‐NS with StpA is more stable than the self‐association of either H‐NS or StpA with themselves. This provides a clear understanding of the method of oligomerization of these important proteins in effecting DNA condensation and reveals that the different associative properties of H‐NS and StpA allow them to perform distinct, yet complementary roles in the bacterial nucleoid.
The essential histone‐like protein HU plays a major role in Deinococcus radiodurans nucleoid compaction

The nucleoid of radioresistant bacteria, including D. radiodurans, adopts a highly condensed structure that remains unaltered after exposure to high doses of irradiation. This structure may contribute to radioresistance by preventing the dispersion of DNA fragments generated by irradiation. In this report, we focused our study on the role of HU protein, a nucleoid‐associated protein referred to as a histone‐like protein, in the nucleoid compaction of D. radiodurans. We demonstrate, using a new system allowing conditional gene expression, that HU is essential for viability in D. radiodurans. Using a tagged HU protein and immunofluorescence microscopy, we show that HU protein localizes all over the nucleoid and that when HU is expressed from a thermosensitive plasmid, its progressive depletion at the non‐permissive temperature generates decondensation of DNA before fractionation of the nucleoid into several entities and subsequent cell lysis. We also tested the effect of the absence of Dps, a protein also involved in nucleoid structure. In contrast to the drastic effect of HU depletion, no change in nucleoid morphology and cell viability was observed in dps mutants compared with the wild‐type, reinforcing the major role of HU in nucleoid organization and DNA compaction in D. radiodurans.
The response of neuromuscular junctions to injury is developmentally regulated

It is well established that developmental maturity is a key factor regulating the response of lower motor neurons to injury. The influence of age on the survival of motor neuron cell somata following axotomy is well documented, but it remains unclear whether maturity also influences the degeneration of axonal and synaptic compartments at the neuromuscular junction. Such information is important for our interpretation of data suggesting that neonatal neuro‐muscular junctions are particularly vulnerable in neurodegenerative conditions that affect the developing postnatal nervous system, such as spinal muscular atrophy. Here, we have examined the role of development in regulating the vulnerability of mouse neuromuscular junctions to two mechanistically distinct degenerative insults: hypoxia and peripheral nerve injury. We report that neuromuscular junctions in neonatal mice are significantly more resistant to both hypoxia and nerve injury than those in adult mice, with a transition from the neonatal to adult phenotype occurring at 2–3 wk of age. We also demonstrate that the reduced vulnerability of neuromuscular junctions observed in neonatal mice is not determined by the maturity of the synapse per se, suggesting that properties associated with the neonatal environment and/or age of the neuron are responsible for modulating vulnerability. Our results are in stark contrast to previous studies showing that motor neuron cell somata are markedly more vulnerable to axotomy in neonatal mice. We conclude that neonatal neuromuscular junctions are resistant to a range of neurodegenerative insults in vivo and that this resistance is develop‐mentally regulated. —Murray, L. M. , Comley, L. H. , Gillingwater, T. H. , Parson, S. H. The response of neu‐romuscular junctions to injury is developmentally regulated. FASEB J. 25, 1306–1313 (2011). www.fasebj. org
Automated Extraction of Silicon Dioxide Thermal Conductivity Values Based on Electro-Thermal Simulations

An approach to extract the silicon dioxide thermal conductivity values is presented. A variety of metal resistor test structures are produced using a 0.25 μm SiGe BiCMOS technology. Based on the measured temperature rise values an automated extraction method to optimize the thermal conductivity of silicon dioxide is developed. Electrical and thermal co-simulations were performed for the optimization using the aforementioned test structures. The optimized thermal conductivity values were added to the material stack-up file and embedded in the process design kit. The updated material stack-up file allows designers to perform accurate computation of the metal structures and flip-chips. The maximum deviation of 8% between the electro-thermal simulations and the measurements is achieved.
An overlapping reading frame in the PRNP gene encodes a novel polypeptide distinct from the prion protein

The prion protein gene PRNP directs the synthesis of one of the most intensively studied mammalian proteins, the prion protein (PrP). Yet the physiological function of PrP has remained elusive and has created controversies in the literature. We found a downstream alternative translation initiation AUG codon surrounded by an optimal Kozak sequence in the + 3 reading frame of PRNP. The corresponding alternative open reading frame encodes a polypeptide termed alternative prion protein (AltPrP) with a completely different amino acid sequence from PrP. We introduced a hemagglutinin (HA) tag in frame with AltPrP in PrP cDNAs from different species to test the expression of this novel polypeptide using anti‐HA antibodies. AltPrP is constitutively coexpressed with human, bovine, sheep, and deer PrP. AltPrP is localized at the mitochondria and is up‐regulated by endoplasmic reticulum stress and proteasomal inhibition. Generation of anti‐AltPrP antibodies allowed us to test for endogenous expression of AltPrP in wild‐type human cells expressing PrP. By transfecting cells with siRNA against PrP mRNA, we repressed expression of both PrP and AltPrP, confirming endogenous expression of AltPrP from PRNP. AltPrP was also detected in human brain homogenate, primary neurons, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These results demonstrate an unexpected function for PRNP, which, in addition to plasma membrane‐anchored PrP, also encodes a second polypeptide termed AltPrP. —Vanderperre, B. , Staskevicius, A. B. , Tremblay, G. , McCoy, M. , O'Neill, M. A. , Cashman, N. R. , Roucou, X. An overlapping reading frame in the PRNP gene encodes a novel polypeptide distinct from the prion protein. FASEB J. 25, 2373–2386 (2011). www.fasebj. org
The shaker-1 mouse myosin VIIa deafness mutation results in a severely reduced rate of the ATP hydrolysis step

Mutations in the MYO7A gene, encoding the motor protein myosin VIIa, can cause Usher 1B, a deafness/blindness syndrome in humans, and the shaker-1 phenotype, characterized by deafness, head tossing, and circling behavior, in mice. Myosin VIIa is responsible for tension bearing and the transduction mechanism in the stereocilia and for melanosome transport in the retina, in line with the phenotypic outcomes observed in mice. However, the effect of the shaker-1 mutation, a R502P amino acid substitution, on the motor function is unclear. To explore this question, we determined the kinetic properties and the effect on the filopodial tip localization of the recombinant mouse myosin VIIa-5IQ-SAH R502P (myoVIIa-sh1) construct. Interestingly, although residue 502 is localized to a region thought to be involved in interacting with actin, the kinetic parameters for actin binding changed only slightly for the mutant construct. However, the rate constant for ATP hydrolysis (k+H + k−H) was reduced by ∼200-fold from 12 s−1 to 0.05 s−1, making the hydrolysis step the rate-limiting step of the ATPase cycle in the presence and absence of actin. Given that wild-type mouse myosin VIIa is a slow, high-duty ratio, monomeric motor, this altered hydrolysis rate would reduce activity to extremely low levels. Indeed, the translocation to the filopodial tips was hampered by the diminished motor function of a dimeric construct of the shaker-1 mutant. We conclude that the diminished motor activity of this mutant is most likely responsible for impaired hearing in the shaker-1 mice.
A Model Based Approach in Determining the Performance of EV Under Different Drive Cycles

This paper aims to provide an analysis of plug in electric vehicle's (PEVs) performance, based on variations of parameters. Mainly two types of batteries are used, such as Lithium-ion (Li-ion) and Lead-Acid (LA) battery. The batteries are properly modelled using their significant parameters and with the help of energy flow model, the flow of energy, i.e. energy from battery to car and from car to wheel has been studied here. Modelling of car, i.e. vehicle dynamics along with road dynamics is one of the most important block of the model. The flow of energy from car to road is dependent on conditions of road, i.e. drive cycle. Modelling of such a PEVs and forecasting its range, Depth of Discharge (DOD), battery characteristics for different drive cycles have been investigated. Depending upon the change of road grade angle, abrupt changes in performance of vehicle have been analyzed.
Identification of Cascading Failure Initiated by Hidden Multiple-Branch Contingency

In past studies on cascading failure assessment, the risk of <italic>N – x</italic> initiating contingencies (ICs) regarding their initiating effect and hidden contingency risk (a high-risk <italic>x</italic>-component outage sequence within the IC) may not be fully investigated, which may underestimate the risk of IC-triggered cascading overload failures (COFs). In addition, the research on the efficient screening of <italic>N – x</italic> IC (<italic>x</italic> ≥ 2) and the identification of the cascading with the largest system impact is limited. To undertake this challenge, this paper proposes a COF identification approach (CIA) which integrates the IC screening and the COF identification for finding the high-impact COFs initiated by <italic>N – x</italic> ICs with hidden risks. The CIA is validated by simulations on the IEEE 118-bus system. The simulation results demonstrate that the CIA can efficiently screen out the high-risk <italic>N</italic> – 2 and <italic>N</italic> – 3 ICs that have an optimal outage sequence and trigger COF chains. The results also show that the CIA can identify the IC-triggered high-impact COFs and quantifies their impacts. The approach can be used as either a cascade-triggering event screening tool (by applying the IC screening module) or a COF risk assessment tool for ensuring system reliability.
SPFC: An Effective Optimization for Vertex-Centric Graph Processing Systems

The real-world demands of mining big data and smart data of graph structure have led to an active research of distributed graph processing. Many distributed graph processing systems <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref19">[19]</xref> , <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref22">[22]</xref> , <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref23">[23]</xref> adopt a vertex-centric programming paradigm. In these systems, messages are passed between vertices to propagate the latest states. The communication efficiency and the high overhead of synchronization are two key considerations of these systems <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref8">[8]</xref> , <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref12">[12]</xref> . In this paper, we propose a <bold>S</bold>low <bold>P</bold>assing <bold>F</bold>ast <bold>C</bold>onsuming (<bold>SPFC</bold>) approach which can effectively improve the overall performance of vertex-centric graph processing systems. In our approach, the message passing is slow but the consuming is fast. More specifically, at the message sender side, priority is given to those smart messages which contribute more to the algorithm convergence, and at the message receiver side, messages are consumed right after arriving without any delay and intermediate buffer. Besides, by using a two-phase termination check protocol, the global synchronous barrier can be completely eliminated. In addition, based on the slow message passing strategy, further performance improvement can be achieved with some accuracy loss by eliminating those messages which are less useful for algorithm convergence. We implement our approach based on Apache Giraph <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1">[1]</xref> and evaluate it on a 12-machine cluster. The experimental results show that our method can effectively reduce the amount of message traffic and achieve up to an order of magnitude performance improvement compared with Giraph and GraphLab <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref3">[3]</xref> .