Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A fast voltage security assessment method using adaptive bounding

This paper presents a fast method for use in online voltage security assessment. The objective here is to quickly assess the effects of large numbers of contingencies (line outages) to determine the worst case. The methodology is intuitively focused on the relationship between a node voltage and the availability of reactive power in the local neighborhood, and it also takes advantage of other information from the power flow solution. The concept of electrical distance is introduced for choosing the corresponding voltage control area locally around the contingency event. For the calculation of post-contingency electrical distance and power flow, the computation efficiency can be achieved by utilizing many mature algorithms from static security analysis (SSA).
BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF QUINAPRILAT ON CORONARY VASOMOTOR FUNCTION, ENDOTHELIAL OXIDATIVE STRESS, AND ENDOTHELIN ACTIVATION AFTER HUMAN HEART TRANSPLANTATION

Background. We evaluated the potential of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition (ACEI) to modulate resting coronary vasomotor tone and endothelial dysfunction, and to decrease vascular oxidative stress and endothelin (ET)-1 activity in human heart transplant recipients. Methods. Coronary vasomotor responses and transcardiac metabolism of glutathione, oxidized glutathione, and ET-1 were determined before and after quinaprilat infusion in 32 heart transplant recipients. Furthermore, the potential effects of ACEI on endothelial oxidative stress, ET-1 activity, and nitrosoglutathione formation were investigated using endothelial cell cultures. Results. Epicardial diameter increased in response to quinaprilat by 6%±1% (proximal segments; P<0.05) and 14%±3% (distal segments; P<0.01). Coronary flow velocity increased by 2.2±0.2 (P<0.03). Coronary vasodilation to quinaprilat was negatively correlated with preexisting functional and structural coronary alterations. Quinaprilat selectively improved epicardial vasomotor response in segments with endothelial dysfunction, whereas microvascular endothelial dysfunction was unchanged. Transcardiac glutathione and big ET levels decreased after quinaprilat, whereas oxidized glutathione and ET-1 concentrations remained unchanged. Cell culture studies showed antioxidative effects of quinaprilat, revealed concentration-dependent down-regulation of endothelial ET-1 release, and indicated formation of nitrosoglutathione by quinaprilat. Conclusion. ACE regulates resting coronary vasomotor tone. Quinaprilat reduces vascular oxidative stress and ET-1 activity and mediates formation of nitrosoglutathione, effects that might contribute to long-term vasculoprotective effects of ACEI after heart transplantation.
The Economic Returns to Baccalaureate Degrees: Corrections

Abstract: This note presents the results of estimating the economic benefits of baccalaureate degrees using the NLS72 data, corrected for several programming errors. The results and the conclusions do not change substantially: there is substantial variation among fields of study, and economic returns are relatively similar across different types of four-year institutions, although the most selective and the least selective institutions have relatively high and low economic benefits respectively. The results corroborate the greater certainty about returns to baccalaureate degrees, compared to subbaccalaureate degrees.
Cigarette Smoking and Skin Prick Test in Patients With Allergic Rhinitis

Background: Allergic Rhinitis (AR) is the most common allergic disease, affecting 30% of population around the world. The disease is predominantly associated with exposure to some aeroallergens like cigarette smoking. Skin Prick Test (SPT) is a method of detecting immediate allergic reactions and is applied for controlling disease and therapeutic modality. Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the effect of cigarette smoking on SPT results among male and female individuals with AR disease. Patients and Methods: A total of 478 patients with AR admitted to the 2 main hospitals of Zahedan City from 2005 to 2012, were recruited in this analytic-descriptive study. Categories of smokers and never smokers were used based on patient’s statements and their history of smoking. SPT was performed with panel of some allergens and results were recorded and analyzed statistically. Odds ratio and confidence interval method were calculated using univariate logistic regression. Results: The results of this study indicated that 41.4% of patients with allergic rhinitis was smoker with ages ranged from 15 to 70 years. The result of this study also showed that smoking has no effect on SPT results of pollen and weeds aeroallergens conducted on male and female AR patients. However, male were significantly more sensitive than female in terms of sensitivity to the aspergillus, cladosporium, house dust mite, grasses, wheat, cockroach, and feather allergens. Conclusions: Our findings did not support the effect of cigarette smoking on SPT reactivity to pollen and weeds aeroallergens. However, male were significantly more sensitive than female in terms of sensitivity to some allergens.
Super-resolution Using GMM and PLS Regression

In recent years, super-resolution techniques in the field of computer vision have been studied in earnest owing to the potential applicability of such technology in a variety of fields. In this paper, we propose a single-image, super-resolution approach using a Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression. A GMM-based super-resolution technique is shown to be more efficient than previously known techniques, such as sparse-coding-based techniques. But the GMM-based conversion may result in over fitting. In this paper, an effective technique for preventing over fitting, which combines PLS regression with a GMM, is proposed. The conversion function is constructed using the input image and its self-reduction image. The high-resolution image is obtained by applying the conversion function to the enlarged input image without any outside database. We confirmed the effectiveness of this proposed method through our experiments.
In Spite of Racism, Inequality, and School Failure: Defining Hope with Achieving Black Children

Abstract:Original narratives from six high-achieving African American junior high school students discussing their goal-setting and goal-pursuit processes in light of being Black youth in America are presented. The study purpose was to begin the work of identifying the substance of productive behaviors among the most frequently noted population of contemporary school underachievers in order to develop an accurate hope theory for them, which the author calls African hope theory. Common threads among the participants indicate focus on racial/ethnic identity and values that lead to functional behavior. To the contrary, extant hope literature finds importance in specific goal-setting and cognitive road-mapping (planning) for achievement. The combination of productive action within a self-cultural frame is theorized to be hopefulness within the Black community.
Examining the Influence of Time-Use Preferences on Technology Acceptance: The Role of Computer Polychronicity

Past research recognizes the important influence of individual beliefs on technology acceptance and use. This line of research has also identified a variety of factors that drive the formation of these beliefs. One category of variables that has not received much attention in this research stream consists of individual preferences, in particular time-use preferences. In the current study we add to the literature on technology acceptance, and belief formation in particular, by introducing and empirically testing a new construct labeled computer polychronicity, which captures individuals’ time-use preferences regarding IT. Computer polychronicity is positioned in this study as a key driver of perceived usefulness, mediating the effects of computer anxiety and computer playfulness. Overall, the results support the notion that preferences play important roles in the formation of technology-related beliefs.
Remote control of an electrical car with SSVEP-Based BCI

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) based on Steady State Visual Evoked Potential (SSVEP) can provide higher information transfer rates with minimal user training and require fewer EEG channels than other types of BCIs. The proposed remote control electrical car with SSVEP-Based BCI system combines a customized visual stimulation interface, a brainwave-acquisition platform NeuroScan SynAmps2, a computer for real-time signal processor, RF command transmitter/receiver, handmade remote control electrical car and allows users to use their brainwave to remote control electrical car. In this study, a method combining average and FFT is proposed. The frequency features of the electroencephalogram (EEG) were computed and used in the intention detection. Five healthy subjects participated in the experiment, and the results demonstrated that all the five subjects can successfully control the electrical car with high identification accuracy.
Semantic knowledge in word completion

We propose an integrated approach to interactive word-completion for users with linguistic disabilities in which semantic knowledge combines with $n$-gram probabilities to predict semantically more-appropriate words than $n$-gram methods alone. First, semantic relatives are found for English words, specifically for nouns, and they form the semantic knowledge base. The selection process for these semantically related words is first to rank the pointwise mutual information of co-occurring words in a large corpus and then to identify the semantic relatedness of these words by a Lesk-like filter. Then, the semantic knowledge is used to measure the semantic association of completion candidates with the context. Those that are semantically appropriate to the context are promoted to the top positions in prediction lists due to their high association with context. Experimental results show a performance improvement when using the integrated model for the completion of nouns.
Non-parametric reconstruction of the galaxy lens in PG 1115 + 080

We describe a new, non-parametric, method for reconstructing lensing mass distributions in multiple-image systems, and apply it to PG1115, for which time delays have recently been measured. It turns out that the image positions and the ratio of time delays between different pairs of images constrain the mass distribution in a linear fashion. Since observational errors on image positions and time delay ratios are constantly improving, we use these data as a rigid constraint in our modelling. In addition, we require the projected mass distributions to be inversion-symmetric and to have inward-pointing density gradients. With these realistic yet non-restrictive conditions it is very easy to produce mass distributions that fit the data precisely. We then present models, for $H_0=42$, 63 and 84 \kmsmpc, that in each case minimize mass-to-light variations while strictly obeying the lensing constraints. (Only a very rough light distribution is available at present.) All three values of $H_0$ are consistent with the lensing data, but require quite different morphologies for the lensing galaxy. If $H_0$ is low, the main lensing galaxy could be an early type. If $H_0$ is high, the galaxy is reconstructed as a late elliptical or nearly edge-on disc; a binary or merging system is also plausible.
Inter-reflection Compensation of Immersive Projection Display by Spatio-Temporal Screen Reflectance Modulation

We propose a novel inter-reflection compensation technique for immersive projection displays wherein we spatially modulate the reflectance pattern on the screen to improve the compensation performance of conventional methods. As the luminance of light reflected on a projection surface is mathematically represented as the multiplication of the illuminance of incident light and the surface reflectance, we can reduce undesirable intensity elevation because of inter-reflections by decreasing surface reflectance. Based on this principle, we improve conventional inter-reflection compensation techniques by applying reflectance pattern modulation. We realize spatial reflectance modulation of a projection screen by painting it with a photochromic compound, which changes its color (i.e., the reflectance of the screen) when ultraviolet (UV) light is applied and by controlling UV irradiation with a UV LED array placed behind the screen. The main contribution of this paper is a computational model to optimize a reflectance pattern for the accurate reproduction of a target appearance by decreasing the intensity elevation caused by inter-reflection while maintaining the maximum intensity of the target appearance. Through simulation and physical experiments, we demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed model and confirm its advantage over conventional methods.
Fabrication of well aligned P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers with asymmetric comb-shape electrode

This paper presents an efficient fabrication process of highly aligned P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers based on conventional far-field electrospinning (CFES) technique. By attaching a comb-shape electrode onto a fast rotating drum, the process combines the advantages of plane electrode and rotating-drum-collecting methods, which leads to the orientation of the deposited nanofibers and enhances it. Additionally, the high rotating speed also contributes to the fast and continuous deposition of the nanofibers with good alignment. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra and X-ray pattern (XRD) indicate that P(VDF-TrFE) has formed crystalline of β-phase, which possesses piezoelectric characteristic. Since the deposited nanofibers are suspended over the electrodes, they can be easily transferred to other substrates which make them very flexible and convenience for further treatment and various applications. As a demonstration, we used this fabricated nanofiber to scavenge mechanical energy into electricity. Under the bend frequency of 3Hz, a segment of 1×2cm nanofibers can generate open-circuit voltage of 149mV and short-circuit current of 3.06nA, which shows the capability of this well oriented P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers can harvest mechanical energy from tiny deformations.
A comprehensive association analysis confirms ZMIZ1 to be a susceptibility gene for vitiligo in Chinese population

Background ZMIZ1 has been shown to be associated with multiple autoimmune diseases and play a role in the development of melanocyte. The association of ZMIZ1 with vitiligo was also suggested, but the evidence did not reach genome-wide significance and has not been confirmed by independent studies. Methods A fine mapping analysis of the ZMIZ1 locus was carried out in the dataset of 1117 vitiligo patients and 3437 controls through deep imputation. Ten suggestive SNPs were then analysed in an independent validation cohort of 7458 cases and 7542 controls. SNPs within ZMIZ1 locus were functionally annotated using the ENCODE and RegulomeDB databases and published eQTL dataset of primary immune cells. Results A genome-wide significant association was discovered at rs1408944 (ORcombined=1.18, pcombined=1.38E-09) that locates at a DNAse hypersensitivity site and within a Myb_1 motif carried by the binding sites of six overlapping transcription factors (TFs) within the region. Gene Relationships Across Implicated Loci (GRAIL) analysis revealed biological connectivity between ZMIZ1 and previously discovered susceptibility loci for vitiligo as well as the six TFs. Conclusions Our study has confirmed ZMIZ1 as a novel susceptibility locus for vitiligo and further suggested rs1408944 to be the putative causal variant that potentially interrupts TF binding and thus the transcriptional regulation of ZMIZ1.
Allometric Scaling and Bayesian Priors for Annual Survival of Birds and Mammals

Allometric theory predicts that instantaneous mortality rates scale with body mass with a negative quarter power. Such a relationship would mean that the survival rate of one species is partly predictable from the survival rate of other species. We develop allometric regression models for annual adult survival of birds and mammals, using data collected from the literature. These models conform to the predictions of the allometric theory; the value of negative one‐quarter for the scaling parameter is within the 95% credible interval, which is [−0.31, −0.10] for birds and [−0.35, −0.15] for mammals. The predictions are very well supported when evaluated using an independent set of data. The regression models can be used to provide objective and informative Bayesian priors for annual adult survival rates of birds and mammals or to act as a point of comparison in new studies.
SentTopic-MultiRank: a Novel Ranking Model for Multi-Document Summarization

Extractive multi-document summarization is mostly treated as a sentence ranking problem. Existing graph-based ranking methods for key-sentence extraction usually attempt to compute a global importance score for each sentence under a single relation. Motivated by the fact that both documents and sentences can be presented by a mixture of semantic topics detected by Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), we propose SentTopic-MultiRank, a novel ranking model for multi-document summarization. It assumes various topics to be heterogeneous relations, then treats sentence connections in multiple topics as a heterogeneous network, where sentences and topics/relations are effectively linked together. Next, the iterative algorithm of MultiRank is carried out to determine the importance of sentences and topics simultaneously. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our model in promoting the performance of both generic and query-biased multi-document summarization tasks.
Individual Differences in the Cognitive Processes of Reading: II. Text-Level Processes

For those who missed last issue's introduction to the Topical Review series, this new monthly feature is designed to provide a continuing series of authoritative reviews on topics of central importance to the field of learning disabilities. While some reviews may focus on basic research on the physiological, cognitive, or social characteristics of learning disabled children, others will examine evidence for the efficacy of various remedial techniques. The present article is a continuation of last month's discussion of individual differences in cognitive processes related to reading. The article contains an excellent presentation of recent research that demonstrates several different ways the ability to use context can influence reading performance. ---J.K. T. The literature on individual differences in cognitive processes that operate at the text level is reviewed. Less-skilled readers display performance deficits on a wide variety of short-term memory tasks, probably due to an inability to efficiently employ various memory strategies, and most certainly due to inadequate phonological coding. Poor readers are not characterized by a general ability to use contextual information to facilitate word recognition. However, situations where such readers fail to utilize context to facilitate ongoing word recognition will arise when their slow and inaccurate decoding of words renders the context useless. Poor readers do display comprehension deficits that are independent of word-decoding skill, due to deficient syntactic abilities and to more general metacognitive strategies. The general conclusions from this review and from Part I are discussed.
Defending History : Temporal Reasoning in Genesis 2 : 7 – 3 : 8

The two groups assaulting the historicity of Genesis 2–3, whose attacks against the reality of the creation and fall of Adam and Eve have chiefly come in two guises, 1) that the text is poetry, not meant to be read historically; and 2) that it is prose meant to be read as an accurate historical record, but that it is contradictory and incoherent, are repelled by statistical, literary, and linguistic arguments. The first assault is addressed by a logistic regression model based upon relative frequency of wayyiqtols among finite verbs. Application of which shows it is statistically indefensible to argue that Genesis 2–3 is not prose; therefore, it is a factual record. The second attack, that the text is contradictory, is repulsed, because the theory upon which it is exclusively based, the iconic wayyiqtol sequence theory (deriving from the perspectival aspect theory of the biblical Hebrew verbal system), is exploded by multiple counterexamples taken from a much larger population. An alternative model of three semantic levels (within verbs, between verbs, and within a discourse as a whole) is overviewed, then applied to Genesis 2–3 to empirically demonstrate that the text is coherent; thereby throwing back the third attack. Thus neither is this text poetry (though there is poetry in it), contradictory, nor incoherent; but rather Genesis 2–3 is a coherent, non-contradictory historical account.
Activity, ICT, and Material Infrastructure in Complex Multi-Organisational Settings: An Assessment of Innovation Potential for Pharmaceutical Cold Chain Transport and Handling

What are the infrastructural possibilities for introducing novel ICT based services in the international multi-modal logistics environment? The specific case of nascent real-time reporting potentials for cold chain transport and handling in a hybrid data carrier environment is explored and an inftastructural analysis indicates the technical suitability of a GSM telemetry. Activities and technolog-in-use were also observed and our analysis suggests that a socio-organisational infrastructure of uniform or standard practices, policies, procedures and software is infeasible and may in fact be undesirable in complex, international, multi-organisational settings.
Implication of envisioning citizen-centered administrative services

Citizen-centered service design is demanded in Japan but well not achieved, especially in the fields of services provided by national and local governments. In this paper, examples of E-Government and Intelligent Transportation System are first analyzed to figure out the demand for the citizen-centered service design. Then the three case examples of consulting firms that provide human-centered design services are examined to understand how these firms help their clients to realize human-centered design services. Case examples include an academic research institute in the U.K., and two private firms one in the U.S. and one in Japan. Three factors to be considered in realizing citizen-centered service design in Japan are (1) design process(es) in governmental administrative procedure, (2) background of HCD professionals, and (3) relationship between governments and consulting firms.
Prostate Cancer Incidence Rates in Africa

African American men have among the highest prostate cancer incidence rates in the world yet rates among their African counterparts are unclear. In this paper, we compared reported rates among black men of Sub-Saharan African descent using data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program for 1973–2007. Although population-based data in Africa are quite limited, the available data from IARC showed that rates among blacks were highest in the East (10.7–38.1 per 100,000 man-years, age-adjusted world standard) and lowest in the West (4.7–19.8). These rates were considerably lower than those of 80.0–195.3 observed among African Americans. Rates in Africa increased over time (1987–2002) and have been comparable to those for distant stage in African Americans. These patterns are likely due to differences between African and African American men in medical care access, screening, registry quality, genetic diversity, and Westernization. Incidence rates in Africa will likely continue to rise with improving economies and increasing Westernization, warranting the need for more high-quality population-based registration to monitor cancer incidence in Africa.