Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trace gas and particle emissions from fires in large diameter and belowground biomass fuels

[1] We adopt a working definition of residual smoldering combustion (RSC) as biomass combustion that produces emissions that are not lofted by strong fire-induced convection. RSC emissions can be produced for up to several weeks after the passage of a flame front and they are mostly unaffected by flames. Fuels prone to RSC include downed logs, duff, and organic soils. Limited observations in the tropics and the boreal forest suggest that RSC is a globally significant source of emissions to the troposphere. This source was previously uncharacterized. We measured the first emission factors (EF) for RSC in a series of laboratory fires and in a wooded savanna in Zambia, Africa. We report EFRSC for both particles with diameter <2.5 mm (PM2.5) and the major trace gases as measured by open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectroscopy. The major trace gases include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, ethane, ethene, acetylene, propene, formaldehyde, methanol, acetic acid, formic acid, glycolaldehyde, phenol, furan, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide. We show that a model used to predict trace gas EF for fires in a wide variety of aboveground fine fuels fails to predict EF for RSC. For many compounds, our EF for RSC-prone fuels from the boreal forest and wooded savanna are very different from the EF for the same compounds measured in fire convection columns above these ecosystems. We couple our newly measured EFRSC with estimates of fuel consumption by RSC to refine emission estimates for fires in the boreal forest and wooded savanna. We find some large changes in estimates of biomass fire emissions with the inclusion of RSC. For instance, the wooded savanna methane EF increases by a factor of 2.5 even when RSC accounts for only 10% of fuel consumption. This shows that many more measurements of fuel consumption and EF for RSC are needed to improve estimates of biomass burning emissions. INDEX TERMS: 0345 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Pollution—urban and regional (0305); 0368 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere—constituent transport and chemistry; 0394 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Instruments and techniques; 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere—composition and chemistry; KEYWORDS: biomass burning, smoldering combustion, oxygenated organic compounds, ammonia, methanol, smoke Citation: Bertschi, I. , R. J. Yokelson, D. E. Ward, R. E. Babbitt, R. A. Susott, J. G. Goode, and W. M. Hao, Trace gas and particle emissions from fires in large diameter and belowground biomass fuels, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D13), 8472, doi:10.1029/2002JD002100, 2003.
Cytotoxicity and intracellular dissolution of nickel nanowires

Abstract The assessment of cytotoxicity of nanostructures is a fundamental step for their development as biomedical tools. As widely used nanostructures, nickel nanowires (Ni NWs) seem promising candidates for such applications. In this work, Ni NWs were synthesized and then characterized using vibrating sample magnetometry, energy dispersive X-Ray analysis, and electron microscopy. After exposure to the NWs, cytotoxicity was evaluated in terms of cell viability, cell membrane damage, and induced apoptosis/necrosis on the model human cell line HCT 116. The influence of NW to cell ratio (10:1 to 1000:1) and exposure times up to 72 hours was analyzed for Ni NWs of 5.4 μm in length, as well as for Ni ions. The results show that cytotoxicity markedly increases past 24 hours of incubation. Cellular uptake of NWs takes place through the phagocytosis pathway, with a fraction of the dose of NWs dissolved inside the cells. Cell death results from a combination of apoptosis and necrosis, where the latter is the outcome of the secondary necrosis pathway. The cytotoxicity of Ni ions and Ni NWs dissolution studies suggest a synergistic toxicity between NW aspect ratio and dissolved Ni, with the cytotoxic effects markedly increasing after 24 hours of incubation.
Differences in Housing, Health, and Well-Being among HIV-Positive Women Living in Poverty

The social context of living in poverty has a direct and indirect impact on a woman's health and well-being. This cross-sectional study investigates the relationship between housing and adherence to treatment, emotional wellness, environmental safety, physical health status, and risk behaviors among HIV-positive women receiving services from an AIDS service organization in the mid-South. Significant differences were found between stably housed and unstably housed women on the dependent outcome variables. Results suggest that housing services for HIV-positive women may be an effective way to increase their health and well-being as well as prevent transmission to others.
Study of the Five Rickettsia prowazekii Proteins Annotated as ATP/ADP Translocases (Tlc): Only Tlc1 Transports ATP/ADP, While Tlc4 and Tlc5 Transport Other Ribonucleotides

ABSTRACT The obligate intracytoplasmic pathogen Rickettsia prowazekii relies on the transport of many essential compounds from the cytoplasm of the eukaryotic host cell in lieu of de novo synthesis, an evolutionary outcome undoubtedly linked to obligatory growth in this metabolite-replete niche. The paradigm for the study of rickettsial transport systems is the ATP/ADP translocase Tlc1, which exchanges bacterial ADP for host cell ATP as a source of energy, rather than as a source of adenylate. Interestingly, the R. prowazekii genome encodes four open reading frames that are highly homologous to the well-characterized ATP/ADP translocase Tlc1. Therefore, by annotation, the R. prowazekii genome encodes a total of five ATP/ADP translocases: Tlc1, Tlc2, Tlc3, Tlc4, and Tlc5. We have confirmed by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR that mRNAs corresponding to all five tlc homologues are expressed in R. prowazekii growing in L-929 cells and have shown their heterologous protein expression in Escherichia coli, suggesting that none of the tlc genes are pseudogenes in the process of evolutionary meltdown. However, we demonstrate by heterologous expression in E. coli that only Tlc1 functions as an ATP/ADP transporter. A survey of nucleotides and nucleosides has determined that Tlc4 transports CTP, UTP, and GDP. Intriguingly, although GTP was not transported by Tlc4, it was an inhibitor of CTP and UTP uptake and demonstrated a Ki similar to that of GDP. In addition, we demonstrate that Tlc5 transports GTP and GDP. We postulate that Tlc4 and Tlc5 serve the primary function of maintaining intracellular pools of nucleotides for rickettsial nucleic acid biosynthesis and do not provide the cell with nucleoside triphosphates as an energy source, as is the case for Tlc1. Although heterologous expression of Tlc2 and Tlc3 was observed in E. coli, we were unable to identify substrates for these proteins.
Real-time demand response potential evaluation: A smart meter driven method

This paper proposes a real-time demand response potential evaluation (RTDRPE) method that is purely driven by smart meter data. Probabilistic behaviors of electricity consumers are learned from historical data based on Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM). Then, with GMM of each consumer, RTDRPE is conducted on both the individual level and the aggregated level, which facilitates DR-related and market-related decision making for DR implementers in a real-time manner. Case studies using real-world data demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method.
Records and genetic diversity of striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) from the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea

The striped dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba) is a small, pelagic and cosmopolitan cetacean. Though it is the most common dolphin species in the Mediterranean Sea, it is not considered resident in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea. Fifteen striped dolphins were found dead in the Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea in the last eight years (1999– 2007). More specimens were found in southern than in the northern part of the Adriatic. Analysis of twelve microsatellite loci and sequencing of a 882 base pair (bp) fragment of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region were performed for genetic characterization. The mean allelic diversity (7 ± 0.78) and mean expected heterozygosity haplotypes with 22 polymorphic sites in ten individuals. The haplotype diversity (0.911 ± 0.077) was high, while nucleotide diversity was strikingly low (0.006 ± 0.003). Results presented here support the notion of the striped dolphin not being resident species in Croatian part of the Adriatic Sea.
Zidovudine-resistant human immunodeficiency virus selected by passage in cell culture

Variants of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with reduced sensitivity to zidovudine (3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine) have been selected by passage of virus in cell culture in the presence of drug. Wild-type, sensitive virus became partially resistant to zidovudine by passage 12 (50% inhibitory dose values measured in HeLa CD4+ cells increased from 0.014 to 0.2 microM), and genetic analysis using the polymerase chain reaction revealed that mutations in the reverse transcriptase coding region identical to those seen in clinical isolates from treated individuals had occurred. The order of appearance of these resistance mutations in passaged virus was also similar to that in clinical isolates. The partially resistant strain, HIVRTMC/F, became highly zidovudine resistant by passage 12 (50% inhibitory dose values increased from 0.4 to 2.5 microM during passages 7 to 11). Nucleotide sequence analysis of the reverse transcriptase from this variant revealed a novel amino acid substitution (Lys----Glu) at codon 219. A different substitution at this codon (Lys----Gln) had been seen previously in clinical isolates. When this mutation was created in HIVRTMC/F by site-directed mutagenesis, the resulting partially resistant virus became highly resistant, thus confirming the significance of this change. In view of the possibility that this mutation might occur in HIV isolates during treatment of patients, we adapted our selective polymerase chain reaction procedure to enable screening for this change in clinical samples. The virus passage procedure described here may be useful for gaining further insight into the mutational events occurring during the development of resistance to zidovudine and other HIV inhibitors.
Influence of familial factors on radiologic disease progression over two years in siblings with osteoarthritis at multiple sites: a prospective longitudinal cohort study.

OBJECTIVE The contribution of genetics to osteoarthritis (OA) progression is not known. To gain more insight into whether familial factors play a role in disease progression of OA, we analyzed familial aggregation of radiologic OA progression in a study of sibling pairs (the Genetics, Arthrosis, and Progression [GARP] study). METHODS A total of 105 white probands and their 105 siblings with OA at multiple joint sites were included in a prospective cohort study. Radiologic progression of OA was defined as a 1-point score increase in total scores for severity of joint space narrowing (JSN) or osteophytes on standardized radiographs of the hands, knees, and hips obtained at baseline and after 2 years. Odds ratios were calculated for siblings and probands sharing radiologic disease progression. RESULTS A total of 100 probands and 93 siblings were followed for 2 years (median age 60 years, 80% women). In 92 sibling pairs both the proband and sibling had complete radiographic followup. Radiologic progression of JSN and osteophytes was present in 47% and 42% of the probands and 34% and 37% of the siblings, respectively. The odds ratios (95% confidence intervals), adjusted for age, sex, and body mass index, of a sibling having radiologic progression if the proband had progression were 3.0 (1.2-7.8) for JSN progression and 1.5 (0.6-3.6) for osteophyte progression. A dose-response relationship was found between the amount of increase in JSN total scores among probands and the progression of JSN in siblings. CONCLUSION Familial factors played a role in the radiologic progression of JSN over 2 years in patients with OA at multiple sites.
Cell sorting using targeted biotinylated albumin microbubbles

Cell analysis often requires isolation of certain cell types. Various separating methods have been applied to cell sorting, including florescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and magnetic-activated cell sorting (MACS). However, these conventional approaches need to exert additional force on the cell, thus facing the risk of cell damage. In this study, we hypothesize that biotinylated albumin microbubbles (MBs) conjugated with antibodies (i.e., targeted MBs, or tMBs) can be used for cell separation from the solution by buoyancy of the MBs. Specifically, biotin is conjugated to the albumin shell by covalent bond (biotin-MBs) to strengthen the interaction between albumin shell and the antibodies. The results show that only the targeted biotin-MBs sort the MDA-MB-231 cells, in which the cell umber of the upper suspension (about 137.5×104 cells/mL) is six times higher than the one of the pellet (23.5×104 cells/mL). Biotinylation of MBs without conjugation of antibodies does not sort the cells with only 7×104 cells/mL in the upper suspension and most of the cells (241.5×104 cells/mL) deposit as the pellet. Control MBs fail to sort the cells with or without avidin and antibodies. Our biotinylated albumin MBs conjugated with specific tags successfully separated cells. Furthermore, the sorted cells can be recovered by ultrasound-assisted microbubble desctruction.
Simplified ray-launching analysis for indoor propagation including multiple reflection effect inside walls

This paper proposes a simple accuracy improvement of the ray-launching analysis by efficiently including the multiple reflection effect inside lossy wall. The Green's function problem in the presence of a lossy dielectric slab, to derive the transmitted ray component with the internal multiple reflections is considered. Here, so as to realize the appropriate ray shooting inside lossy material, alternative real refraction angle is introduced, instead of the conventional complex refraction angle. The true angle presents easy execution of the ray-launching scheme in lossy material for precisely calculating the transmitted ray component. The validity of the improvement is finally confirmed by some numerical experiments for both small and large lossy walls' cases.
Autonomous Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) Decision Making in Roundabout using Game Theory

Roundabout intersections promote a continuous flow of traffic. Roundabouts entry move traffic through an intersection more quickly, and with less congestion on approaching roads. With the introduction of smart vehicles and cooperative decision-making, roundabout management shortens the waiting time and leads to a more efficient traffic without breaking the traffic laws and earning penalties. This paper proposes a novel approach of cooperative behavior strategy in conflict situations between the autonomous vehicles in roundabout using game theory. The game theory presents a strategic decision-making technique between independent agents - players. Each individual player tends to achieve best payoff, by analyzing possible actions of other players and their influence on game outcome. The Prisoner's Dilemma game strategy is selected as approach to autonomous vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) decision making at roundabout test-bed, because the commonly known traffic laws dictate certain rules of vehicle's behavior at roundabout. It is shown that, by integrating non-zero-sum game theory in autonomous vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) decision making capabilities, the roundabout entry problem can be solved efficiently with shortened waiting times for individual autonomous vehicles.
Design of the Addressable Test Structure for ${S}$ -Parameter-Based RF Device Characterization

This paper presents an addressable measurement method for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${S}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-parameters characterization. To achieve this concept, compact transmit/receive (T/R) switches with radio frequency (RF)-oriented layout pattern are implemented to construct addressable signal paths. A customized deembedding method is performed to extract <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${S}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-parameters with acceptable accuracy. Thanks to the addressable structure which significantly eliminates unnecessary contact pads in RF device characterization, much less silicon area is required. Several prototypes, including nonaddressable and addressable test structures with different devices-under-test, have been fabricated using a commercial 0.13-<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu \text{m}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> CMOS technology. Measurement results suggest that the proposed addressable test structure is able to provide accurate <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">${S}$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-parameters measurements at gigahertz range consuming about 50% less silicon area.
Empirical validation of Software development effort multipliers of Intermediate COCOMO Model

Intermediate COCOMO Model computes effort as a function of program size and a set of cost drivers. Effort adjustment factor (EAF) is calculated using 15 cost drivers. EAF is an important significant factor in computing software development effort. We have taken one delivered development project of size of 479 function points and planned for 917 Person days of SEI CMM Level 5 “Excellent” Company as a case study to analyze the EAF. We have empirically validated the cost driver model for Intermediate COCOMMO using this projects data. Validation has been done by using other two development projects data of Excellent Company. From our analysis, we have found that cost drivers defined ratings need to be revisited for the projects of size less than 10 Person months. We have come out with ratings for some cost drivers where earlier it was not defined. This approach helps the project managers to anticipate and estimate the efforts for development projects preferably less than 10 Person months. We have achieved approximately 30% improvement in effort variance by following this approach.
Reporting on the Issues of Research Rigour and Ethics: The Case of Publications Using Qualitative Methods in the Croatian Social Science Journals

This paper discusses the issues of research rigour and ethics in the qualitative research on the case of studies published in the Croatian social science journals. The author discusses the qualitative research applications of the concepts of generalizability, validity and reliability and the relevance of the ethical considerations in the qualitative research, and examines the conventions of reporting on these issues in the Croatian social science journals. For these purposes, the author examined articles using qualitative methods in which the researcher interacted with the research participants (in-depth interviews, focus groups interviews, observation) published in 2000–2009 in seven Croatian journals indexed in the International Bibliography of Social Sciences (IBSS) and/or Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI). The results testify to the underdeveloped conventions of reporting on the ethical issues, which are further reinforced by the weak institutional accountability in the domain of ethics regulations. Furthermore, the misconception about the lack of research rigour in qualitative studies is often responsible for the accusations of these studies being “less scientific”. But, just the opposite, good qualitative studies require stricter regimes of researcher accountability in terms of her/his research decisions and procedures. However, the reports on the research steps and the discussions of generalizability, validity and reliability, as adapted to the nature of the qualitative studies, are mostly missing from the Croatian publications using qualitative methods. This reinforces the misconceptions about the qualitative studies and disables the discerning reader from evaluating the credibility and legitimacy of the qualitative studies’ results.
Sprouting and Regeneration of Lesioned Corticospinal Tract Fibres in the Adult Rat Spinal Cord

We have studied the effects of tissue transplants and antibodies (IN‐1) against the myelin‐associated neurite growth inhibitory proteins on sprouting and regeneration of the rat corticospinal tract (CST). Transplantation of embryonic spinal cord tissue into bilateral transection lesions of the lower thoracic spinal cord in young adult rats resulted in a marked increase of the sprouting of the lesioned CST. This sprouting effect was probably elicited by soluble factors released from the transplants, and was enhanced by the IN‐1 antibodies. The retraction of lesioned CST fibres normally observed with prolonged survival times was also reduced by the presence of transplants. In spite of these growth‐promoting effects of the transplants, the regenerative elongation of CST sprouts into the caudal spinal cord was dependent upon the neutralization of the myelin‐associated inhibitory proteins. In the controls (no antibodies or control antibodies) only 27% of the animals showed elongation of CST fibres exceeding the sprouting distance of 0.7 mm. These fibres grew to a maximal length of 1.8 mm (mean±SEM, 1.2±0.1). In contrast, 60% of the IN‐1‐treated, transplant‐containing rats showed elongations of >0.7 mm, and these fibres grew up to 10.1 mm (4.6±0.5). Regenerating fibres crossed the lesion site through remaining tissue bridges. Neither embryonic spinal cord transplants nor a variety of implanted bridge materials could serve as a substrate for the regenerating CST axons.
Hidden layer Hidden layer Hidden layer Hidden layer Hidden layer HRTF Bottleneck FeaturesFeatures Hidden layer Hidden layer Bottleneck Hidden layer Hidden layer HRTF

Many methods have been proposed for modeling head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) and yield a good performance level in terms of log-spectral distortion (LSD). However, most of them utilize linear weighting to reconstruct or interpolate HRTFs, but not consider the inherent nonlinearity relationship between the basis function and HRTFs. Motivated by this, a domain knowledge-assisted nonlinear modeling method is proposed based on bottleneck features. Domain knowledge is used in two aspects. One is to generate the input features derived from the solution to sound wave propagation equation at the physical level, and the other is to design the loss function for model training based on the knowledge of objective evaluation criterion, i.e., LSD. Furthermore, with utilizing the strong representation ability of the bottleneck features, the nonlinear model has the potential to achieve a more accurate mapping. The objective and subjective experimental results show that the proposed method gains less LSD when compared with linear model, and the interpolated HRTFs can generate a similar perception to those of the database.