Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Power Loss Measurement Method Applied to Static Power Converters

It is very important to be able to predict the amount of the power losses related to the power switches with good accuracy in the design phase of power converters since a poor estimation can considerably extend the time needed for the development of the devices. This paper illustrates a method to calculate with satisfactory accuracy the power losses in power converters, based on the measured switching currents and voltages of semiconductor devices. It represents a further development and an improvement of previous studies and includes an automatic compensation of voltage and current offsets. Experimental measurements of the conduction voltage drops of insulated-gate bipolar transistors and diodes have been performed and compared with manufacturer's data to validate the method. The method was then applied to a power converter chosen as representative, using the experimental data as input. The results are reported and discussed.
Memory resource considerations in the load balancing of software DSM systems

Obtaining a load balance is essential if the program performance of distributed shared memory (DSM) systems is to be optimized. In achieving this load balance, most DSM systems simply distribute program threads in accordance with the CPU power of the individual processors within the network. However, memory access costs also play a significant role in determining the program performance. Although the threads will be able to complete their tasks, their execution will inevitably be delayed by the latency associated with executing the page replacements. With the rapid development of CPU chips, the relative influence of this memory access latency upon the overall program performance has become increasingly significant. Therefore, attempts to minimize the execution time of applications by establishing a load balance based purely upon CPU resource considerations will only achieve limited success. The current study proposes a new load balancing scheme for DSM systems which considers both CPU and memory resources. The present results confirm the importance of considering memory resources when addressing the load balancing of DSM systems. It is shown that the proposed method is more effective than previous schemes which considered only CPU resources or memory resources.
Cellometer Vision as an alternative to flow cytometry for cell cycle analysis, mitochondrial potential, and immunophenotyping

Cell phenotyping and cell cycle analysis are two commonly used assays in both clinical diagnosis and biomedical research. Cell phenotyping by identifying different biomarkers is essential for the diagnosis of hematologic malignancy, sub‐classifying diseases, monitoring response to treatment, predicting prognosis, detecting rare cell populations and residual malignant cells. Cell cycle analysis distinguishes cells in different phases of cell cycle and is often used to determine the cellular response to drugs and biological stimulations. These assays have been traditionally carried out by sensitive fluorescence detection methods such as flow cytometry and laser scanning cytometry for fluorescence‐based cell population analysis. However, these instruments remain relatively expensive, large in size, and require a considerable amount of maintenance, which may not be feasible for smaller research groups that do not have access to these equipments or field clinics that require quick diagnostic results on site. Recently, a small portable imaging cytometry system (Cellometer Vision) has been developed by Nexcelom Bioscience LLC (Lawrence, MA) for automated cell concentration and viability measurement using bright‐field and fluorescent imaging methods. Here we report new applications of the Cellometer imaging cytometry for fluorescence‐based cell population analysis and compared them with conventional flow cytometry. Cell population analysis assays such as immunophenotyping, cell cycle, and mitochondrial membrane potential detection methods have not yet been reported for the Cellometer Vision system. Using this imaging cytometry method for fluorescence‐based assays that are typically done by flow cytometry offers a quick, simple, and inexpensive alternative method for biomedical research, which may be beneficial for smaller research laboratories and clinics. © 2011 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry
ESR evidence for the hydroxyl radical formation in aqueous suspension of quartz particles and its possible significance to lipid peroxidation in silicosis.

Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrum of the hydroxyl (.OH) radical spin adduct with the spin trap 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide has been obtained in suspensions of freshly ground quartz particles. The concentration of the spin adduct (and hence of the .OH radicals) increases with the amount of grinding. The dust's potential for the generation of the . OH radicals is maximum when fresh (i.e., immediately after grinding) and decreases to 50% in about a day on storage in air. Studies involving metal chelates indicate that the . OH radical formation involves mainly the silica surface and H2O rather than the Fenton reaction. The results suggest that hydroxyl radical reaction(s) could be important in the lipid peroxidation and fibrogenicity by quartz dust, particularly in acute silicosis.
Optoacoustic methods for frequency calibration of ultrasonic sensors

The frequency response of ultrasonic detectors is commonly calibrated by finding their sensitivity to incident plane waves at discrete frequencies. For certain applications, such as the emerging field of optoacoustic tomography, it is the response to point sources emitting broadband spectra that needs to be found instead. Although these two distinct sensitivity characteristics are interchangeable in the case of a flat detector and a point source at infinity, it is not the case for detectors with size considerably larger than the acoustic wavelength of interest or those having a focused aperture. Such geometries, which are common in optoacoustics, require direct calibration of the acoustic detector using a point source placed in the relevant position. In this paper, we report on novel cross-validating optoacoustic methods for measuring the frequency response of wideband acoustic sensors. The approach developed does not require pre-calibrated hydrophones and therefore can be readily adopted in any existing optoacoustic measurement configuration. The methods are successfully confirmed experimentally by measuring the frequency response of a common piezoelectric detector having a cylindrically focused shape.
A Switchable Figure Eight Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser Based on Inter-Modal Beating By Means of Non-Adiabatic Microfiber

A switchable multiwavelength figure eight fiber laser effect of multimode interference is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A narrow bandpass filter of multiple specific wavelengths was created by incorporating a tapered non-adiabatic microfiber of 70 mm length and 2 μm diameter in a Sagnac loop mirror. Spatial mode beating arose due to the modal interference in the non-adiabatic microfiber, and resulted in a comb filter able to suppress mode competition. The proposed laser generated single longitudinal modes having a 3-dB linewidth of less than 0.16 pm, which represents an upper limit measurement imposed by the restrictions of the optical analyzer resolution, and possessed an optical signal-to-noise ratio of 58 dB at 82 mW pumping power. Moreover, nonlinear polarization rotation and strain switching mechanisms are demonstrated for generating single, dual, and triple wavelength over more than 20 nm span. In addition, a description is provided on a new technique of packaging non-adiabatic microfiber that diminishes issues relating to degradation of the microfiber over time and external perturbation.
Research on Sailing Efficiency of Hybrid-Driven Underwater Glider at Zero Angle of Attack

The sailing efficiency of an underwater glider, an important type of marine environment detection and data collection equipment, directly affects its range and duration. The zero-angle-of-attack gliding can be achieved by adjusting the wing installation angle to minimize the drag and improve the sailing efficiency, and thus further improving performance of the glider. This paper first presents the dynamic characteristics of a hybrid-driven underwater glider with a certain wing installation angle when it is sailing at zero angle of attack in buoyancy-driven mode and hybrid-driven mode. In buoyancy-driven mode, with a given wing installation angle, the glider can achieve zero-angle-of-attack gliding only at a specific glide angle. In hybrid-driven mode, due to the use of a propulsion system, the specific glide angle that allows the zero-angle-of-attack gliding in buoyancy-driven mode is expanded to a glide angle range bounded by zero degrees. Then, the energy consumption per meter is introduced as an indicator of sailing efficiency, and the effects of glide angle and wing installation angle on sailing efficiency of the zero-angle-of-attack glider in two driving modes are studied under the conditions of given net buoyancy and given speed, respectively. Accordingly, the optimal wing installation angle for maximizing the sailing efficiency is proposed. Theoretical analysis shows that the sailing efficiency of a zero-angle-of-attack glider can be higher than that of a traditional glider. Considering the requirements of different measurement tasks, a higher sailing efficiency can be achieved by setting reasonable parameters and selecting the appropriate driving mode.
Nucleotide sequence stability of the genome of hepatitis delta virus

Cultured cells were cotransfected with a fully sequenced 1,679-base cDNA clone of human hepatitis delta virus (HDV) RNA genome and a cDNA for the genome of woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV). The HDV particles released were able to infect a woodchuck that was chronically infected with WHV. The HDV so produced was passaged a total of six times in woodchucks in order to determine the stability of the HDV nucleotide sequence. During a final chronic infection with such virus, liver RNA was extracted, and the HDV nucleotide sequence for the 352-base region, positions 905 to 1256, was obtained. By means of PCR, we obtained double-stranded cDNA both for direct sequencing and also for molecular cloning followed by sequencing. By direct sequencing, we found that a consensus sequence existed and was identical to the original sequence. From the sequences of 31 clones, we found 32% (10 of 31) to be identical to the original single nucleotide sequence. For the remainder, there were neither insertions nor deletions but there was a small number of single-nucleotide changes. These changes were predominantly transitions rather than transversions. Furthermore, the transitions were largely of just two types, uridine to cytidine and adenosine to guanosine. Of the 40 changes detected on HDV, 35% (14 of 40) occurred within an eight-nucleotide region that included position 1012, previously shown to be a site of RNA editing. These findings may have significant implications regarding both the stability of the HDV RNA genome and the mechanism of RNA editing.
Validation of the brief Quality of Life Interview (QoLI): I. Internal structure

Department of Psychiatry, CHU Sainte Marguerite, Marseille, France Department of Public Health, La Timone Hospital, Marseille, France Laboratories Lundbeck France, Ave Pierre 1 de Serbie, 75005 Paris, France Center for Mental Health Services Research, 685 West Baltimore Street MSTF 300, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA. Royal Free and University College Medical School, University College London, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, ARCHWAY CAMPUS, Whittington Hospital, Highgate Hill, London N19 5NF
A Secured SOA Model for Decentralized Public Administration in Developing Countries: Application on Fairground Court in Cameroon

During the last decade, the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has led the world into a new era of innovative technologies that can provide effective responses to human concerns. In developed countries, the profitability motivation has imposed Service‐Oriented Architectures (SOA) in enterprises as a better way to design information systems capable of taking into account inter‐organizational cooperation mechanisms while preserving autonomy of the latter. Those Service‐Oriented Architectures did not stop at the doors of public administrations. Thus, several specifications have been made to adapt them to the peculiarities of public governance. But these models are not always able to respond effectively to the concerns of governments in developing countries particularly when they are structurally and territorially decentralized. Therefore, we propose a more suitable model to this type of e‐governance. We will later see how our model can be more suitable for the organization of remote and secured fairground courts in Cameroon to address constraints related to finance, time and security that these courts currently impose.
Automatic Location of Facial Feature Points and Synthesis of Facial Sketches Using Direct Combined Model

Automatically locating multiple feature points (i.e., the shape) in a facial image and then synthesizing the corresponding facial sketch are highly challenging since facial images typically exhibit a wide range of poses, expressions, and scales, and have differing degrees of illumination and/or occlusion. When the facial sketches are to be synthesized in the unique sketching style of a particular artist, the problem becomes even more complex. To resolve these problems, this paper develops an automatic facial sketch synthesis system based on a novel direct combined model (DCM) algorithm. The proposed system executes three cascaded procedures, namely, (1) synthesis of the facial shape from the input texture information (i.e., the facial image); (2) synthesis of the exaggerated facial shape from the synthesized facial shape; and (3) synthesis of a sketch from the original input image and the synthesized exaggerated shape. Previous proposals for reconstructing facial shapes and synthesizing the corresponding facial sketches are heavily reliant on the quality of the texture reconstruction results, which, in turn, are highly sensitive to occlusion and lighting effects in the input image. However, the DCM approach proposed in this paper accurately reconstructs the facial shape and then produces lifelike synthesized facial sketches without the need to recover occluded feature points or to restore the texture information lost as a result of unfavorable lighting conditions. Moreover, the DCM approach is capable of synthesizing facial sketches from input images with a wide variety of facial poses, gaze directions, and facial expressions even when such images are not included within the original training data set.
Influence of oversampling on channel parameter estimation for joint communication and positioning

Recently, a maximum-likelihood channel parameter estimator was proposed by the authors for joint communication and positioning. The parameters of the physical channel (e.g. amplitudes and propagation delays of the propagation paths) are estimated jointly with the channel coefficients of the equivalent discrete-time channel model by exploiting a priori information about pulse shaping and receive filtering. In this paper, the influence of oversampling on the proposed estimator is investigated. On the one hand, more samples can improve the performance of the estimator. On the other hand, the complexity of the estimator increases with oversampling and the noise gets more colored. The Cramer-Rao lower bounds (CRLBs) of the time of arrival for different channel models with different oversampling factors are compared. Taking into account the tradeoff between performance and complexity, it can be concluded that only an oversampling factor of two is reasonable. This design issue is different from satellite navigation receiver designs, where usually extensive oversampling is applied. Furthermore, the performance of the estimator is compared to the CRLB by means of Monte Carlo simulations.
Single-center long-term results of renal transplantation for IgA nephropathy.

BACKGROUND Previous reports with short-term follow-up after renal transplantation for IgA nephropathy (IgAN) have suggested an incidence of recurrence up to 50%, an increased recurrence with living-related donors, and the rarity of graft loss due to recurrence. In this study, the long-term results of renal transplantation for IgAN were examined. METHODS Between June 1980 and December 1994, 54 patients (61 renal transplants) with end-stage renal disease due to IgA nephropathy were performed at the University of California San Francisco. Actuarial patient and graft survival were compared with a matched reference group. Correlates of recurrent disease (biopsy confirmed) and graft loss were determined. RESULTS Patient and graft survival for IgA patients were good (100% and 75%, respectively, at 5 years after transplant). Graft survival was lower in IgA recipients with living-related compared with cadaveric renal allografts (P<0.09) and also with renal allografts well matched at HLA-AB (< or =2 AB mismatches) (P<0.09) or HLA-DR (< or =1 mismatch) (P<0.01). Recurrence was not correlated with donor status, recipient age, race, gender, or immunosuppression. Recurrence (18 of 61) resulted in substantial graft loss (6 of 18) or deteriorating renal function (4 of 18) at a mean follow-up of 61 months. Mean time to diagnosis of recurrence and subsequent graft loss was 31 and 63 months, respectively. Despite re-recurrence of IgAN in three of five patients who were retransplanted, all have good long-term renal function. CONCLUSIONS Substantial graft loss due to recurrent disease after renal transplantation for IgAN occurs with long-term follow-up. Living-related transplantation and HLA matching do not appear to confer an advantage for graft survival in patients with IgAN. Despite the potential for recurrence, IgAN patients enjoy good long-term graft survival.
Mapping of QTLs for Seed Phorbol Esters, a Toxic Chemical in Jatropha curcas (L.)

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas L.) is an oil-bearing plant that has potential to be cultivated as a biodiesel crop. The seed cake after oil extraction has 40–50% protein that can be used in animal feeds. A major limitation in utilizing the cake is the presence of phorbol esters (PE), a heat-tolerant toxic chemical. To identify the quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for PE, we constructed a genetic linkage map from an F2 population of 95 individuals from a cross “Chai Nat” × “M10” using 143 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. M10 is low in seed PE while Chai Nat is high. Seeds from each F2 individual were quantified for PE content by high performance liquid chromatography. A single marker analysis revealed five markers from linkage group 3 (LG3) and nine markers from LG8 associated with seed PE. Inclusive composite interval mapping identified two QTLs, each on LG3 (qPE3.1) and LG8 (qPE8.1) responsible for the PE. qPE3.1 and qPE8.1 accounted for 14.10%, and 15.49% of total variation in seed PE, respectively. Alelle(s) from M10 at qPE3.1 increased seed PE, while at qPE8.1 decreased seed PE. qPE3.1 is a new loci for PE, while qPE8.1 is the same locus with that reported recently for PE.
Speed-sensorless induction motor drive with unscented Kalman filter including the estimations of load torque and rotor resistance

In this paper, an unscented Kalman filter (UKF) based speed-sensorless vector control of induction motors (IMs) have been implemented for a wide speed range including zero-speed. The proposed UKF simultaneously estimates stator stationary axis components of stator currents and rotor fluxes, rotor mechanical speed, load torque including viscous friction term, and rotor resistance. The effectiveness of the introduced UKF algorithm and thus the speed-sensorless IM drive are verified by computer simulations consisting of different challenging scenarios. From this point of view, it is the first speed-sensorless IM drive in the literature to utilize the UKF algorithm including the simultaneous estimations of stator currents, rotor fluxes, rotor mechanical speed, load torque including viscous friction term, and rotor resistance in simulation.
The p38 MAPK–MK2 Axis Regulates E2F1 and FOXM1 Expression after Epirubicin Treatment

E2F1 is responsible for the regulation of FOXM1 expression, which plays a key role in epirubicin resistance. Here, we examined the role and regulation of E2F1 in response to epirubicin in cancer cells. We first showed that E2F1 plays a key role in promoting FOXM1 expression, cell survival, and epirubicin resistance as its depletion by siRNA attenuated FOXM1 induction and cell viability in response to epirubicin. We also found that the p38–MAPK activity mirrors the expression patterns of E2F1 and FOXM1 in both epirubicin-sensitive and -resistant MCF-7 breast cancer cells, suggesting that p38 has a role in regulating E2F1 expression and epirubicin resistance. Consistently, studies using pharmacologic inhibitors, siRNA knockdown, and knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) revealed that p38 mediates the E2F1 induction by epirubicin and that the induction of E2F1 by p38 is, in turn, mediated through its downstream kinase MK2 [mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-activated protein kinase 2; MAPKAPK2]. In agreement, in vitro phosphorylation assays showed that MK2 can directly phosphorylate E2F1 at Ser-364. Transfection assays also showed that E2F1 phosphorylation at Ser-364 participates in its induction by epirubicin but also suggests that other phosphorylation events are also involved. In addition, the p38–MK2 axis can also limit c-jun-NH2-kinase (JNK) induction by epirubicin and, notably, JNK represses FOXM1 expression. Collectively, these findings underscore the importance of p38–MK2 signaling in the control of E2F1 and FOXM1 expression as well as epirubicin sensitivity. Mol Cancer Res; 10(9); 1189–202. ©2012 AACR.
Convective to Absolute Instability Transition in a Horizontal Porous Channel with Open Upper Boundary

A linear stability analysis of the parallel uniform flow in a horizontal channel with open upper boundary is carried out. The lower boundary is considered as an impermeable isothermal wall, while the open upper boundary is subject to a uniform heat flux and it is exposed to an external horizontal fluid stream driving the flow. An eigenvalue problem is obtained for the two-dimensional transverse modes of perturbation. The study of the analytical dispersion relation leads to the conditions for the onset of convective instability as well as to the determination of the parametric threshold for the transition to absolute instability. The results are generalised to the case of three-dimensional perturbations.
CORDIC on a configurable serial architecture for biomedical signal processing applications

The CORDIC (COrdinated Rotation DIgital Computer)[1] algorithm provides an efficient and accurate platform to compute various trigonometric, linear and non-linear functions using only shift-add operations. This paper presents the implementation of CORDIC algorithm on a configurable architecture to port various transforms which forms the heart of image and signal processing applications. We shall demonstrate this through the mapping of trigonometric, hyperbolic, logarithm and exponential CORDIC functions on the proposed architecture. Furthermore, we show the benefits of the architecture in terms of configurability and cycle timing with a reduced gate count implementation.