Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Modeling and implementation of a digitally controlled multiphase DC-DC converter

This paper presents a digital control and design and implementation of a multiphase DC-DC converter with a given set of performance specifications. First, the open loop transfer functions of a two-phase converter are derived. Digital voltage mode control is applied for voltage regulation, and digital active current sharing method is designed to obtain the average phase current. Then, digital controller is designed using different control design approaches. Simulation and experiment are used to verify the designed controller meets system specifications within the given parameter distributions.
International Cooperation on Climate Change Adaptation from an Economic Perspective

This paper investigates the economic incentives of countries to cooperate on international adaptation financing. Adaptation is generally implicitly incorporated in the climate change damage functions as used in Integrated Assessment Models. We replace the implicit decision on adaptation with explicit adaptation in a multi-regional setting by using an adjusted RICE model. We show that making adaptation explicit will not affect the optimal mitigation path when adaptation is set at its optimal level. Sub-optimal adaptation will, however, change the optimal mitigation path. Furthermore this paper studies for different forms of cooperation what effects international adaptation transfers will have on (i) domestic adaptation and (ii) the optimal mitigation path. Adaptation transfers will fully crowd out domestic adaptation in a first best setting. Transfers will decrease overall mitigation in our numerical simulations. An analytical framework is used to analyse the most important mechanisms and a numerical model is used to assess the magnitude of effects.
Effect of Microsphaeropsis sp. Strain P130A on Germination and Production of Sclerotia of Rhizoctonia solani and Interaction Between the Antagonist and the Pathogen.

Microsphaeropsis sp. strain P130A was evaluated for the control of tuber-borne inoculum of Rhizoctonia solani based on the viability of sclerotia produced in vitro and on both the viability and production of tuber-borne sclerotia. The interactions between the antagonist and the pathogen, as well as the effect of the toxins produced by the antagonist on mycelial growth of R. solani were studied using transmission electron microscopy. On sclerotia produced in vitro, for all incubation periods (1 to 42 days), Microsphaeropsis sp. significantly reduced germination. Percent germination of sclerotia treated with Microsphaeropsis sp. decreased with increasing incubation period from an average of 82.0% after 1 day to stabilize at an average of 5.8% after 35 days. Similarly, percent germination of tuber-borne sclerotia was significantly lower when tubers were treated with Microsphaeropsis sp. Both 2% formaldehyde and Microsphaeropsis sp. treatments significantly reduced sclerotia germination to approximately 10% after 42 days of incubation at 4 degrees C. Furthermore, on tubers treated with the antagonist, the number of sclerotia per square centimeter decreased from 1.6 to 0.5 during the 8 months of storage at 4 degrees C, whereas an increase from 1.2 to 7.8 sclerotia per square centimeter was observed on untreated tubers. Microsphaeropsis sp. (strain P130A) colonized hyphae of R. solani within 4 days after contact on culture media. Transmission electron microscopic observations showed that the antagonist induced a rupture of the pathogen plasma membrane and that a chitin-enriched matrix was deposited at sites of potential antagonist penetration. Host penetration was not associated with pathogen cell wall alterations, which occurred at the time of progress of the antagonist in the pathogen cytoplasm. In the presence of a crude extract of Microsphaeropsis sp. , cells of R. solani showed cytoplasm disorganization and breakdown of plasma membranes. Antibiosis and mycoparasitism were involved in the antagonism of R. solani by Microsphaeropsis sp. , but the sequence by which these events occur, as well as the significance of wall appositions produced by R. solani, is yet to be established.
Integration system as adaptive control system

In this paper the application of an adaptive control method is discussed to improve the behavior of step size controllers in DAE solvers. Those solvers are used in circuit simulators (e.g. SPICE2G6, SPICE3). The structure of the controller as well as some results are presented. <<ETX>>
Análise computacional de blocos sobre estacas

O presente trabalho faz uma analise numerica do comportamento estrutural de blocos sobre duas e tres estacas e esta dividido em duas partes. Na primeira parte e realizada uma comparacao entre os resultados das analises numericas e de modelos experimentais de outros autores. A simulacao numerica e desenvolvida com o emprego do programa computacional baseado em Elementos Finitos ATENA 3D. Na segunda parte sao feitas variacoes nos modelos experimentais originais para verificacao de possiveis modificacoes no fluxo de tensoes no concreto e nas armaduras, na capacidade portante e rigidez da peca, e, na aderencia e ancoragem das barras de aco. O objetivo e corroborar os resultados de estudos recentes na area que vem convergindo para uma teoria comum que melhor representa o comportamento estrutural de blocos sobre estacas. Os resultados da comparacao numerica com a experimental demonstram a complexidade e a dificuldade de reproducao de todas as variaveis envolvidas nos ensaios em laboratorio de modelos em tamanho real ou reduzido. Os modelos numericos de blocos sobre duas e tres estacas apresentaram uma boa aproximacao e comprovaram os resultados obtidos por outros autores, por exemplo, a dispensa da necessidade de utilizacao de ganchos de ancoragem e a predominância de uma ruina fragil atraves da ruptura do concreto e fendilhamento do bloco. Abstract
Impact of tuberculosis preventive therapy on tuberculosis and mortality in HIV-infected children.

BACKGROUND Children with HIV are at increased risk of acquiring tuberculosis (TB), a common cause of acute and chronic respiratory disease and death in HIV-infected children living in areas where prevalence of the disease is high. Children infected with HIV and TB have worse outcomes than HIV-uninfected children who have TB; thus, preventing the infection and disease in HIV-infected children is potentially an important public health intervention. Isoniazid, an anti-tuberculosis medication, has been used effectively to prevent TB in HIV-uninfected children, but currently there are no guidelines on the use of TB preventive therapy in HIV-infected children. OBJECTIVES To determine the impact of TB preventive therapy on TB-related incidence and death in HIV-infected children SEARCH STRATEGY We searched the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CENTRAL/CCTR), Cochrane HIV/AIDS Group Specialized Register, MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, and AIDSearch. In addition, we scanned reference lists, manually searched conference abstracts, and contacted content experts. SELECTION CRITERIA We included studies of HIV-infected children randomised to receive TB preventive therapy or placebo, or an alternative TB preventive regimen. Participants could have tuberculin skin test results that were positive or negative. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Two authors independently used the study selection criteria, assessed methodological quality and extracted data. Effects were assessed using hazard ratios. MAIN RESULTS One trial met the selection criteria for the review. The trial participants were HIV-infected children, most of whom were not taking antiretroviral therapy. Subjects were randomised to isoniazid and cotrimoxazole or placebo and cotrimoxazole, given daily or three times a week. The trial showed a marked reduction in TB incidence and death in the isoniazid group. As yet, however, there are no long-term follow-up data on the durability of the protective effect or on possible long-term adverse events. This trial also was unable to assess the impact of isoniazid prophylaxis on children receiving antiretroviral therapy. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS Isoniazid prophylaxis in HIV-infected children has the potential to play a major public health role by reducing TB incidence and death. As yet, however, data are insufficient to guide the duration of prophylaxis and to support its use in children using highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and in those living in areas of low TB prevalence. Further studies are needed to assess whether TB preventive therapy is of benefit in all HIV-infected children, irrespective of use of antiretroviral treatment, the optimal duration of preventive therapy, or long-term adverse events.
Intra-molecular chaperone: the role of the N-terminal in conformational selection and kinetic control

The vast majority of the proteins in nature are under thermodynamic control, consistent with the universally accepted notion that proteins exist in their thermodynamically most stable state. Yet, recently a number of examples of proteins whose fold is under kinetic control have come to light. Their functions and environments vary. The first among these are some proteases, discovered in the early 1990s. There, an N-terminal proregion is self-cleaved after the protein folded, leaving the remainder of the chain in a kinetically trapped state. A related scenario was observed for microcin J25, an antibacterial peptide. This peptide presents a trapped covalently knotted conformation. The third and the most recently discovered case is the multidrug-resistant transporter protein, P-glycoprotein. There, a synonymous ‘silent’ mutation leads to ribosome stalling with a consequent altered kinetically trapped state. Here we argue that in all three examples, the N-terminal plays the role of an intra-molecular chaperone, that is, the N-terminal conformation selects among all competing local conformations of a downstream segment. By providing a pattern, the N-terminal chaperone segment assists the protein folding process. If the N-terminal is subsequently cleaved, the protein can be under kinetic control, since it is trapped in a thermodynamically less-stable state.
Randomized controlled trial of CARE: an intervention to improve outcomes of hospitalized elders and family caregivers.

In this randomized controlled trial we tested the efficacy of an intervention program (CARE: Creating Avenues for Relative Empowerment) for improving outcomes of hospitalized older adults and their family caregivers (FCGs). FCG-patient dyads (n = 407) were randomized into two groups. The CARE group received a two-session empowerment-educational program 1-2 days post-admission and 1-3 days pre-discharge. The attention control group received a generic information program during the same timeframe. Follow-up was at 2 weeks and 2 months post-discharge. There were no statistically significant differences in patient or FCG outcomes. However, inconsistent evidence of role outcome differences suggests that CARE may benefit certain FCG subgroups instead of being a one-size-fits-all intervention strategy. Closer examination of CARE's mechanisms and effects is needed.
Dendritic cells, engineered to overexpress 25-hydroxyvitamin D 1α-hydroxylase and pulsed with a myelin antigen, provide myelin-specific suppression of ongoing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is caused by immune‐mediated damage of myelin sheath. Current therapies aim to block such immune responses. However, this blocking is not sufficiently specific and hence compromises immunity, leading to severe side effects. In addition, blocking medications usually provide transient effects and require frequent administration, which further increases the chance to compromise immunity. In this regard, myelin‐specific therapy may provide the desired specificity and a long‐lasting therapeutic effect by inducing myelin‐specific regulatory T (Treg) cells. Tolerogenic dendritic cells (TolDCs) are one such therapy. However, ex vivo generated TolDCs may be converted into immunogenic DCs in a proinflammatory environment. In this study, we identified a potential novel myelin‐specific therapy that works with immunogenic DCs, hence without the in vivo conversion concern. We showed that immunization with DCs, engineered to overexpress 25‐hydroxyvitamin D 1α‐hydroxylase for de novo synthesis of a focally high 1,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D concentration in the peripheral lymphoid tissues, induced Treg cells. In addition, such engineered DCs, when pulsed with a myelin antigen, led to myelin‐specific suppression of ongoing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (an MS animal model), and the disease suppression depended on forkhead‐box‐protein‐P3(foxp3)+ Treg cells. Our data support a novel concept that immunogenic DCs can be engineered for myelin‐specific therapy for MS.—Li, C. ‐H. , Zhang, J., Baylink, D. J., Wang, X. , Goparaju, N. B. , Xu, Y. , Wasnik, S. , Cheng, Y. , Berumen, E. C. , Qin, X. , Lau, K. ‐H. W. , Tang, X. Dendritic cells, engineered to overexpress 25‐hydroxyvitamin D 1α‐hydroxylase and pulsed with a myelin antigen, provide myelin‐specific suppression of ongoing experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. FASEB J. 31, 2996–3006 (2017). www.fasebj. org
Reproductive performance in dairy cows following postpartum treatment with gonadotrophin releasing hormone and/or prostaglandin: a field trial.

Three hundred and five Holstein Friesian cows were given either 250 micrograms gonadotrophin releasing hormone (GnRH) or saline on day 15 postpartum followed by 500 micrograms cloprostenol or saline on day 24 postpartum. Four treatment groups were formed using random allocation: Group I -- placebo (Day 15)/placebo (Day 24), Group II -- GnRH (Day 15)/placebo (Day 24), Group III -- placebo (Day 15)/cloprostenol (Day 24), Group IV -- GnRH (Day 15)/cloprostenol (Day 24). Double blind techniques were used during the follow-up period. Rectal palpation, to assess uterine involution and ovarian activity was performed just prior to each treatment and again at 28 days postpartum. In addition blood samples were collected at 15, 24 and 28 days postpartum for measurement of plasma progesterone. There were no significant differences among treatment groups with respect to services per conception, number of heats detected before first service and culling for infertility. Cows treated only with GnRH had an increased calving to first estrus and calving to first breeding interval, and tended to have an increased calving to conception interval. Treatment with cloprostenol significantly decreased calving to conception and calving to first observed estrus intervals. Treatment with GnRH on day 15 postpartum resulted in a significant increase in the subsequent incidence of pyometra and prebreeding anestrus. On the other hand, cloprostenol treatment on day 24 postpartum resulted in a decreased incidence of pyometra, regardless of GnRH treatment and a decreased incidence of prebreeding anestrus in GnRH treated cows compared to cows receiving only GnRH at day 15 postpartum. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Robust Decision Feedback Equalizer for OFDM System under Severe ISI Channel

Inter-symbol interference (ISI) problem is inevitable when the guard interval (GI) is shorter than the delay spread (DS) for an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system. Iterative techniques have been proposed to overcome such a problem. However, most of existing algorithms are not efficient for an OFDM system with a small GI working under the channel with a large DS. Especially in the case of the DS spans a longer time than the half of the OFDM symbol duration. On the other hand, conventional algorithms, which can reduce the effects of the severe ISI, often employ several impractical assumptions to support the conclusions. In this paper, we present a robust decision feedback equalizer (DFE) for the OFDM system to overcome the severe ISI problem. The proposed DFE removes the ISI in a same manner as the residual inter-symbol interference cancellation (RISIC) algorithm. However, the inter-carrier interference (ICI) is reduced via cyclicity removal instead of the cyclicity restoration used in the conventional algorithms. The link-level simulation (LLS) results indicate that our proposed DFE scheme can dramatically improve the BER performance when the DS spans longer than the half of ODFM symbol duration.
NEUTRINO-DRIVEN CONVECTION IN CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE: HIGH-RESOLUTION SIMULATIONS

We present results from high-resolution semiglobal simulations of neutrino-driven convection in core-collapse supernovae. We employ an idealized setup with parameterized neutrino heating/cooling and nuclear dissociation at the shock front. We study the internal dynamics of neutrino-driven convection and its role in redistributing energy and momentum through the gain region. We find that even if buoyant plumes are able to locally transfer heat up to the shock, convection is not able to create a net positive energy flux and overcome the downward transport of energy from the accretion flow. Turbulent convection does, however, provide a significant effective pressure support to the accretion flow as it favors the accumulation of energy, mass, and momentum in the gain region. We derive an approximate equation that is able to explain and predict the shock evolution in terms of integrals of quantities such as the turbulent pressure in the gain region or the effects of nonradial motion of the fluid. We use this relation as a way to quantify the role of turbulence in the dynamics of the accretion shock. Finally, we investigate the effects of grid resolution, which we change by a factor of 20 between the lowest and highest resolution. Our results show that the shallow slopes of the turbulent kinetic energy spectra reported in previous studies are a numerical artifact. Kolmogorov scaling is progressively recovered as the resolution is increased.
Application of multi-output support vector regression in remore sensing inversions

This paper extends the standard support vector regression (SVR) into multi-dimensional case to estimate different biophysical parameters simultaneously. The improvement is made by the Vapnik loss function of L2 form. The proposed multi-output SVR (MO-SVR) is implemented in the joint inversion of Leaf Area Index (LAI) and vegetation cover fraction (fCover) over SPOT2/HRV1 data in the Fundulea site (VALERI), Romania. Comparison between standard SVR and MO-SVR, and the validation using biophysical maps both indicate the better fitness and accuracy of MO-SVR than the traditional form.
Functional modeling of cobalamine-independent methionine synthase with pyrazolylborate-zinc-thiolate complexes.

A series of new pyrazolylborate-zinc-thiolate complexes Tp(Ph,Me)Zn-SR and Tp(Me,Me)Zn-SR, including two homocysteine derivatives, were prepared and structurally characterized. Their reactions with methyl iodide in nonpolar media resulted in the formation of the thioethers MeSR, including two methionine derivatives, and Tp(R',Me)Zn-I in all cases. Methylation of the thiolates could also be achieved with dimethyl sulfate and trimethylsulfonium iodide but not with trimethyl phosphate or N-methylpyridinium salts. The accumulated evidence indicates that the methylation occurs intramolecularly, i.e., at the zinc-bound thiolates: (i) The reactions occur readily in nonpolar media. (ii) Thiolate exchange at Tp(Ph,Me)Zn-SR with [PPN]SR' is slower than thiolate alkylation. (iii) The methylation of Tp(Ph,Me)Zn-SBn with MeI is a clean second-order reaction with k'' = 1.75 x 10(-2) M(-1) s(-1) at 300 K.
Resolutions of Homology Manifolds: A Classification Theorem

Let BPL and BH denote the classifying spaces for stable PL block bundles [9] and stable homology cobordism bundles ([4], [5]). There is a natural map) : BPL -> BH with homotopy fibre denoted by H/PL. _ If M is a closed (integral) homology manifold, a resolution of M is a pair (P,f), where P is a piecewise linear (PL) manifold a n d / : P -> M is a surjective PL map which is acyclic, i.e. ff*(f~(x)) = 0 for all x e M. Let T : M -» BH classify the homology tangent bundle of M. We prove the following theorems.
Hydrodynamic propulsion of human sperm

The detailed fluid mechanics of sperm propulsion are fundamental to our understanding of reproduction. In this paper, we aim to model a human sperm swimming in a microscope slide chamber. We model the sperm itself by a distribution of regularized stokeslets over an ellipsoidal sperm head and along an infinitesimally thin flagellum. The slide chamber walls are modelled as parallel plates, also discretized by a distribution of regularized stokeslets. The sperm flagellar motion, used in our model, is obtained by digital microscopy of human sperm swimming in slide chambers. We compare the results of our simulation with previous numerical studies of flagellar propulsion, and compare our computations of sperm kinematics with those of the actual sperm measured by digital microscopy. We find that there is an excellent quantitative match of transverse and angular velocities between our simulations and experimental measurements of sperm. We also find a good qualitative match of longitudinal velocities and computed tracks with those measured in our experiment. Our computations of average sperm power consumption fall within the range obtained by other authors. We use the hydrodynamic model, and a prototype flagellar motion derived from experiment, as a predictive tool, and investigate how sperm kinematics are affected by changes to head morphology, as human sperm have large variability in head size and shape. Results are shown which indicate the increase in predicted straight-line velocity of the sperm as the head width is reduced and the increase in lateral movement as the head length is reduced. Predicted power consumption, however, shows a minimum close to the normal head aspect ratio.
Chemotherapy‐related nausea and vomiting: Etiology and management

and vomiting is increasingly seen as an impor tant consideration in the treatment of cancer patients. As part of that patient-centered view, there has been increasing interest in the development and clinical testing of pharmacologic and other approaches for controlling side effects. This paper will briefly review the physi ology and etiology of nausea and vomiting, and discuss the major antiemetic and be havioral approaches, with a focus on prac tical clinical implementation. The review concludes with a discussion of a step-by step treatment guide to the management of chemotherapy side effects.