Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and Application of a Field Mill as a High-Voltage DC Meter

Field mill instruments are often employed for the measurement of electric fields, electric charges, voltage potentials, and atmospheric effects. This paper discusses in more detail the application of a field mill for measuring dc voltages in high-voltage laboratories. Some specific problems, which arise when voltages in the kilovolt or megavolt range have to be measured, are emphasized. Safety, signal transmission, and electrode design are dealt with. Field meter theory is summarized and generalized in the function of this application. The design of a practical field-mill-based electrostatic voltmeter is described along with some useful enhancements. Finally, test results of the voltmeter are presented.
Nonreductive Individualism

The author draws on arguments from contemporary philosophy of mind to provide an argument for sociological collectivism. This argument for nonreductive individualism accepts that only individuals exist but rejects methodological individualism. In Part I, the author presents the argument for nonreductive individualism by working through the implications of supervenience, multiple realizability, and wild disjunction in some detail. In Part II, he extends the argument to provide a defense for social causal laws, and this account of social causation does not require any commitment to intentionality or agency on the part of individuals.
Comparative effects of inhaled diesel exhaust and ambient fine particles on inflammation, atherosclerosis, and vascular dysfunction

Ambient air PM2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter) has been associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), but the underlying mechanisms affecting CVDs are unknown. The authors investigated whether subchronic inhalation of concentrated ambient PM2.5 (CAPs), whole diesel exhaust (WDE), or diesel exhaust gases (DEGs) led to exacerbation of atherosclerosis, pulmonary and systemic inflammation, and vascular dysfunction; and whether DEG interactions with CAPs alter cardiovascular effects. ApoE−/− mice were simultaneously exposed via inhalation for 5 hours/day, 4 days/week, for up to 5 months to one of five different exposure atmospheres: (1) filtered air (FA); (2) CAPs (105 μg/m3); (3) WDE (DEP = 436 μg/m3); (4) DEG (equivalent to gas levels in WDE group); and (5) CAPs+DEG (PM2.5: 113 μg/m3; with DEG equivalent to WDE group). After 3 and 5 months, lung lavage fluid and blood sera were analyzed, and atherosclerotic plaques were quantified by ultrasound imaging, hematoxylin and eosin (H&E stain), and en face Sudan IV stain. Vascular functions were assessed after 5 months of exposure. The authors showed that (1) subchronic CAPs, WDE, and DEG inhalations increased serum vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 levels and enhanced phenylephrine (PE)-induced vasoconstriction; (2) for plaque exacerbation, CAPs > WDE > DEG = FA, thus PM components (not present in WDE) were responsible for plaque development; (3) atherosclerosis can exacerbated through mechanistic pathways other than inflammation and vascular dysfunction; and (4) although there were no significant interactions between CAPs and DEG on plaque exacerbation, it is less clear whether the effects of CAPs on vasomotor dysfunction and pulmonary/systemic inflammation were enhanced by the DEG coexposure.
Swarm Intelligence-Based Hybrid Models for Short-Term Power Load Prediction

Swarm intelligence (SI) is widely and successfully applied in the engineering field to solve practical optimization problems because various hybrid models, which are based on the SI algorithm and statistical models, are developed to further improve the predictive abilities. In this paper, hybrid intelligent forecasting models based on the cuckoo search (CS) as well as the singular spectrum analysis (SSA), time series, and machine learning methods are proposed to conduct short-term power load prediction. The forecasting performance of the proposed models is augmented by a rolling multistep strategy over the prediction horizon. The test results are representative of the out-performance of the SSA and CS in tuning the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) and support vector regression (SVR) in improving load forecasting, which indicates that both the SSA-based data denoising and SI-based intelligent optimization strategy can effectively improve the model’s predictive performance. Additionally, the proposed CS-SSA-SARIMA and CS-SSA-SVR models provide very impressive forecasting results, demonstrating their strong robustness and universal forecasting capacities in terms of short-term power load prediction 24 hours in advance.
Reactive approach to on-line path planning for robot manipulators in dynamic environments

This paper describes a new approach to path planning of robot manipulators with many degrees of freedom. It is designed for on-line motion in dynamic and unpredictable environments. The robots react to moving obstacles using a local and reactive algorithm restricted to a subset of its configuration space. The lack of a long-term view of local algorithms (local minima problems) is solved using an off-line pre-planning stage that chooses the subset of the configuration space that minimises the probability of not finding collision free paths. The approach is implemented and tested on a system of three Scorbot-er IX five link robots.
Mechanical Models of the Dynamics of Vitreous Substitutes

We discuss some aspects of the fluid dynamics of vitreous substitutes in the vitreous chamber, focussing on the flow induced by rotations of the eye bulb. We use simple, yet not trivial, theoretical models to highlight mechanical concepts that are relevant to understand the dynamics of vitreous substitutes and also to identify ideal properties for vitreous replacement fluids. We first recall results by previous authors, showing that the maximum shear stress on the retina grows with increasing viscosity of the fluid up to a saturation value. We then investigate how the wall shear stress changes if a thin layer of aqueous humour is present in the vitreous chamber, separating the retina from the vitreous replacement fluid. The theoretical predictions show that the existence of a thin layer of aqueous is sufficient to substantially decrease the shear stress on the retina. We finally discuss a theoretical model that predicts the stability conditions of the interface between the aqueous and a vitreous substitute. We discuss the implications of this model to understand the mechanisms leading to the formation of emulsion in the vitreous chamber, showing that instability of the interface is possible in a range of parameters relevant for the human eye.
A Comparison of Low-Carbohydrate vs. High-Carbohydrate Diets: Energy Restriction, Nutrient Quality and Correlation to Body Mass Index

Objectives: To evaluate free-living adults’ diets that ranged from very low to high amounts of carbohydrate for their energy content, nutritional quality and correlation to Body Mass Index. Methods: Adults ages 19 years and older, who had complete dietary intake data on day-1 of the USDA’s 1994 to 1996 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII 1994–1996), were divided into four groups—very low, low, moderate and high carbohydrate—based on the percent total energy from carbohydrate. Mean energy, nutrient, food intakes and Body Mass Index values were compared among the groups. SUDAAN software package was used for the data analysis and pair-wise mean comparisons (p < 0.05). Results: The high-carbohydrate diet was lower in energy and energy density (number of kilocalories per gram of total amount of food consumed) than the other three diets. Macronutrient composition varied significantly among all the four groups. Nutrient density (amount of nutrient per 1,000 kilocalories of energy consumed) of vitamin A, carotene, vitamin C, folate, calcium, magnesium and iron increased and that of vitamin B12 and zinc decreased with an increase in the percent total energy from carbohydrate. The high-carbohydrate group ate more of low-fat foods, grain products and fruits. This group also had the lowest sodium intake. Adults eating a high-carbohydrate diet are more likely to have Body Mass Index values below 25. Conclusion: A study of diets of free-living adults in the U.S. showed that diets high in carbohydrate were both energy restrictive and nutritious and may be adopted for successful weight management.
UNIX for the NEC Cenju-3

This paper describes our e orts to bring UNIX to the NEC Cenju-3 parallel computer. Our e orts began with a Cenju-3/DE con guration we refer to as DEUX which provides local le I/O for Cenju-3/DE applications. We are currently developing UHUX to bring full UNIX functionality to the Cenju-3. DEUX is available now. UHUX is being used at the University of Houston and the NEC C&C Research Laboratories. The rst o cial release is scheduled in the second quarter of 1997.
Primary and secondary cues to voice assimilation in French and Slovenian

Several important issues in voice assimilation have been recently revisited. In particular, is it gradient or categorical? Distributional analyses of the voicing ratio in assimilating vs. neutral contexts conducted on French data have yielded somewhat discrepant results, yet suggesting that assimilation is categorical and optional at the same time. In this study, we compare between-word voice assimilation data reported for French with similar data collected in Slovenian: Is assimilation stronger in one language and how categorical is it in each language? We also compare voice assimilation in the two languages for secondary cues to voicing, such as closure duration, and compare the assimilation produced for words vs. nonwords. We find that voice assimilation is more categorical and occurs more often in Slovenian than French, that some secondary cues to voicing resist assimilation in French but not in Slovenian, and that assimilation is similar for words and nonwords in both languages.
A Framework for Estimation of Distribution Algorithms Based on Maximum Entropy

A framework for a new type of Estimation of Distribution Algorithms (EDAs) is developed. It is similar to the Bayesian Optimization Algorithm (BOA) except that it replaces Bayesian network model with estimation of schema distribution based on maximum entropy. As structure learning of Bayesian network is not needed, it reduces the computational cost. The experimental results show that the new algorithms achieve more stable performance and stronger ability in searching the global optima.
PolVerbNet: an experimental database for Polish verbs

The semantics of verbs implies, as is known, a great number of difficulties, when it is to be represented in a computational lexicon. The Slavic languages are especially challenging in respect of this task because of the huge complexity of verbs, where the stems are combined with prefixes indicating aspect and Aktionsart. The current paper describes an approach to build PolVerbNet, a database for Polish verbs, considering the internal structure of the aspect-Aktionsart system. PolVerbNet is thus implemented in a larger English-Polish MT-system, which incorporates WordNet. We report our translation procedure and the system’s performance is evaluated and discussed.
Property vector based distortion estimation

This paper addresses rate-distortion optimal mode selection, based on estimates of the instantaneous coding distortion, for multi-mode source coders. We propose a two stage estimation framework, including a property extraction, and a Gaussian mixture model based distortion estimation. We also suggest accompanying measures for evaluating the goodness of a given property vector. The proposed framework is evaluated for a set of properties in a CELP coding framework. The results suggest that the proposed framework is capable of doing rate distortion optimal mode selection in multi-mode source coders.
INLAB2: Fast native XML storage and query retrieval

The past few years have seen a dramatic increase in the popularity and adoption of XML in Internet technology. With this revolution, an effective way for storing and querying XML documents is crucial. In this paper, we propose the INLAB2 architecture for fast native XML storage and accurate query retrieval. INLAB2 comprises of five main components, namely XML Parser, XML Encoder, XML Indexer, Data Manager and Query Processor. All these components are coupled tightly and play an important role in answering queries specified by the user. Extensive experiments quantify the practical benefits of TwigINLAB2, the main algorithm in Query Processor, which amounts to a significant performance gain compared to other approaches.
Towards the development of advanced exoskeletons for supporting the human activities

Exoskeletons find application in many fields and can be divided into three main categories: 1) haptic interfaces; 2) power amplifiers; 3) rehabilitation and assistance systems. A number of research groups have developed a number of robotic solutions for supporting the motor activities of the upper limb by integrating advanced technologies in terms of actuation, sensors, control and mechanisms. For example, D.A. Caldwell (2003) proposed an upper limb rehabilitation exoskeleton using McKibben PMA applied to a rigid link structure [1]. The same actuators but different approach are used by H. Kobayashi (2004) by integrating the McKibben actuators into a power suit in a configuration similar to the natural muscles [2]. Other research groups focus on the control strategy. J. Rosen (2005) developed a new arm exoskeleton with 7 dof where the motions and the torques of the shoulder and of the elbow are predicted by using genetic algorithm based on the Hill-type muscle model, and EMG, position e force interface information [3]. K. Kiguchi (2005) proposed a cable-driven exoskeleton actuated by DC motors and using neuro-fuzzy logic to control and to predict the shoulder and elbow movements [4],[5]. A different approach has been pursued by K. Yamamoto (2004) who designed a complete power suit using custom pneumatic actuators for assisting nurses in lifting of patients [6]. The Maryland-Georgetown Army (MGA) Exoskeleton shows interesting solutions to the problem of kinematics coupling between the exoskeleton structure and the human shoulder [7]. It is important to point out that in a microgravity environment the astronauts spend most the time doing motor exercises, so he/she could be considered as impaired people carrying out rehabilitation exercises. In addition, robotic systems could be wearable under the power suit and could be used to feedback to the astronaut cognitive sensations. This paper presents the design methodology and the ongoing activities at ARTS Lab of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna towards the design and development of an innovative exoskeleton for the upper limb and of advanced wearable interfaces for cognitive feedback.
Isolation and Enrichment of Cryptosporidium DNA and Verification of DNA Purity for Whole-Genome Sequencing

ABSTRACT Whole-genome sequencing of Cryptosporidium spp. is hampered by difficulties in obtaining sufficient, highly pure genomic DNA from clinical specimens. In this study, we developed procedures for the isolation and enrichment of Cryptosporidium genomic DNA from fecal specimens and verification of DNA purity for whole-genome sequencing. The isolation and enrichment of genomic DNA were achieved by a combination of three oocyst purification steps and whole-genome amplification (WGA) of DNA from purified oocysts. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis of WGA products was used as an initial quality assessment of amplified genomic DNA. The purity of WGA products was assessed by Sanger sequencing of cloned products. Next-generation sequencing tools were used in final evaluations of genome coverage and of the extent of contamination. Altogether, 24 fecal specimens of Cryptosporidium parvum, C. hominis, C. andersoni, C. ubiquitum, C. tyzzeri, and Cryptosporidium chipmunk genotype I were processed with the procedures. As expected, WGA products with low (<16.0) threshold cycle (CT ) values yielded mostly Cryptosporidium sequences in Sanger sequencing. The cloning-sequencing analysis, however, showed significant contamination in 5 WGA products (proportion of positive colonies derived from Cryptosporidium genomic DNA, ≤25%). Following this strategy, 20 WGA products from six Cryptosporidium species or genotypes with low (mostly <14.0) CT values were submitted to whole-genome sequencing, generating sequence data covering 94.5% to 99.7% of Cryptosporidium genomes, with mostly minor contamination from bacterial, fungal, and host DNA. These results suggest that the described strategy can be used effectively for the isolation and enrichment of Cryptosporidium DNA from fecal specimens for whole-genome sequencing.
Direct competition between Brinker and Drosophila Mad in Dpp target gene transcription

Brinker is a nuclear protein that antagonizes Dpp signalling in Drosophila. Its expression is negatively regulated by Dpp. Here, we show that Brinker represses Ultrabithorax (Ubx) in the embryonic midgut, a HOX gene that activates, and responds to, the localized expression of Dpp during endoderm induction. We find that the functional target for Brinker repression coincides with the Dpp response sequence in the Ubx midgut enhancer, namely a tandem of binding sites for the Dpp effector Mad. We show that Brinker efficiently competes with Mad in vitro, preventing the latter from binding to these sites. Brinker also competes with activated Mad in vivo, blocking the stimulation of the Ubx enhancer in response to simultaneous Dpp signalling. These results indicate how Brinker acts as a dominant repressor of Dpp target genes, and explain why Brinker is a potent antagonist of Dpp.
Spatial Inference Machines

This paper addresses the problem of semantic segmentation of 3D point clouds. We extend the inference machines framework of Ross et al. by adding spatial factors that model mid-range and long-range dependencies inherent in the data. The new model is able to account for semantic spatial context. During training, our method automatically isolates and retains factors modelling spatial dependencies between variables that are relevant for achieving higher prediction accuracy. We evaluate the proposed method by using it to predict 17-category semantic segmentations on sets of stitched Kinect scans. Experimental results show that the spatial dependencies learned by our method significantly improve the accuracy of segmentation. They also show that our method outperforms the existing segmentation technique of Koppula et al.
Sojourner Adjustment

This article deals with the adjustment of sojourners in Japan. From a psychological perspective, adjustment is closely linked to the development of attitudes in a foreign country. The results of this investigation do not support the idea that foreigners' attitudes toward their host culture automatically improve once they have learned to cope with their new environment in everyday life. This idea has been implied not only by what is widely known as the U-curve theory of adjustment but also by the theory of culture learning. Generally, the results of this investigation suggest a more ambiguous and pessimistic picture of the prospect of overcoming culture shock in a culturally homogeneous environment.
Wavelet based spectrum sensing in a multipath Rayleigh fading Channel

Cognitive Radio (CR) is a new promise to settle spectral congestion problem in the face of increasing bandwidth demand for many new and upcoming mobile and internet applications. Robust, energy efficient and computationally efficient spectrum sensing for detecting white spaces in a wideband radio spectrum still remains a challenge. In this paper, we have adopted the wavelet based approach for edge detection and power spectral density (PSD) estimation for spectrum sensing and have analysed its performance in both additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and Rayleigh fading channel based on the derived receiver operating characteristic (ROC). The sensitivity of PSD to Doppler frequency shift in the wireless channel is also quantified through simulation results.
Goal orientations in Russian university students: from mastery to performance?

Research in the UK has shown that students start their university career with the goal of mastering their subject, but this focus shifts as they progress through their degree program. Studies have suggested that unlike students in the UK, Russian students continue to take a strong mastery approach to their work. The main aim of this study was to assess whether the effects observed in UK studies could be found in a Russian context. In a cross‐sectional study, 618 students across four years of a degree program in a Russian university completed an achievement‐goal questionnaire. Results revealed patterns similar to the studies in the UK; Russian students’ levels of mastery were significantly lower after Year 1. The results are discussed in terms of potential changes in Russian culture. Methodological issues relating to the relative failure of some questionnaire items to validate fully within their hypothesised constructs are also discussed.
Preparation of macroporous carbon nanofibers with macroscopic openings in the surfaces and their applications

Macroporous carbon nanofibers with mesoscale surface openings were produced by electrospinning. During the electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solution including crosslinked polymer colloids, the polymer colloids were concentrated in the center of PAN fibers. Carbonization left interconnected spherical pores inside the carbon fibers and mesoscale openings in the fiber surfaces. The existence of surface openings facilitated inward diffusion of various solvent molecules, nanoparticles, and large molecules such as proteins. The porous fibers could be dispersed in both hydrophilic and hydrophobic solvents and materials, which enabled production of polymer composites in which the fibers and polymers were interpenetrating through the pores. Silica coating on the macroporous carbon fibers enriched the surface chemistry to effectively immobilize proteins helped by easy diffusion through surface openings.
Identification of differentially expressed genes in coronary atherosclerotic plaques from patients with stable or unstable angina by cDNA array analysis

Summary. The composition of atherosclerotic plaques is a crucial factor in determining rupture, thrombosis and clinical events. In this study, we analyzed gene expression in coronary plaques from patients with stable or unstable angina using gene arrays. Total RNA was extracted from eight plaques collected by therapeutic directional coronary atherectomy. cDNA probes, generated by amplification, were hybridized to nylon arrays containing 482 genes. Here we report the results for the inflammation, adhesion and hemostasis subsets. Many genes not previously associated with atherosclerosis, such as the lymphocyte adhesion molecule MadCAM, were expressed in the plaques. anova analysis showed higher tissue factor (TF) expression in unstable angina samples. Five genes were expressed at lower levels in unstable angina samples: anticoagulant protein S, cyclooxygenase (COX)‐1, interleukin (IL)‐7 and chemokines monocyte chemotactic protein (MCP)‐1 and ‐2. Gene arrays provide a new approach to study plaque composition and identify candidate markers of plaque instability.