Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Wiring area optimization in floorplan-aware hierarchical power grids

In this paper, the floorplan-aware topology of hierarchical power quad-grids is proposed to dynamically meet the local requirement of high current densities inside the floorplan and an iterative linear voltage/current scaling (ILVCS) approach is proposed to meet the current electromigration and voltage IR-drop constraints phase by phase. The experimental results show that our proposed ILVCS approach based on hierarchical power quad-grids can obtain 23%/spl sim/44% improvement on total wiring area than the power grids by the wire sizing method for the tested examples.
Localized generalization error based active learning for image annotation

Content-based image auto-annotation becomes a hot research topic owing to the development of image retrieval system and the storing technology of multimedia information. It is a key step in most of those image processing applications. In this work, we adopt active learning to image annotation for reducing the number of labeled images required for supervised learning procedure. Localized Generalization Error Model (L-GEM) based active learning uses localized generalization error bound as the sample selection criterion. In each turn, the most informative sample from a set of unlabeled samples is selected by the L-GEM based active learning will be labeled and added to the training dataset. A heuristic and a Q value selection improvement methods are introduced in this paper. The experimental results show that the proposed active learning efficiently reduces the number of labeled training samples. Moreover, the improvement method improve the performances in both testing accuracy and training time which are both essential in image annotation applications.
A thermoelectric module thermal-cycling testing platform with automated measurement capabilities

Thermoelectric Modules (TEM) are used in areas such as precision temperature control applications, cooling system, energy harvesting, etc. The fully characterization of TEM is very important, mainly with respect to its degradation. In order to evaluate degradation, thermal cycling application is one of the most used methods. In this work it is described a complete thermal-cycling testing platform of TEM that is capable of measuring parameters such as Seebeck coefficient (α), thermal conductivity (λ), Figure of Merit (ZT) and others in an automatic way. Experimental results show the effectivity of the proposed testing platform.
Dating Pleistocene Archeological Sites by Protein Diagenesis in Ostrich Eggshell

Eggshells of the African ostrich (Struthio camelus), ubiquitous in archeological sites in Africa, have been shown by laboratory simulation experiments to retain their indigenous organic matrix residues during diagenesis far better than any other calcified tissue yet studied. The rate of L-isoleucine epimerization to D-alloisoleucine follows reversible first-order kinetics and has been calibrated for local temperature effects and used to estimate the age range of stratified archeological sites. Age estimates are consistent with radiocarbon dates from several stratified archeological sites. With adequate calibration, this technique can provide accurate ages to within 10 to 15 percent for strata deposited within the last 200,000 years in the tropics and the last 1,000,000 years in colder regions such as China.
Prehospital tourniquet use in Operation Iraqi Freedom: effect on hemorrhage control and outcomes.

BACKGROUND Up to 9% of casualties killed in action during the Vietnam War died from exsanguination from extremity injuries. Retrospective reviews of prehospital tourniquet use in World War II and by the Israeli Defense Forces revealed improvements in extremity hemorrhage control and very few adverse limb outcomes when tourniquet times are less than 6 hours. HYPOTHESIS We hypothesized that prehospital tourniquet use decreased hemorrhage from extremity injuries and saved lives, and was not associated with a substantial increase in adverse limb outcomes. METHODS This was an institutional review board-approved, retrospective review of the 31st combat support hospital for 1 year during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Inclusion criteria were any patient with a traumatic amputation, major extremity vascular injury, or documented prehospital tourniquet. RESULTS Among 3,444 total admissions, 165 patients met inclusion criteria. Sixty-seven patients had prehospital tourniquets (TK); 98 patients had severe extremity injuries but no prehospital tourniquet (No TK). Extremity Acute Injury Scores were the same (3.5 TK vs. 3.4 No TK) in both groups. Differences (p < 0.05) were noted in the numbers of patients with arm injuries (16.2% TK vs. 30.6% No TK), injuries requiring vascular reconstruction (29.9% TK vs. 52.5% No TK), traumatic amputations (41.8% TK vs. 26.3% No TK), and in those patients with adequate bleeding control on arrival (83% TK vs. 60% No TK). Secondary amputation rates (4 (6.0%) TK vs. 9 (9.1%) No TK); and mortality (3 (4.4%) TK vs. 4 (4.1%) No TK) did not differ. Tourniquet use was not deemed responsible for subsequent amputation in severely mangled extremities. Analysis revealed that four of seven deaths were potentially preventable with functional prehospital tourniquet placement. CONCLUSIONS Prehospital tourniquet use was associated with improved hemorrhage control, particularly in the worse injured (Injury Severity Score >15) subset of patients. Fifty-seven percent of the deaths might have been prevented by earlier tourniquet use. There were no early adverse outcomes related to tourniquet use.
Statistical Evaluation of Biofuel Role in Land Use Change

We investigate the effect of biofuels on land use change through a case study of U.S. corn production. Currently, agricultural models are used to estimate the effect of biofuel production on crop production and, correspondingly, land use change. As biofuel production grows, the models can potentially be validated with statistical analysis of changes in crop production. Determination of the influence of biofuel production on other uses of the biofuel feedstock - such as for food or animal feed - cannot be evaluated with standard statistical methods because the uses of an agricultural crop are constrained: total crop use is always the sum of the constituents. We develop a general method for these compositional distributions, and apply this method to determine competition between biofuel feedstock production and other uses of the same feedstock. We find evidence of competition among corn yield constituents, particularly with respect to ethanol production.
Defects in coatomer protein I (COPI) transport cause blood feeding-induced mortality in Yellow Fever mosquitoes

Blood feeding by vector mosquitoes provides the entry point for disease pathogens and presents an acute metabolic challenge that must be overcome to complete the gonotrophic cycle. Based on recent data showing that coatomer protein I (COPI) vesicle transport is involved in cellular processes beyond Golgi–endoplasmic reticulum retrograde protein trafficking, we disrupted COPI functions in the Yellow Fever mosquito Aedes aegypti to interfere with blood meal digestion. Surprisingly, we found that decreased expression of the γCOPI coatomer protein led to 89% mortality in blood-fed mosquitoes by 72 h postfeeding compared with 0% mortality in control dsRNA-injected blood-fed mosquitoes and 3% mortality in γCOPI dsRNA-injected sugar-fed mosquitoes. Similar results were obtained using dsRNA directed against five other COPI coatomer subunits (α, β, β′, δ, and ζ). We also examined midgut tissues by EM, quantitated heme in fecal samples, and characterized feeding-induced protein expression in midgut, fat body, and ovary tissues of COPI-deficient mosquitoes. We found that COPI defects disrupt epithelial cell membrane integrity, stimulate premature blood meal excretion, and block induced expression of several midgut protease genes. To study the role of COPI transport in ovarian development, we injected γCOPI dsRNA after blood feeding and found that, although blood digestion was normal, follicles in these mosquitoes were significantly smaller by 48 h postinjection and lacked eggshell proteins. Together, these data show that COPI functions are critical to mosquito blood digestion and egg maturation, a finding that could also apply to other blood-feeding arthropod vectors.
Adaptive capacity for climate change in Canadian rural communities

Abstract It is widely acknowledged that promoting the long-term sustainability of rural areas requires an assessment of their capacity to handle stress from a host of external and internal factors such as resource depletion, global trading agreements, service reductions and changing demographics, to name but some. The sustainability literature includes a number of approaches for conducting capacity evaluations but is sparse regarding effective methods and empirical examples. This article provides one approach for assessing community capacity and gives results from its application to a specific Canadian rural community. The authors use general capacity variables and indicators to focus on a particular stress, namely impacts from climate change, and on one type of capacity, namely the capacity to adapt (to such climatic change). A basic framework and profiling tool (‘amoeba’) for describing the resources underlying community adaptive capacity are offered. The researchers provide a set of indicators reflecting social, human, institutional, natural and economic resources and relate them to climate change adaptation at the community level. Although the indicators cannot be replicated exactly for other rural communities, the essentials of the framework and the profiling tool can. In fact it is hoped that the ideas and example found in this article will encourage researchers to enhance and improve on the methods and results for work on community capacity.
PB2 Mutations D701N and S714R Promote Adaptation of an Influenza H5N1 Virus to a Mammalian Host

ABSTRACT Mutation D701N in the PB2 protein is known to play a prominent role in the adaptation of avian influenza A viruses to mammalian hosts. In contrast, little is known about the nearby mutations S714I and S714R, which have been observed in some avian influenza viruses highly pathogenic for mammals. We have generated recombinant H5N1 viruses with PB2 displaying the avian signature 701D or the mammalian signature 701N and serine, isoleucine, and arginine at position 714 and compared them for polymerase activity and virus growth in avian and mammalian cells, as well as for pathogenicity in mice. Mutation D701N led to an increase in polymerase activity and replication efficiency in mammalian cells and in mouse pathogenicity, and this increase was significantly enhanced when mutation D701N was combined with mutation S714R. Stimulation by mutation S714I was less distinct. These observations indicate that PB2 mutation S714R, in combination with the mammalian signature at position 701, has the potential to promote the adaptation of an H5N1 virus to a mammalian host. IMPORTANCE Influenza A/H5N1 viruses are avian pathogens that have pandemic potential, since they are spread over large parts of Asia, Africa, and Europe and are occasionally transmitted to humans. It is therefore of high scientific interest to understand the mechanisms that determine the host specificity and pathogenicity of these viruses. It is well known that the PB2 subunit of the viral polymerase is an important host range determinant and that PB2 mutation D701N plays an important role in virus adaptation to mammalian cells. In the present study, we show that mutation S714R is also involved in adaptation and that it cooperates with D701N in exposing a nuclear localization signal that mediates importin-α binding and entry of PB2 into the nucleus, where virus replication and transcription take place.
Utility of an abbreviated version of the executive and social cognition battery in the detection of executive deficits in early behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia patients

Abstract The detection of executive deficits in early behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is crucial, as impairments in the executive domain constitute an important diagnostic feature of the newly proposed diagnostic criteria for bvFTD. Our group has recently demonstrated that classical executive tests fail to detect the executive deficits of a subgroup of early bvFTD patients. When administered an executive and social cognition battery (ESCB) that includes tasks that mimic everyday scenarios (e.g., affective decision-making, planning and organization, theory of mind), however, the performance of those bvFTD patients differed significantly from that of controls. One limitation of the ESCB is its lengthy nature (approximately 90 min). For this reason, the present study analyzes the usefulness of alternative shorter versions of this battery. We propose one particular two-task combination that demands approximately 30 min for its administration and scoring, and which presents similar discriminatory accuracy as that of the complete ESCB, while maintaining its significantly superior capacity to detect subtle executive deficits in bvFTD patients relative to classical executive tests. We suggest that, in clinical settings where tools, time, or human resources are scarce, this abbreviated ESCB may be useful in the detection of subtle yet impairing executive impairments of patients with bvFTD. (JINS, 2010, 16, 687–694.)
Relative Clauses in Thai English

Abstract This study explores characteristics and usage of relative clauses in Thai English in comparison with those in American English. Data are taken from articles published in English newspapers in Thailand and America. Relative clauses are identified and classified into types based on the features: finiteness, restrictiveness and simple/complex. The Z-test is used to evaluate the proportions of types of relative clauses between the two varieties. The findings show that relative clauses in Thai English do not have any forms distinctive from those in American English, but quantitative analysis shows that the types of relative clauses are used in distinctive proportions in the two varieties. Thai English has a significantly higher proportion of non-finite and restrictive relative clauses than American English does. It also shows a higher use of shared head-noun and three-layer complex relative clauses. This characteristic of relative clauses in Thai English reflects the process of nativization, where a variety of English is adjusted to its ecology. Since Thailand is a collectivist culture with a high-context type of communication, the types of relative clauses that correspond well with this condition are used at a higher frequency than in the native variety. This suggests a subtle kind of nativization, where distinctions from the native variety do not emerge in terms of overt forms of relative clause constructions but rather in terms of the proportions of certain types of relative clauses.
Beyond bureaucracy? Work organization in call centres

Call centres are a rapidly growing, IT-based channel for service and sales delivery, particularly in the financial services and telecom industries. Although little research has been undertaken on the human resource aspects of call centres, two contrasting images are emerging. The first emphasizes the bureaucratic, constraining nature of these work settings, while the second image points towards worker empowerment characteristic of knowledge-intensive settings. Which of these two images more faithfully portrays the nature of work organization in call centres is the subject of our paper. Drawing on qualitative research undertaken in six call centres and a survey of front-line workers, we show that elements of both models coexist and that a hybrid model predominates. The theoretical basis for this contention, and its institutionalization as mass customized bureaucracy, lies in management's on-going attempts to reconcile two conflicting principles: standardization of processes and customization of products. The paper also explores, as key consequences of mass customized bureaucracy, front-line workers' satisfaction with various facets of their job and their overall job satisfaction, in addition to discretionary work effort. Only in relation to job security and co-worker relations could front-line workers be considered satisfied. Overall, these employees were ambivalent in their responses. They were however more likely to give more discretionary work effort than indicated by their extent of satisfaction. We conclude that, although the existing pattern of work organization may be superior to more bureaucratic forms, it is by no means ideal from the standpoint of either front-line workers or management.
Innovation Patterns, Mixed Goods and Sector Spillovers Dynamic analyses of environmental and innovation performances

We analyze sectors‟ investment decisions about emission abatement in a contest of a mixed good, of which for instance the emission abatement is the public component and the energy efficiency is the private component. The mixed good can be defined as the total amount of R&D efforts, namely a mixed capital good. The two components of the mixed good are, hence, typically complements. The investment decisions are then analyzed in a dynamic framework, and the steady state equilibrium solutions are investigated. We pay attention to the reaction function between one sector‟s investment in the mixed good (R&D and emission abatement) and the other sectors‟ investment in emission abatement. We show that the degree of complementarity among emission abatement and R&D affects the sign of the reaction functions. Intuitively, since for each sector the two components of the mixed capital are complements, an increase of the other sectors‟ investment in the public component (abatement) increases the benefits of accumulating the complementary private component (energy efficiency appropriable only by the sector under scrutiny). We demonstrate that as expected, the sensitiveness of the reaction function is higher when the two goods are complements. Empirical analyses compare within, first difference and GMM specifications and aim at accounting for sector spillovers – in R&D and abatement decisions - within and outside a country. An original 19952006 dataset that merges together NAMEA matrixes for major EU economies, with sector based data on innovation, energy, trade and environmental policy, is used. We show that for both CO2 and SOx both R&D spillovers arising within the country and originating from the same sector at EU level matter. Weighting for distance and capital/labor ratio enhances the significance. The specific test on the reaction function shows that sector R&D is positively driven by (i) the emission abatement of the sector – the „private‟ contribution to the public good – (ii) the abatement occurring in other manufacturing sectors within the country and (iii) the abatement occurring in the same sector in other countries. The last two effects prove the existence of a positive reaction function and thus confirm the theoretical implications in a dynamic strategic game over public good investments. Though GMM and first difference models outperform other static and dynamic approaches, results are fairly homogeneous and robust across all attempted estimates.
Transitioning Systems Thinking to Model-Based Systems Engineering: Systemigrams to SysML Models

A fundamental challenge for system engineers is to capture a problem with an effective model or framework and then facilitate transferring the information of that captured problem to practical systems engineering tools and methods. The early problem definition phase requires an application of systems thinking with adequate modeling tools and methods. Then, the later problem definition phase and early system architecting phase requires transferring the captured problem to systems engineering tools and methods through emerging techniques such as model-based systems engineering (MBSE) using SysML (MBSE is the practice of using a modeling tools to capture systems engineering diagrams). This paper presents a method for capturing a problem through systemigrams and the Boardman soft systems methodology and then directly translating the systemigrams into SysML diagrams. With MBSE increasing in usage, this method could provide a time savings opportunity during model development along with the possibility of lowering information distortion or loss that can occur during transformation of systems thinking to systems engineering activities. This paper includes a case study which demonstrates how the proposed approach was applied on a problem being considered by the U.S. Army-Contingency Basing for Small Combat Units. Finally, this paper will provide the conclusion on the development of the method and describe future research directions that can allow systems thinking and MBSE to function in a congruent methodology.
Human microglial cells have phenotypic and functional characteristics in common with both macrophages and dendritic antigen‐presenting cells

Resting microglia comprise up to 13% of the cells in human central nervous system (CNS) white matter. Their large number and dendritic morphology make them ideally suited to survey the CNS for noxious stimuli. Upon activation microglia gradually lose dendritic processes and transform into typical phagocytic macrophages. Microglia have been implicated as the main antigen presenting cell within the CNS, and appear to be of central importance as effectors and regulators of demyelination. To further characterize the capacity for immune reactivity within the human CNS, we have studied several characteristics of microglia, both in situ and in vitro. We find that human microglia have ultrastructural, phenotypic (CD11c, CD68, acid phosphatase), and functional (FcR and CR mediated phagocytosis) properties typical for cells of the monocyte lineage. Our data indicate that microglia also have properties in common with dendritic antigen‐presenting cells. Electron microscopy studies show extended dendritic cell processes on cultured microglia, and microglia are, like dendritic cells, negative for the monocyte markers nonspecific esterase, endogenous peroxidase, CD14, and RFD7. Microglia constitutively express HLA‐DR in situ, and express the dendritic cell marker RFD1 upon activation. Coculturing of microglia with CD4+ T cells results in clustering of T cells around microglia and initiation of a mixed lymphocyte reaction, both distinguishing features of dendritic cells. These functional properties of microglia may be of importance for the maintenance of an immunologic response in the CNS, an organ where dendritic cells, in contrast to other organs, have not previously been identified. J. Leukoc. Biol. 56: 732–740; 1994.
Efficient Transmission Infrastructure for Scalable Coded MPEG-4/H.264 Video

If the results of the latest studies for Internet usage are to be believed, worldwide 12 million TV consumers will be using Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) instead of the traditional TV broadcasting by the year 2010. These figures were published by ABI Research in 2006. Furthermore, analysts of Informa Telecoms & Media are forecasting the worldwide growth in revenue of IPTV to be ten billion dollar by 2010. The revolution that is described by these figures implies on the one hand an enormous increase in sales values but on the other hand causes problems in handling the data volume. Therefore, efficient encoding of media data has to be applied to save transmission capacity. This paper will give a short overview of a possible infrastructure setup for efficient rate-shaping mechanisms and media delivery.