Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Competitiveness prioritisation of container ports in Asia under the background of China’s Belt and Road initiative

ABSTRACT The understanding of the competitiveness of different ports under the background of China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) is critical for drafting appropriate plans and taking suitable actions to select the best port in the logistics supply chains. A novel Multi-Attribute Decision Analysis (MADA) was proposed for the evaluation of port competitiveness. In the developed MADA method, the interval Analytic Hierarchy Process and the projection method was combined for the evaluation of port competitiveness. Three container ports in Asia including Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore were studied under the background of China’s BRI. The results demonstrate that the port of Singapore is the most competitive at the initial stage of China’s BRI, followed by Hong Kong and Shanghai in the descending order. The results were validated by sum weighted method and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution method, and sensitivity analysis was also carried out. The competitiveness of the three ports in the next ten years were also studied with the consideration of the influences of China’s BRI, and the results reveal that Shanghai port can even exceed Hong Kong port and Singapore port if it can effectively take the advantage s of China’s BRI.
Minimum torque ripple pulse width-modulation with reduced switching frequency for multi-megawatt motor drive

In this paper, the characteristics of ripple current of multi-megawatt induction motor fed by a PWM inverter is investigated. And, based on the investigation a novel PWM scheme is devised to reduce the switching loss of the inverter under the same torque ripple of the induction motor. The proposed PWM is composed with two parts. One is Minimum Torque Ripple Pulse-Width Modulation (MTRPWM) which is optimized in terms of minimum torque ripple in high Modulation Index. The other is a part to decide a minimum switching frequency while keeping the average torque ripple under the allowable value at the various operating conditions. It is named RSF. Consequently, only changing PWM method from conventional fixed switching frequency CPWM to the proposed PWM with RSF, the switching loss of inverter driving 3.5MW induction motor has been reduced by 51.6%, when MI is 1.12.
Design and implementation of high-speed, low-area switch debouncer ASIC for deep submicron technology

Mechanical switching Contacts tend to make and break connections for a finite time before settling down to a stable state. This settling time or bouncing activity becomes havoc in digital circuits because within the settling time the circuit can see multiple transitions as the switch contacts bounce between make or break conditions. Not only in digital circuits, switching noise becomes a major limitation in mixed signal SoC integration as well [1][2]. Switch debouncer circuit is the one which takes an input signal from a bouncing contact and generates a clean digital output for high speed circuits. The switch debouncer(SD) circuit will not pass the signal to the output till the predetermined period of time until the switch bouncing settles down. In this way, the circuit will respond to only one pulse generation performed by the depressing of the switch and not several state transitions caused by contact bouncing. In this paper an ASIC is designed for eliminating these switch bouncers. The basic building blocks involved in the design of this debouncer circuit are D Flip flop, input and output pads and XOR gates. In this proposed design, DFF and XOR gates are implemented using pass transistors and transmission gates which increases the speed and reduces the area and power consumption. This design has been successfully implemented and tested with a high speed serial adder. The schematics and layout are generated using Tanner EDA and simulations are performed using 90nm technology file. The supporting results and comparisons are provided in the paper.
Pharmacology and mechanisms of opioid analgesic activity

Opiates by an action at specific receptors can induce a highly selective alteration in the response of humans and animals to strong and otherwise aversive chemical, mechanical or thermal stimuli. Specific investigations in a variety of species from rodent to primate using microinjection techniques to examine the pharmacology of local drug action have shown potent antinociceptive actions to be mediated by a receptor specific action at a number of sites within the brain, including the periaqueductal gray (PAG: μ receptor), the rostral ventral medulla (μ/δ receptor) and the substantia nigra (μ receptor) and within the spinal dorsal horn (μ/δ/K receptor). Mechanistic studies have shown these actions in the different sites to be mediated by several discrete mechanisms. For example, in the PAG, the local opiate effect is likely mediated by the indirect activation of bulbospinal pathways, rostral projections to forebrain sites and by a local alteration in afferent input into the brainstem core. In the spinal cord, this effect is mediated by an action presynaptic to the primary afferent and by a post‐synaptic effect to hyperpolarize projection neurons. In addition, it is now appreciated that μ and K receptors in the periphery can modulate the sensitized state of the small afferent terminal innnervating inflamed tissue and exert an anti‐hyperalgesic action. After systemic delivery of an opiate, it is thus clear that a wide array of central and peripheral systems serve to explain the powerful analgesic effect exerted by this class of agents.
The Impact of Tax Policies on Living Organ Donations in the United States

In an effort to increase living organ donation, fifteen states passed tax deductions and one a tax credit to help defray potential medical, lodging and wage loss costs between 2004 and 2008. To assess the impact of these policies on living donation rates, we used a differences‐in‐differences strategy that compares the pre‐ and postlegislation change in living donations in states that passed legislation against the same change in those states that did not. We found no statistically significant effect of these tax policies on donation rates. Furthermore, we found no evidence of any lagged effects, differential impacts by gender, race or donor relationship, or impacts on deceased donation. Possible hypotheses to explain our findings are: the cash value of the tax deduction may be too low to defray costs faced by donors, lack of public awareness about the existence of these policies, and that states that were proactive enough to pass tax policy laws may have already depleted donor pools with previous interventions.
Multiplexed flow cytometric analyses of pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokines in the culture media of oxysterol‐treated human monocytic cells and in the sera of atherosclerotic patients

Some oxysterols are identified in atheromatous plaques and in plasma of atherosclerotic patients. We asked whether they might modulate cytokine secretion on human monocytic cells. In healthy and atherosclerotic subjects, we also investigated the relationships between circulating levels of C‐reactive protein (CRP), conventional markers of hyperlipidemia, some oxysterols (7β‐hydroxycholesterol, 7‐ketocholesterol, and 25‐hydroxycholesterol), and various cytokines.
Using discursive information to disentangle French language chat

In internet chatrooms, multiple conversations may occur simultaneously. The task of identifying to which conversation each message belongs is called disentanglement. In this paper, we first try to adapt the publicly available system of Elsner and Char-niak (2010) to a French corpus extracted from the Ubuntu platform. Then, we experiment with the discursive annotation of utterances. We find that disentanglement performances can vary significantly depending on corpus characteristics. We also find that using discursive information, in the form of functional and rhetoric relations between messages, is valuable for this task.
GABAergic basal forebrain neurons project to the neocortex: The localization of glutamic acid decarboxylase and choline acetyltransferase in feline corticopetal neurons

Our objective was to determine whether GABAergic and cholinergic basal forebrain neurons project to the neocortex. The retrograde connectivity marker wheat germ agglutinin lectin‐bound horseradish peroxidase was injected into the neocortex of adult cats. Histo‐ and immunohistochemical methods were combined to label sequentially connectivity and transmitter markers (glutamic acid decarboxylase; choline acetyltransferase) in forebrain neurons. The labels of each marker were identified by correlative light and electron microscopy.
Cooling the fires of inflammation

Inflammation consists of a series of biological responses to harmful stimuli, such as invasive pathogens, tissue damage, or chemical irritants. It is initiated by stimulation of the innate immune system, resulting in the activation and maturation of various cell types, in many cases including cells of the adaptive immune system. Inappropriate, chronic inflammatory responses are responsible for many prevalent diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel diseases, and psoriasis, and such inflammatory responses contribute to other conditions, such as atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes. It is therefore important to understand how inflammatory reactions can be regulated. In PNAS, McNamee et al. report on the unique and truly remarkable functions of an interleukin 1 (IL-1) family member, IL-37, which exhibited a significant anti-inflammatory role in a mouse model of colitis (1).
The Calcineurin Pathway Inhibitor Tacrolimus Enhances the In Vitro Activity of Azoles against Mucorales via Apoptosis

ABSTRACT The calcineurin pathway regulates antifungal drug resistance and the virulence of several major human-pathogenic fungi, including the recalcitrant Mucorales. We hypothesized that the fungistatic triazoles posaconazole (PCZ) and itraconazole (ICZ) become fungicidal in the setting of the calcineurin inhibitor tacrolimus (TCR) and that such an effect is mediated through apoptosis. Fungicidal activity and apoptosis were studied using standard microbiological techniques and hyphal metabolic and vital dye reduction assays at 37°C in RPMI 1640. Apoptosis was characterized by detecting intracellular Ca2+, phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization, DNA fragmentation, plasma membrane integrity, chromatin condensation, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, caspase-like activity, ATP, and cytochrome c release. MICs for PCZ and ICZ alone were significantly higher (8 to 128 μg/ml) than those of PCZ or ICZ plus TCR (0.25 to 4 μg/ml) for Rhizopus oryzae, Cunninghamella bertholletiae, and Mucor circinelloides. Both PCZ and ICZ in combination with TCR became fungicidal, and their activity was mediated through increased apoptotic cell death of R. oryzae (10 to 50%), C. bertholletiae (5 to 50%), and M. circinelloides (5 to 55%) germlings, with morphological apoptotic changes characterized by externalization of PS, nuclear condensation, and DNA fragmentation. Moreover, activation of the caspase-like activity was correlated with cell death induced by TCR plus PCZ or ICZ. These changes correlated with elevated intracellular Ca2+ and ROS levels and disturbance of mitochondrial potential. We found that PCZ or ICZ in combination with TCR renders Mucorales sensitive to triazoles via apoptotic death. These observations could serve as a new paradigm for the development of new therapeutic strategies.
Role of N-linked glycosylation in the secretion and activity of endothelial lipase Published, JLR Papers in Press, September 1, 2004. DOI 10.1194/jlr.M400162-JLR200

Human endothelial lipase (EL), a member of the triglyceride lipase gene family, has five potential N-linked glycosylation sites, two of which are conserved in both lipoprotein lipase and hepatic lipase. Reduction in molecular mass of EL after treatment with glycosidases and after treatment of EL-expressing cells with the glycosylation inhibitor tunicamycin demonstrated that EL is a glycosylated protein. Each putative glycosylation site was examined by site-directed mutagenesis of the asparagine (Asn). Mutation of Asn-60 markedly reduced secretion and slightly increased specific activity. Mutation of Asn-116 did not influence secretion but increased specific activity. In both cases, this resulted from decreased apparent Km and increased apparent Vmax. Mutation of Asn-373 did not influence secretion but significantly reduced specific activity, as a result of a decrease in apparent Vmax. Mutation of Asn-471 resulted in no reduction in secretion or specific activity. Mutation of Asn-449 resulted in no change in secretion, activity, or molecular mass, indicating that the site is not utilized. The ability of mutants secreted at normal levels to mediate bridging between LDL and cell surfaces was examined. The Asn-373 mutant demonstrated a 3-fold decrease in bridging compared with wild-type EL, whereas Asn-116 and Asn-471 were similar to wild-type EL.
Enhanced infectivity of herpes simplex virus type 1 viral DNA in a cell line expressing the trans-inducing factor Vmw65

Vmw65 is a structural component of herpes simplex virus (HSV) which is involved in transactivating the expression of the viral immediate-early (IE) genes. To gain further insight into the function of this protein, a cell line, BSV65, was established which expresses biologically active Vmw65 under control of the Moloney leukemia virus long terminal repeat. This cell line was shown to specifically activate IE genes as demonstrated by transient transfection assays with reporter genes linked to HSV IE or delayed-early promoter-regulatory regions. Furthermore, by using mobility shift assays, cell extracts were shown to be capable of forming a Vmw65-containing complex with oligonucleotides that contained a TAATGARAT motif, a conserved cis-acting IE regulatory element which is required for Vmw65-mediated trans induction. BSV65 cells were able to complement HSV type 1 in 1814, a mutant which is unable to trans-induce IE gene expression and whose growth is impaired at low multiplicities of infection. Transfection of purified HSV type 1 viral DNA into BSV65 cells resulted in an approximately 200-fold increase in virus production compared with the parental cell line. In addition, in comparison to wild-type cells, infectious virus production occurred sooner and efficiency of plaque formation was higher in BSV65 cells following transfection of viral DNA but not following infection with virus. Northern (RNA) dot blot analysis of cells transfected with viral DNA showed that transcription of the IE gene Vmw175 was approximately 10-fold greater in BSV65 cells compared with wild-type cells. These results indicate that, in the presence of functional Vmw65, there is a greater probability that transfected viral DNA will lead to a productive infection.
Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) Infection of Neurons Derived from Human Embryonic Stem Cells: Direct Demonstration of Axonal Infection, Transport of VZV, and Productive Neuronal Infection

ABSTRACT Study of the human neurotrophic herpesvirus varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and of its ability to infect neurons has been severely limited by strict viral human tropism and limited availability of human neurons for experimentation. Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) can be differentiated to all the cell types of the body including neurons and are therefore a potentially unlimited source of human neurons to study their interactions with human neurotropic viruses. We report here reproducible infection of hESC-derived neurons by cell-associated green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing VZV. hESC-derived neurons expressed GFP within 2 days after incubation with mitotically inhibited MeWo cells infected with recombinant VZV expressing GFP as GFP fusions to VZV proteins or under an independent promoter. VZV infection was confirmed by immunostaining for immediate-early and viral capsid proteins. Infection of hESC-derived neurons was productive, resulting in release into the medium of infectious virions that appeared fully assembled when observed by electron microscopy. We also demonstrated, for the first time, VZV infection of axons and retrograde transport from axons to neuronal cell bodies using compartmented microfluidic chambers. The use of hESC-derived human neurons in conjunction with fluorescently tagged VZV shows great promise for the study of VZV neuronal infection and axonal transport and has potential for the establishment of a model for VZV latency in human neurons.
Depletion of Sphingolipids Facilitates Endosome to Golgi Transport of Ricin

It has been previously demonstrated that depletion of cholesterol inhibits endosome to Golgi transport. Whether this inhibition is due to disruption of sphingolipid‐ and cholesterol‐containing lipid rafts that are selected for Golgi transport or whether there is a physical requirement of cholesterol for either membrane deformations, facilitating formation of transport vesicles, or for recruitment of cytosolic constituents is not obvious. To investigate this in more detail, we have studied endosome to Golgi transport of ricin in sphingolipid‐deficient cells using either a mutant cell line that does not express serine palmitoyltransferase, the first enzyme in sphingolipid biosynthesis, or a specific inhibitor, myriocin, of the same enzyme. Depletion of sphingolipids gave an increased sensitivity to ricin, and this increased sensitivity was inhibited by addition of sphingolipids. Importantly, endosome to Golgi transport of ricin, measured as sulfation of a modified ricin molecule, was increased in sphingolipid‐deficient cells. No effect was seen on other pathways taken by ricin. Interestingly, cholesterol depletion inhibited endosome to Golgi transport even in cells with reduced levels of sphingolipids, suggesting that cholesterol as such is required for formation of transport vesicles. Our results indicate that the presence of sphingolipids actually limits and may function to control endosome to Golgi transport of ricin.
Controller and Scheduler Codesign for Feedback Control Over IEEE 802.15.4 Networks

In this paper, we examine the impact of the scheduling policy on the performance for feedback control over networks based on a hybrid communication protocol, which incorporates both contention-free and contention-based medium access. We investigate the possibilities and limitations of feedback control in the IEEE 802.15. 4 specification and state the problem of scheduling when the controller both utilizes the contention-based and guaranteed parts of the protocol. We propose and compare a number of scheduler-controller codesign algorithms that take both the contention-based and guaranteed parts of the protocol into account using an approximation to an infinite horizon linear quadratic cost function. The simulation studies show that a careful codesign of the scheduler-controller results in significant performance gains, when using both online and offline scheduling policies.
The Stability of the Phillips Curve

An analysis of data from the United States and the United Kingdom supports the view that the traditional Phillips curve is unstable over time. The first stability test suggests that there is weak evidence of stability in the inflation-unemployment trade-off. Three out of four stability tests suggest that the Phillips curve is stable over the examined time period. However, the out-sample dynamic simulation test fails to predict an inflation pattern during the Global Financial Crisis. The second stability test strongly rejects the evidence of symmetry in the inflation-output relationship. The L-shaped Phillips equation outperforms the other non-linear and linear models, despite a very small difference in the R-squared and the Log-Likelihood function. The failure in the Phillips curve throughout the examined time period illustrates that relying on the statistical relationships between inflation and unemployment/output is not enough to formulate a proper monetary policy, especially during large economic shocks.
Application of an Electronic Nose Instrument to Fast Classification of Polish Honey Types

The paper presents practical utilization of an electronic nose prototype, based on the FIGARO semiconductor sensors, in fast classification of Polish honey types—acacia flower, linden flower, rape, buckwheat and honeydew ones. A set of thermostating modules of the prototype provided gradient temperature characteristics of barbotage-prepared gas mixtures and stable measurement conditions. Three chemometric data analysis methods were employed for the honey samples classification: principal component analysis (PCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and cluster analysis (CA) with the furthest neighbour method. The investigation confirmed usefulness of this type of instrument in correct classification of all aforementioned honey types. In order to provide optimum measurement conditions during honey samples classification the following parameters were selected: volumetric flow rate of carrier gas—15 L/h, barbotage temperature—35 °C, time of sensor signal acquisition since barbotage process onset—60 s. Chemometric analysis allowed discrimination of three honey types using PCA and CA and all five honey types with LDA. The reproducibility of 96% of the results was within the range 4.9%–8.6% CV.
Nonlinear Lumped-Circuit Model for Switched Reluctance Motors Exhibiting Core Losses

A new nonlinear lumped parameter model is proposed for a switched reluctance motor (SRM) with core losses. The components of the model and their origin are justified by finite-element simulations and experimental tests. The winding resistance and the leakage inductance are analyzed by different methods taken from the literature, and a new algorithm is proposed to overcome their shortcomings such as the nonbiunivocal flux linkage versus current relationship. In contrast to previous works, the nonlinear elements for modeling the magnetic core, such as the incremental magnetizing inductance and the core-loss resistance, are determined together and simultaneously for each value of the phase current and the rotor position. The performance of the new model and the methodology proposed for estimating its components are analyzed for different excitation types and rotor positions. The core losses are evaluated by the proposed model and by two well-known predictive models, and the results are compared to illustrate the suitability of the former. Finally, the dynamic behavior of the model, acting as an ac self-excited generator, is considered.
Quantitative or Qualitative Forward Guidance: Does it Matter?

Every monetary policy decision by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is accompanied by a written statement about the state of the economy and the policy outlook, but only every second decision by a published interest rate forecast. We exploit this difference to study the relative influences of qualitative and quantitative forward guidance. We find that announcements that include an interest rate forecast lead to very similar market reactions across the yield curve as announcements that only include written statements. We interpret our results as implying that central bank communication is important, but that the exact form of that communication is less critical. Our results are also consistent with market participants understanding the conditional nature of the RBNZ interest rate forecasts.