Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PERFORMANCE BASIS OF GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION , UPGRADE AND DESIGN OF MOMENT-RESISTING STEEL FRAMES

1 Senior Vice President, EQE International, Inc. 1111 Broadway, 10th Floor, Oakland, CA 94607 2 University of Illinois, Department of Civil and Enviornmental Engineering, 3129b Newmark Lab, 205 N. Mathews, Urbana, Il 3 Stanford University, Department of Civil and Enviornmental Engineering, Palo Alto, California PERFORMANCE BASIS OF GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATION, UPGRADE AND DESIGN OF MOMENT-RESISTING STEEL FRAMES
A LDO regulator with Pre-regulator and Multi-Zero and Multi-pole frequency compensation

A low dropout (LDO) linear regulator with pre-regulator is presented in this paper. The LDO is suitable for wide power supply of 4.5–28 V for smart battery system applications to generate a stable 1.8 V output. The proposed LDO provides high stability by pre-regulator for a rough 3.3 V as internal power supply and multi-zero and multi-pole frequency compensation. The scheme of combining of using output capacitor to set a dominant pole, utilizing a buffer stage to avoid generation of low-frequency pole, introducing an additional zero, is presented to stabilize the regulator loop for various load conditions and wide supply range. Besides, parasitic poles in high frequency can be compensated by feed-forward compensation and mirror-pole compensation.
A preliminary study on data allocation of on-chip dual memory banks

Efficient utilization of memory space is extremely important in embedded applications. Many DSP vendors provide a dual memory bank system that allows the applications to access two memory banks simultaneously. Unfortunately, we have found that existing vendor-provided compilers cannot generate highly efficient code for dual memory space because current compiler technology is unable to fully exploit this DSP hardware feature. Thus, software developers for an embedded processor have hard time developing software by hand in assembly to exploit the hardware feature efficiently. In this paper, we present a preliminary study of a memory allocation technique for dual memory space. Through there has been some work done for dual memory banks, efficient code was generated but it required so long compilation time. Although the compilation speed is relatively of less importance for embedded processors, it still should have a reasonable upper bound particularly for industry compilers due to ever increasing demands on faster time-to-market embedded software design and implementation. To achieve such reasonable compilation speed, we simplified the dual memory bank allocation problem by decoupling our code generation into five phases: register class allocation, code compaction, memory bank assignment, register assignment and memory offset assignment. The experimental results show that our generated codes perform as good as previous work, yet reducing the compilation time dramatically.
NAMD: a Parallel, Object-Oriented Molecular Dynamics Program

NAMD is a molecular dynamics program designed for high performance simulations of large biomolecular systems on parallel computers. An object-oriented design imple mented using C++ facilitates the incorporation of new algorithms into the program. NAMD uses spatial decom position coupled with a multithreaded, message-driven design, which is shown to scale efficiently to multiple processors. Also, NAMD incorporates the distributed par allel multipole tree algorithm for full electrostatic force evaluation in O(N) time. NAMD can be connected via a communication system to a molecular graphics program in order to provide an interactive modeling tool for viewing and modifying a running simulation. The application of NAMD to a protein-water system of 32,867 atoms illus trates the performance of NAMD.
VoIP performance of LTE networks: VoLTE versus OTT

Long Term Evolution (LTE) standardized by 3GPP operates fully packet switched and does not have a circuit switched domain as older systems HSPA, UMTS and GSM. It must support a minimum number of voice calls to be recognized as IMT-Advanced system by ITU. Therefore ITU has published the IMT-Advanced Evaluation Guidelines describing evaluation scenarios and minimum quality of service demands for voice calls to be evaluated by system level simulation. Those guidelines require transmission of VoIP packets within 50 ms over the air interface and packet loss rate below 2 %. 3GPP came to the conclusion Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) with semi-persistent scheduling satisfies the ITU demands. This was verified by independent evaluation groups. Semi-persistent scheduling reserves radio resources for VoIP packets for the duration of a talk spurt while other packets, e.g. retransmissions of lost packets, individually receive resources (dynamic scheduling). Advantage is significantly decreased signaling overhead but the method is more complex than the classical approach individually assigning radio resources for each packet. Individual assignment of radio resources is also used for data traffic of so called Over-the-Top (OTT) VoIP applications. This thesis compares VoIP capacity of VoLTE and OTT focusing on the impact of the radio link. Radio resource assignment optimized for delay critical traffic like VoIP is assumed for OTT to allow a fair comparison. A concept developed by me to design complex VoIP schedulers from basic resource assignment algorithms is described. It is applied for VoLTE and OTT. The openWNS/IMTAPhy simulator developed at RWTH Aachen University ComNets Research Group and extended at TU Munich Chair of Communication Networks is enhanced for VoIP evaluation based on that concept. Methods to improve
Medical Terminology Browsers - How Usable Are Them for Describing Clinical Archetypes?

Clinical terminologies are a major concern in medical informatics, as they are key to provide medical systems with higher levels of interoperability. Large terminologies as SNOMED CT are gaining presence in practical applications. In a related but different direction, archetypes or data type templates are becoming widespread as interchange mechanisms for medical information. Archetypes support mapping to terminologies, in a process that is typically done by the experts developing or revising the archetype. It has been argued that terminology browsers are not appropriate for the task of helping clinical experts in the mapping process. This paper reports usability studies on two widely used SNOMED CT browsers when used as tools for mapping archetypes.
Direct interaction of natural and synthetic catechins with signal transducer activator of transcription 1 affects both its phosphorylation and activity

Our previous studies showed that (−)‐epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG) inhibits signal transducer activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) activation. Since EGCG may be a promising lead compound for new anti‐STAT1 drug design, 15 synthetic catechins, characterized by the (−)‐gallocatechin‐3‐gallate stereochemistry, were studied in the human mammary MDA‐MB‐231 cell line to identify the minimal structural features that preserve the anti‐STAT1 activity. We demonstrate that the presence of three hydroxyl groups of B ring and one hydroxyl group in D ring is essential to preserve their inhibitory action. Moreover, a possible molecular target of these compounds in the STAT1 pathway was investigated. Our results demonstrate a direct interaction between STAT1 protein and catechins displaying anti‐STAT1 activity. In particular, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis and molecular modeling indicate the presence of two putative binding sites (a and b) with different affinity. Based on docking data, site‐directed mutagenesis was performed, and interaction of the most active catechins with STAT1 was studied with SPR to test whether Gln518 on site a and His568 on site b could be important for the catechin–STAT1 interaction. Data indicate that site b has higher affinity for catechins than site a as the highest affinity constant disappears in the H568A‐STAT1 mutant. Furthermore, Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) kinase assay data suggest that the contemporary presence in vitro of STAT1 and catechins inhibits JAK2‐elicited STAT1 phosphorylation. The very tight catechin–STAT1 interaction prevents STAT1 phosphorylation and represents a novel, specific and efficient molecular mechanism for the inhibition of STAT1 activation.
Methylation-associated dysregulation of the suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 gene in multiple myeloma

The family of suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins negatively regulates cytokine signaling in different cellular pathways including interleukin-6 (IL-6). Since IL-6 plays an essential role in regulating growth and survival of multiple myeloma (MM) cells, methylation-associated dysregulation of SOCS3 may contribute to the malignant phenotype of MM cells. We used methylation-specific PCR (MSP) to assess the methylation status of the SOCS3 CpG island in five MM cell lines and 70 patient samples. Additional bisulfite sequencing and RNA expression analysis using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction was performed in two cell lines. We identified aberrant SOCS3 methylation in 3/5 MM cell lines. Methylation of SOCS3 in cell lines was associated with transcriptional downregulation. Treatment of OPM-2 cells, which carry a methylated SOCS3 gene, with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine restored SOCS3 expression in association with partial demethylation. In patient samples with malignant plasma cell disorders, SOCS3 was methylated in 5/70 (7.1 %) cases, while there was no aberrant SOCS3 methylation in normal peripheral blood and non-malignant bone marrow cells. We found an association of SOCS3 methylation with extramedullary manifestations (p = 0.03), plasma cell leukemia (p = 0.003), elevated LDH (p = 0.001), increased creatinine ( p = 0.01) and remarkably shortened survival (6.9 vs. 56.1 months, HR 5.9, p = 0.0007). Our findings reveal a novel epigenetic event possibly implicated in the pathogenesis of MM and representing a potential prognostic biomarker. Epigenetic dysregulation of the SOCS3 gene may interfere with the cellular response to the complex cytokine network thus supporting survival and expansion of MM cells.
Cyclooxygenase‐2 Expression in Chronic Liver Diseases and Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Hepatocarcinogenesis is a multistep process characterized by hepatocyte inflammation, regeneration, and proliferation. These changes are believed to depend on the aberrant expression of various tumor suppressor genes, oncogenes and growth factors. Several studies have shown the involvement of cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2), the inducible isoform of the enzymes that catalyze prostaglandin synthesis in various aspects of carcinogenesis. COX‐2 has been described as being overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. Using immunohistochemistry, we studied COX‐2 expression in different chronic liver diseases (CLD) including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), chronic hepatitis (CH), liver cirrhosis (LC), and HCC in a population referred to a tertiary center in western Sicily, an area moderately endemic for CLD. Sixteen NASH, 35 CH, 15 LC, and 21 HCC samples were analyzed. Positive signs of COX‐2 were observed in the cytoplasm of hepatocytes and median values were 6 (3–9) for NASH, 7 (3–9) for CH, 6 (4–9) for LC, and 4 (0–7) for HCC. COX‐2 expression was significantly lower in HCC than in NASH (P < 0.001), CH (P < 0.0001), and LC (P < 0.0001). In HCC we found a wide range of COX‐2 expression: from no expression in poorly differentiated areas to a high expression in well‐differentiated ones, with an inverse correlation between COX‐2 and tumor grading, according to Edmonson (ρ=−0.67, P < 0.0001). In conclusion: (a) COX‐2 expression was significantly lower in HCC than in the other CLD; (b) COX‐2 expression inversely correlated with tumor differentiation status. These results suggest that COX‐2 expression could be related to the inflammatory phenomena present in the early phases of CLD and eventually to the induction of hepatocarcinogenesis.
Isolation and Heterologous Expression of a Polygalacturonase Produced by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Race 1 and 4

Fusarium wilt (Panama disease) caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (FOC) represents a significant threat to banana (Musa spp.) production. Musa AAB is susceptible to Race 1 (FOC1) and Race 4 (FOC4), while Cavendish Musa AAA is found to be resistant to FOC1 but still susceptible to Race 4. A polygalacturonase (PGC3) was purified from the supernatant of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense race 4 (FOC4), which is the pathogen of Fusarium wilt. PGC3 had an apparent molecular weight of 45 kDa according to SDS-PAGE. The enzyme hydrolyzed polygalacturonic acid in an exo-manner, as demonstrated by analysis of degradation products. The Km and Vmax values of PGC3 from FOC4 were determined to be 0.70 mg·mL−1 and 101.01 Units·mg·protein−1·min−1, respectively. Two pgc3 genes encoding PGC3 from FOC4 and FOC1, both genes of 1368 bp in length encode 456 amino-acid residues with a predicted signal peptide sequence of 21 amino acids. There are 16 nucleotide sites difference between FOC4-pgc3 and FOC1-pgc3, only leading to four amino acid residues difference. In order to obtain adequate amounts of protein required for functional studies, two genes were cloned into the expression vector pPICZaA and then expressed in Pichia pastoris strains of SMD1168. The recombinant PGC3, r-FOC1-PGC3 and r-FOC4-PGC3, were expressed and purified as active proteins. The optimal PGC3 activity was observed at 50 °C and pH 4.5. Both recombinant PGC3 retained >40% activity at pH 3–7 and >50% activity in 10–50 °C. Both recombinant PGC3 proteins could induce a response but with different levels of tissue maceration and necrosis in banana plants. In sum, our results indicate that PGC3 is an exo-PG and can be produced with full function in P. pastoris.
Surface modulation of modified polysiloxane films by conformational photo control

The research in the field of azopolymeric materials presents a great interest for their applications in different areas, like photonics and/or biology, due to their peculiar characteristics. In this idea we have studied the possibility to create nano-bi-dimensional structures on the surface of modified polysiloxane films under the action of ultraviolet light. We worked with polysiloxanes and linear poly (p-chloromethyl) styrene full modified with azophenols, which were synthesized and deposited on glass supports. Thickness of the films was in the 2-5 μm range. Under the action of a controlled distribution of monochromatic UV light on the film was induced a surface modulation which results in a structure (surface relief grating –SRG – in our case). As light source we have used laser radiation with wavelength of 193 nm or 355 nm. We have obtained structures with the pitch of 250 and 1000 nm as a function of the irradiation interference field pitch.
Ecological niche separation in the Polynucleobacter subclusters linked to quality of dissolved organic matter: a demonstration using a high sensitivity cultivation-based approach.

The free-living, cosmopolitan, freshwater betaproteobacterial bacterioplankton genus Polynucleobacter was detected in different years in 11 lakes of varying types and a river using the size-exclusion assay method (SEAM). Of the 350 strains isolated, 228 (65.1%) were affiliated with the Polynucleobacter subclusters PnecC (30.0%) and PnecD (35.1%). Significant positive correlations between fluorescence in situ hybridization and SEAM data were observed in the relative abundance of PnecC and PnecD bacteria to Polynucleobacter communities (PnecC + PnecD). Isolates were mainly PnecC bacteria in the samples with a high specific UV absorbance at 254 nm (SUVA(254) ), and a low total hydrolysable neutral carbohydrate and amino acid (THneutralCH + THAA) content of the dissolved organic matter (DOM) fraction, which is known to be correlated with a high humic content. In contrast, the PnecD bacteria were abundant in samples with high chlorophyll a and/or THneutralCH + THAA concentrations, indicative of primary productivity. With few exceptions, differences in the relative abundance of PnecC and PnecD in each sample, determined using a high-sensitivity cultivation-based approach, were due to DOM quality. These results suggest that the major DOM component in the field, which is allochthonously or autochthonously derived, is a key factor for ecological niche separation between PnecC and PnecD subclusters.
A Collaborative, Semantic and Context Aware Search Engine

Search engines help people to find information in the largest public knowledge system of the world: the Web. Unfortunately its size makes very complex to discover the right information. The users are faced lots of useless results forcing them to select one by one the most suitable. The new generation of search engines evolve from keyword-based indexing and classification to more sophisticated techniques considering the meaning, the context and the usage of information. We argue about the three key aspects: collaboration, geo-referencing and semantics. Collaboration distributes storage, processing and trust on a world-wide network of nodes running on users’ computers, getting rid of bottlenecks and central points of failures. The geo-referencing of catalogued resources allows contextualisation based on user position. Semantic analysis lets to increase the results relevance. In this paper, we expose the studies, the concepts and the solutions of a research project to introduce these three key features in a novel search engine architecture.
Measuring IT core capabilities for electronic commerce

This paper reports on the theoretical development and empirical validation of a measurement instrument for three information technology (IT) core capabilities in an electronic commerce context. The instrument is based on the work of Feeny and Willcocks (1998) and includes the capabilities ‘information systems (IS)/IT governance’, ‘business system thinking’ and ‘relationship building’. It was validated using a sample consisting of 179 respondents, all of whom were IT managers or chief information officers. The results demonstrate that the constructs are reliable (α coefficients > 0.8) and valid. A confirmatory factor analysis on the data set yielded a moderately acceptable model fit. The model also demonstrated highly significant factor loadings (p < 0.001). The paper shows that a respecification of a competing model in which IS/IT governance is split into ‘business IT strategic thinking’ and ‘IT management’ provides better measures of fit. The paper concludes that the core capabilities of IT departments are useful constructs for incorporating into future research. They are successfully able to predict behaviours that have relatively little overlap. Recommended further research includes the relationship between capabilities and governance structures as well as further investigation into how IT core capabilities are formed and strengthened in organizations.
Distance dependence of path loss models with weighted fitting

The path loss model describing the power-law dependency on distance plus a log-normally distributed shadowing attenuation, is a staple of link budgets and system simulations. Determination of the parameters of this model is usually done from measurements and ray tracing. We show that the typical least-square fitting to those data points is inherently biased to give the best fitting to the link distances that happen to have more evaluation points; this bias might be highly undesirable in various types of simulations that use the resulting model. In this paper we present a weighted fitting method to address this issue. While it is unavoidable that fits are better for one distance range than another, we argue that such a decision should be made consciously, and adjusted to the type of simulation for which the path loss model should be used. We discuss the weighting functions for different purposes, and show their impact on prediction accuracy of signal level, interference level, and capacity in a hexagonal cellular grid simulation. As examples, weighted fitting models are presented for 28 GHz channels in urban macrocells, and it is shown that the fitting accuracy can be improved by our approach.
EEG Alpha Spindles as Indicators for Prolonged Brake Reaction Time During Auditory Secondary Tasks in a Real Road Driving Study

Driver distraction accounts for a substantial number of traffic accidents. Therefore, the impact of auditory secondary tasks on driving performance was examined. In addition to performance measures, i.e. reaction time on emergency brakings of a leading vehicle, mental driver states were described by electroencephalographic (EEG: alpha spindles, alpha band power) as well as cardiac activity (ECG: heart rate variability). Results show that brake reaction time (RT) increased with time-on-task during all conditions (p<.001), and was significantly higher while performing the secondary task (p<.001). Physiological measures showed similar effects. Alpha spindle rate, alpha band power as well as heart rate variability (HRV) increased with time-on-task and were significantly different during the secondary task, indicating inhibited visual information processing and reduced concentration ability. This study shows that reduced driving performance measured by means of prolonged brake reactions during increased cognitive load elicited by auditory secondary tasks is indicated by EEG measures as well as cardiac activity, enabling the direct quantification of driver distraction in experiments during real road driving.
The effect of cyclic mechanical strain on the expression of adhesion-related genes by periodontal ligament cells in two-dimensional culture.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Cell adhesion plays important roles in maintaining the structural integrity of connective tissues and sensing changes in the biomechanical environment of cells. The objective of the present investigation was to extend our understanding of the effect of cyclic mechanical strain on the expression of adhesion-related genes by human periodontal ligament cells. MATERIAL AND METHODS Cultured periodontal ligament cells were subjected to a cyclic in-plane tensile deformation of 12% for 5 s (0.2 Hz) every 90 s for 6-24 h in a Flexercell FX-4000 Strain Unit. The following parameters were measured: (i) cell viability by the MTT assay; (ii) caspase-3 and -7 activity; and (iii) the expression of 84 genes encoding adhesion-related molecules using real-time RT-PCR microarrays. RESULTS Mechanical stress reduced the metabolic activity of deformed cells at 6 h, and caspase-3 and -7 activity at 6 and 12 h. Seventy-three genes were detected at critical threshold values < 35. Fifteen showed a significant change in relative expression: five cell adhesion molecules (ICAM1, ITGA3, ITGA6, ITGA8 and NCAM1), three collagen α-chains (COL6A1, COL8A1 and COL11A1), four MMPs (ADAMTS1, MMP8, MMP11 and MMP15), plus CTGF, SPP1 and VTN. Four genes were upregulated (ADAMTS1, CTGF, ICAM1 and SPP1) and 11 downregulated, with the range extending from a 1.76-fold induction of SPP1 at 12 h to a 2.49-fold downregulation of COL11A1 at 24 h. CONCLUSION The study has identified several mechanoresponsive adhesion-related genes, and shown that onset of mechanical stress was followed by a transient reduction in overall cellular activity, including the expression of two apoptosis 'executioner' caspases.