Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Assessment of a Molten Salt Heat Transfer Fluid in a Parabolic Trough Solar Field

An evaluation was carried out to investigate the feasibility of utilizing a molten salt as the heat transfer fluid (HTF) and for thermal storage in a parabolic trough solar field to improve system performance and to reduce the levelized electricity cost. The operating SEGS (Solar Electric Generating Systems located in Mojave Desert, California) plants currently use a high temperature synthetic oil consisting of a eutectic mixture of biphenyl/ diphenyl oxide. The scope of this investigation included examination of known critical issues, postulating solutions or possible approaches where potential problems exist, and the quantification of performance and electricity cost using preliminary cost inputs. The two leading candidates were the so-called solar salt (a binary salt consisting of 60% NaNO 3 and 40% KNO 3 ) and a salt sold commercially as HitecXL (a ternary salt consisting of 48% Ca(NO 3 ) 2 , 7% NaNO 3 , and 45% KNO 3 ). Assuming a two-tank storage system and a maximum operation temperature of 450°C, the evaluation showed that the levelized electricity cost can be reduced by 14.2% compared to a state-of-the-art parabolic trough plant such as the SEGS plants. If higher temperatures are possible, the improvement may be as high as 17.6%. Thermocline salt storage systems offer even greater benefits.
LncRNA NEAT1 enhances the radio-resistance of cervical cancer via miR-193b-3p/CCND1 axis

LncRNAs have become a hot topic in various cancer-related researches. Radio-resistance is a great threat for cancer therapy. However, how lncRNAs affect the radio-resistance in cervical cancer is masked. As for our paper, it was discovered that NEAT1 was highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues and non-sensitive tissues as well as radio-resistant cell lines. And the overexpression of NEAT1 accelerated proliferation, while the knockdown of NEAT1 had the opposite result. The effect of NEAT1 on cell proliferation was dependent on the dose of ionizing radiation. And the silence of NEAT1 also caused cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase, and triggered more apoptosis, indicating the oncogenic role of NEAT1 in cervical cancer. Next, mechanistic assays affirmed that NEAT1 could function as a ceRNA to regulate cyclin D1 through sponging miR-193b-3p in cervical cancer. Rescue assays were employed to validate that miR-193b-3p and cyclin D1 could inhibit NEAT1-mediated suppressive effect on proliferation, and its stimulative effect on cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. In general, this article disclosed that NEAT1 could facilitate the radio-resistance of cervical cancer via competitively binding miR-193b-3p to up-regulate the expression of cyclin D1.
Near-field imaging of coupled photonic-crystal microcavities

We report by means of near-field microscopy on the coupling between two adjacent photonic crystal microcavities. Clear-cut experimental evidence of the spatial delocalization of coupled-cavity optical modes is obtained by imaging the electromagnetic local density of states. We also demonstrate that it is possible to design photonic structures with selective coupling between different modes having orthogonal spatial extensions © 2009 American Institute of Physics.
Cornea Mitochondrial Polymorphism A 10398 G and Haplogroup I Are Associated With Fuchs ’ Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy

Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States Duke Molecular Physiology Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States Duke Eye Center, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, United States Shiley Eye Center, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States
ANATOMIZING INCOMPLETE-MARKETS SMALL OPEN ECONOMIES: POLICY TRADE-OFFS AND EQUILIBRIUM DETERMINACY

We propose a simple incomplete-markets small-open-economy model that is amenable to analytical dissection of its policy-relevant mechanisms. In contrast to its complete-markets limit, the equilibrium real exchange rate is irreducible from the incomplete-markets equilibrium. Market incompleteness exacerbates the domestic-inflation and output-gap monetary-policy trade-off in two ways: its steepness and its resulting endogenous cost-push to the trade-off. The latter depends on an equilibrium combination of structural shocks and on agents' beliefs of future events. Thus, in comparison to its complete-markets and closed-economy limits, standard Taylor-type rules are less capable of inducing determinate rational expectations equilibrium in our environment. Despite the larger policy trade-off under incomplete markets, simple policies that also respond to exchange-rate growth are able to manage expectations that drive the endogenous cost-push term. However, policies that respond directly to expectations may turn out to exacerbate the cost-push trade-off further, and thus, to be more likely to fuel self-fulfilling multiple or unstable equilibria.
Testing uniformity on high-dimensional spheres against monotone rotationally symmetric alternatives

We consider the problem of testing uniformity on high-dimensional unit spheres. We are primarily interested in non-null issues. We show that rotationally symmetric alternatives lead to two Local Asymptotic Normality (LAN) structures. The first one is for fixed modal location $\theta$ and allows to derive locally asymptotically most powerful tests under specified $\theta$. The second one, that addresses the Fisher-von Mises-Langevin (FvML) case, relates to the unspecified-$\theta$ problem and shows that the high-dimensional Rayleigh test is locally asymptotically most powerful invariant. Under mild assumptions, we derive the asymptotic non-null distribution of this test, which allows to extend away from the FvML case the asymptotic powers obtained there from Le Cam's third lemma. Throughout, we allow the dimension $p$ to go to infinity in an arbitrary way as a function of the sample size $n$. Some of our results also strengthen the local optimality properties of the Rayleigh test in low dimensions. We perform a Monte Carlo study to illustrate our asymptotic results. Finally, we treat an application related to testing for sphericity in high dimensions.
Seropositivity of agents causing abortion in local goat breeds in Eastern and South-eastern Anatolia, Turkey

SUMMARY The epidemiological information has not been available on the seroprevalence of agents causing abortion and genital tract infection in indigenous goats of Eastern and South-eastern regions of Turkey, yet. In these regions, the goats have importance for local economy and their production of meat, milk and mohair. There are also differences of the husbandry and climate conditions between two regions. The objective of this study was to describe the seroprevalence and distribution of antibodies to agents causing abortion involving Bluetongue (BT), Bovine viral diarrhoea virus (BVDV), Border disease virus (BDV), Caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV), Toxoplasma gondii, Brucella spp. in two local goat herds in Eastern and South-eastern regions of Turkey. None of the goats from the two herds had detectable antibodies against CAEV, although seropositivity towards BT, BVDV, BDV, Brucellosis and Toxoplasmosis infections were found to be 14.5%, 30.2%, 63.6%, 26.5% and 72.7%, respectively. The abortion cases were found significantly associated with serological status of the herd from the South-eastern region of Turkey.
Higher Order Statistics for the  $\alpha - \eta - \kappa - \mu$  Fading Model

The aim of this paper is twofold: 1) to show that the newly proposed <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\alpha } - {\eta } - {\kappa } - {\mu }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> complex fading model provides the best fit for the envelope of a signal propagated in a millimeter wave in a given scenario and 2) to further improve the knowledge of this fading model through the derivation of some of its higher order statistics. The fitting process is carried out based on some field measurements campaigns conducted by independent research groups at the 28 GHz band as well as at the 60 GHz band available elsewhere in the literature. The higher order statistics concern the time derivative of the whole <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${\alpha } - {\eta } - {\kappa } - {\mu }$ </tex-math></inline-formula> process with a view at obtaining important metrics, such as level crossing rate, average fade duration, and phase crossing rate. An extensive number of exact formulations for the corresponding statistics are derived. Through a small sample of plots, the flexibility provided by the physically based model becomes evident, showing its potential to be used in a variety of propagation scenarios.
A multi-agent flocking system with communication delays via distributed model predictive control

This paper presents a distributed model predictive algorithm for a multi-agent system with communication delays between agents. AII the agents are dynamically decoupled, which is driven by a local controller relying on the information of its neighbors and itself. We introduce the waiting mechanism to deal with communication delays, and utilize the distributed model predictive control approach to derive the flocking algorithm for each agent, where the cost function penalizes the state and control efforts as well as the errors between the predicted states and desired states. We give a sufficient condition to guarantee the flocking of a multi-agent system. Numerical simulations demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed flocking algorithm.
Graphene Stress Transducer-Based Thermo-Mechanically Fractured Micro Valve

This paper presents the design, analysis, and testing of a single-shot thermo-mechanically triggered micromachined micro-valve with graphene on a silicon nitride (Si<sub><italic>x</italic></sub>N<sub><italic>y</italic></sub>) membrane. The graphene serves as a 2-D resistive heater for producing thermo-mechanical stress, to fracture the bilayer formed between nitride and the nickel used to make electrodes. It is demonstrated that the ability of graphene to carry much higher current density per unit than metal heaters enables high thermo-mechanical stress to be generated. The valve is demonstrated as an enabling component of polymer substrate-based vaporizable electronics. It is used for sealing rubidium (Rb) in polymer chambers, and then triggering and exposing it to ambient air to produce heat by exothermic oxidation. This heat energy is used to vaporize the polymers. The nominal valve tested in this work is a <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$750\,\,\mu \text{m}\,\,\times 750\,\,\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> membrane of Si<sub><italic>x</italic></sub>N<sub><italic>y</italic></sub>. An analytical and finite-element model are presented for the valve, which agree with measured membrane peak-to-peak deflection of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$4.1~\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> just before fracturing, and a peak fracture stress of 395 MPa. The pulsed-power for triggering the valve is nominally 142.1 ± 13.5 mW with a trigger time of 15.4 ± 3.9 ms, resulting in a very low input trigger energy of 2.2 mJ. This trigger energy is <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$100\times $ </tex-math></inline-formula> lower compared with that of previously reported single-use valves in the literature. [2017–0317]
Emerging viruses in organ transplant recipients - immune responses to H1N1/09 influenza vaccine and Hepatitis E virus infection

Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients run the risk of serious infections. The pandemic influenza A H1N1/09 had unknown severity, so large-scale vaccination was needed. The AS03-adjuvanted vaccine (Pandemrix) had unknown effects among SOT recipients. We aimed to explore the influenza-antibody (ab) response, ab persistence 1 year later and response to the seasonal influenza vaccine (TIV/10) among adult SOT recipients. Reports of narcolepsy and possible allo-sensitisation following the H1N1/09 vaccination necessitated an analysis of HLA abs and further follow-up. 80% of SOT recipients and 100% of controls had seroprotective H1N1/09 titre levels after 2 vaccine doses (p=0.003). A significant loss of protection after 1 year was seen in all subjects. TIV/10 boosted a rise in seroprotection from 47% to 71% in the SOT group and 63% to 100% in controls. Non-responders were more often on triple immunosuppression and had lower renal function. No SOT recipient developed de novo HLA abs, but HLA abs with new specificities were detected in some patients. No acute rejection was seen within 2 years after vaccination. Two had chronic rejection within 1 year but a lower and mixed DSA response to the vaccine. The 4th study aimed to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis E (HEV) IgG, IgM and HEV infection, as chronic infection has been reported among SOT recipients. At transplantation, the antiHEV IgG prevalence was significantly higher in SOT patients compared with blood donors, 30.6% and 16.8% respectively (p<0.0001). The patients appeared to have been infected at an earlier age. Two cases of de novo and 2 chronic HEV infection were suspected but could not be verified by HEV-RNA. To summarise, the AS03-adjuvanted H1N1/09 influenza vaccine was effective among SOT recipients but significantly less compared with controls. One third of all subjects lost their seroprotection after one year, but TIV/10 reproduced some of the former protection. No patient developed de novo HLA abs. The unexpected high prevalence of anti-HEV IgG among the Swedish SOT recipients highlights the possibility of hepatitis E as a new opportunistic infection in the immune compromised host.
Blood vessel detection in navigated ultrasound: An assistance system for liver resections

Open liver resection is a difficult and dangerous surgical operation, which requires a lot of experience and knowledge of the patient's anatomy. Ultrasound, as a predominantly used interoperative image modality, helps the surgeon guiding the resection process. Until present time there is no convincing solution to reduce the risk of accidental injure of liver vessels or to guide the targeting of structures like liver tumours. In this work a system is presented, which provides the surgeon with a guidance tool to position the resection instrument relatively to vessel and tumour structures in the ultrasound image. An important step for future navigation concepts in this domain is the development of a stable segmentation algorithm for liver vessels. In this work a fast segmentation algorithm is applied and tested with phantom and patient ultrasound images. The segmentation algorithm performs well and is integrated in a planning and surgery assistance system (MiMed Liver). Moreover, diameters of vessel structures are calculated and displayed. The distance of the navigated resection instrument (CUSA) to the ultrasound image plane is visualized in the ultrasound image.
Radial growth response of four dominant boreal tree species to climate along a latitudinal gradient in the eastern Canadian boreal forest

To address the central question of how climate change influences tree growth within the context of global warming, we used dendroclimatological analysis to understand the reactions of four major boreal tree species –Populus tremuloides, Betula papyrifera, Picea mariana, and Pinus banksiana– to climatic variations along a broad latitudinal gradient from 46 to 54°N in the eastern Canadian boreal forest. Tree‐ring chronologies from 34 forested stands distributed at a 1° interval were built, transformed into principal components (PCs), and analyzed through bootstrapped correlation analysis over the period 1950–2003 to identify climate factors limiting the radial growth and the detailed radial growth–climate association along the gradient. All species taken together, previous summer temperature (negative influences), and current January and March–April temperatures (positive influences) showed the most consistent relationships with radial growth across the gradient. Combined with the identified species/site‐specific climate factors, our study suggested that moisture conditions during the year before radial growth played a dominant role in positively regulating P. tremuloides growth, whereas January temperature and growing season moisture conditions positively impacted growth of B. papyrifera. Both P. mariana and P. banksiana were positively affected by the current‐year winter and spring or whole growing season temperatures over the entire range of our corridor. Owing to the impacts of different climate factors on growth, these boreal species showed inconsistent responsiveness to recent warming at the transition zone, where B. papyrifera, P. mariana, and P. banksiana would be the most responsive species, whereas P. tremuloides might be the least. Under continued warming, B. papyrifera stands located north of 49°N, P. tremuloides at northern latitudes, and P. mariana and P. banksiana stands located north of 47°N might benefit from warming winter and spring temperatures to enhance their radial growth in the coming decades, whereas other southern stands might be decreasing in radial growth.
Momordica cochinchinensis (L.) Spreng: Aril Extract Prevents Adverse Reproductive Parameters of Male Rats Induced with Valproic Acid

El objetivo fue investigar el efecto protector del extracto de arilo de Momordica cochinchinensis (MC) sobre los parametros reproductivos adversos de la rata macho inducida con acido valproico (AV) que se utiliza comunmente en el tratamiento de enfermedades epilepticas. Las ratas se dividieron en 6 grupos (control, AV, 200 mg/kg por peso corporal de PE solamente, y 50, 100, 200 mg/kg por peso corporal MC+AV, respectivamente). Los animales fueron tratados previamente con extracto acuoso MC durante 23 dias, antes de la administracion de AV durante 10 dias. Al termino del experimento, se examinaron todos los parametros reproductivos masculinos y la histologia testicular. Los resultados indicaron que todas las dosis de PE protegen de manera significativa la disminucion de los pesos de epididimo y vesiculas seminales, pero no de peso corporal y testicular. El extracto de MC tambien aumento la concentracion de espermatozoides y los diametros de los tubulos seminiferos en los grupos de administracion con MC+AV. Por otra parte, la histologia testicular de los grupos MC+AV mostro una disminucion significativa de histopatologias testiculares en comparacion con el grupo AV. En conclusion, el extracto de arilo M. cochinchinensis puede prevenir la aparicion de parametros reproductivos masculinos negativos y los danos testiculares inducidos con AV.
Antibiotic susceptibility pattern and ESBL prevalence in nosocomial Escherichia coli from urinary tract infections in Pakistan

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are the most prevalent infections worldwide, mostly caused by Escherichia coli . These bacteria also produce enzymes called extended spectrum Escherichia coli . These bacteria also produce enzymes called extended spectrum Escherichia coli . These bacteria also produce enzymes called extended spectrum b -lactamases (ESBL) which render penicillins and cephalosporins inactive. The present study included 116 E. coli , isolated from urine of in-patients suffering from UTI. Antibiotic susceptibility testing and ESBL detection were carried out according to Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute (CLSI) criteria. Fifteen antibiotics were tested in this study. A total of 66 (56.9%) isolates were found to be ESBL producers. A total of 83% isolates were resistant to 4 or more antibiotics. Imipenem and meropenem showed high potency with 98 and 97% isolates being susceptible, respectively. Susceptibility to gentamicin was 48%, kanamycin 43%, both ofloxacin and enoxacin 38%, ciprofloxacin 35%, doxycycline 18% and to co-trimoxazole only 17%. This study reveals that E. coli isolated from UTI in this region are multi-drug resistant and produce ESBL in large proportions.
Performance of equalized I-Q QPSK over 2-ray Rayleigh fading

In many wideband cellular systems, the channel experiences frequency selective fading. This paper evaluates the bit error rate (BER) performance of equalized I-Q QPSK over frequency selective Rayleigh fading channels. I-Q trellis codes were shown to possess excellent inherent minimum time diversity over flat fading Rayleigh channels. However, they have not been examined for frequency-selective fading channels, where channel equalization is required. In this work, I-Q QPSK systems performance over these channels employing a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) is evaluated. Very reliable communication over the mobile channel is obtained using I-Q QPSK combined with interleaving and adaptive equalization compared to the traditional Gray-mapped trellis codes.
Geographical variation in the potential of mice to constrain an ant- seed dispersal mutualism

Pre- and post-dispersal Helleborus foetidus (Ranunculaceae) seed predation by mice Apodemus sylvaticus as well as post-dispersal seed removal by ants was studied, during two years, in six plant populations within three geographical regions (Caurel, Cazorla and Magina) of the Iberian Peninsula. An observational approach revealed strong interregional differences in seed predation by mice during the pre-dispersal phase, with high and similar rates of predation in Cazorla and Magina and much lower rates in Caurel. There were also significant inter-annual variations on pre-dispersal seed predation by mice, while the existing habitat-related differences (of lower magnitude) were not consistent across regions. Field experiments based on seed-offering exclosures, showed that, despite some interregional variation, post-dispersal seed removal by ants was consistently high through all spatial and temporal scales considered, with most seeds being removed within 48 h. Conversely, post-dispersal seed predation by mice was highly variable among regions, being very high in Cazorla and minimal or absent in Caurel and Magina. Interestingly, in Cazorla, in presence of mice, the number of seeds removed was rather independent of the presence/absence of ants, while under mice exclusion, it was determined by the presence/absence of ants. Conversely, in Caurel, the number of seeds removed by each remover agent (ants or mice) was independent of the presence/absence of the other agent. Thus, though uniquely in Cazorla, mice limited the number of seeds available to ants and, therefore, in this region could potentially have interfered on the development of seed traits that enable ants to efficiently harvest them. Our results support the notion that geographical variation over the Iberian Peninsula of mice seed predation may have promoted a mosaic of well-matching and mismatching situations between H. foetidus diaspore traits and the characteristics of ant communities, which is consistent with some recent theories on the geographical structure of interactions.