Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Selective isolation of mutants of vesicular stomatitis virus defective in production of the viral glycoprotein

We describe a procedure that enriches for temperature-sensitive (ts) mutants of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), Indiana serotype, which are conditionally defective in the biosynthesis of the viral glycoprotein. The selection procedure depends on the rescue of pseudotypes of known ts VSV mutants in complementation group V (corresponding to the viral G protein) by growth at 39.5 degrees C in cells preinfected with the avian retrovirus Rous-associated virus 1 (RAV-1). Seventeen nonleaky ts mutants were isolated from mutagenized stocks of VSV. Eight induced no synthesis of VSV proteins at the nonpermissive temperature and hence were not studied further. Four mutants belonged to complementation group V and resembled other ts (V) mutations in their thermolability, production at 39.5 degrees C of noninfectious particles specifically deficient in VSV G protein, synthesis at 39.5 degrees C of normal levels of viral RNA and protein, and ability to be rescued at 39.5 degrees C by preinfection of cells by avian retroviruses. Five new ts mutants were, unexpectedly, in complementation group IV, the putative structural gene for the viral nucleocapsid (N) protein. At 39.5 degrees C these mutants also induced formation of noninfectious particles relatively deficient in G protein, and production of infectious virus at 39.5 degrees C was also enhanced by preinfection with RAV-1, although not to the same extent as in the case of the group V mutants. We believe that the primary effect of the ts mutation is a reduced synthesis of the nucleocapsid and thus an inhibition of synthesis of all viral proteins; apparently, the accumulation of G protein at the surface is not sufficient to envelope all the viral nucleocapsids, or the mutation in the nucleocapsid prevents proper assembly of G into virions. The selection procedure, based on pseudotype formation with glycoproteins encoded by an unrelated virus, has potential use for the isolation of new glycoprotein mutants of diverse groups of enveloped viruses.
3D measurement of flexible objects by robust motion stereo

We propose a novel three-dimensional measurement approach of flexible cables for factory automation applications, such as cable handling, connecter insertion without conflicts with cables by using robotic arms. The approach is based on motion stereo with a vision sensor. To solve stereo correspondence problem efficiently, feature point extraction from cables and a robust texture matching based feature tracking is applied. Additionally, by using stability analysis of the feature point tracking, defective feature points can be rejected and stable 3-D shape reconstruction is achieved. In our experiments, shapes of arch-like cables have been measured to an accuracy of 5 mm. It is enough to find connecters without conflicts with the cables.
Electricity Consumption and GHG Emissions in GCC Countries

CO 2 , N 2 O, and CH 4 are the three most widespread Greenhouse Gases (GHGs). Electricity consumption and the related CO 2 -equivalent gas emissions resulting from oil and gas combustion for the six countries that comprise the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar; also referred to as the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC)] have been compared. The analysis of the relevant data shows that GCC countries contribute significantly to the global CO 2 emissions, and that the majority of their emissions are concentrated in the energy extraction and conversion sectors, mainly from oil drilling and electricity production. Some analysis is offered as to the reasons behind the excessive increase in the electrical demand that is obviously linked to a non-rational pattern of electricity consumption.
A novel approach for direct reconstruction of parametric images for myocardial blood flow from PET imaging.

PURPOSE The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate a novel direct reconstruction method to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of parametric images in dynamic positron-emission tomography (PET), especially for applications in myocardial perfusion studies. METHODS Simulation studies were used to test the performance in SNR and computational efficiency for different methods. The NCAT phantom was used to generate simulated dynamic data. Noise realization was performed in the sinogram domain and repeated for 30 times with four different noise levels by varying the injection dose (ID) from standard ID to 1/8 of it. The parametric images were calculated by (1) three direct methods that compute the kinetic parameters from the sinogram and (2) an indirect method, which computes the kinetic parameter with pixel-by-pixel curve fitting in image space using weighted least-squares. The first direct reconstruction maximizes the likelihood function using trust-region-reflective (TRR) algorithm. The second approach uses tabulated parameter sets to generate precomputed time-activity curves for maximizing the likelihood functions. The third approach, as a newly proposed method, assumes separable complete data to derive the M-step for maximizing the likelihood. RESULTS The proposed method with the separable complete data performs similarly to the other two direct reconstruction methods in terms of the SNR, providing a 5%-10% improvement as compared to the indirect parametric reconstruction under the standard ID. The improvement of SNR becomes more obvious as the noise level increases, reaching more than 30% improvement under 1/8 ID. Advantage of the proposed method lies in the computation efficiency by shortening the time requirement to 25% of the indirect approach and 3%-6% of other direct reconstruction methods. CONCLUSIONS With results provided from this simulation study, direct reconstruction of myocardial blood flow shows a high potential for improving the parametric image quality for clinical use.
Trends in inequalities in child stunting in South Asia

Abstract We analysed socio‐economic inequalities in stunting in South Asia and investigated disparities associated with factors at the individual, caregiver, and household levels (poor dietary diversity, low maternal education, and household poverty). We used time‐series analysis of data from 55,459 children ages 6–23 months from Demographic and Health Surveys in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan (1991–2014). Logistic regression models, adjusted for age, sex, birth order, and place of residency, examined associations between stunting and multiple types of socio‐economic disadvantage. All countries had high stunting rates. Bangladesh and Nepal recorded the largest reductions—2.9 and 4.1 percentage points per year, respectively—compared to 1.3 and 0.6 percentage points in India and Pakistan, respectively. Socio‐economic adversity was associated with increased risk of stunting, regardless of disadvantage type. Poor children with inadequate diets and with poorly educated mothers experienced greater risk of stunting. Although stunting rates declined in the most deprived groups, socio‐economic differences were largely preserved over time and in some cases worsened, namely, between wealth quintiles. The disproportionate burden of stunting experienced by the most disadvantaged children and the worsening inequalities between socio‐economic groups are of concern in countries with substantial stunting burdens. Closing the gap between best and worst performing countries, and between most and least disadvantaged groups within countries, would yield substantial improvements in stunting rates in South Asia. To do so, greater attention needs to be paid to addressing the social, economic, and political drivers of stunting with targeted efforts towards the populations experiencing the greatest disadvantage and child growth faltering.
An improved P300 extraction using ICA-R for P300-BCI speller

In this study, a new P300 extraction method is investigated by using a form of constrained independent component analysis (cICA) algorithm called one-unit ICA-with-reference (ICA-R) which extracts the P300 signal based on its temporal information. The main advantage of this method compared to the existing ICA-based method is that the desired P300 signal is extracted directly without requiring partial or full signal decomposition and any post-processing on the outcome of the ICA before the P300 signal can be obtained. Since only one IC is extracted, the method is computationally more efficient for real-time P300 BCI applications. In our study, when tested on the BCI competition 2003 dataset IIb, the current state-of-the-art performance is maintained by using the one-unit ICA-R. Besides that, the ability of the method to visualize P300 signals at the single-trial level also suggests it has potential applications in other types of ERP studies.
Wiretap Channels: Nonasymptotic Fundamental Limits

This paper investigates the maximal secret communication rate over a wiretap channel subject to reliability and secrecy constraints at a given blocklength. New achievability and converse bounds are derived, which are uniformly tighter than existing bounds, and lead to the tightest bounds on the second-order coding rate for discrete memoryless and Gaussian wiretap channels. The exact second-order coding rate is established for semi-deterministic wiretap channels, which characterizes the optimal tradeoff between reliability and secrecy in the finite-blocklength regime. Underlying our achievability bounds are two new privacy amplification results, which not only refine the classic privacy amplification results, but also achieve secrecy under the stronger semantic-security metric.
AMPA, kainate, and quisqualate activate a common receptor-channel complex on embryonic chick motoneurons

The actions of the putative quisqualate-selective agonist DL-alpha- amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionic acid (AMPA) were examined in identified embryonic chick motoneurons using gigaseal recording techniques and compared with properties of the selective non- NMDA excitatory amino acid agonists kainate and quisqualate. Pressure application of AMPA induces an inward going current when neurons are voltage-clamped at negative membrane potentials. The current-voltage relationship for this response is linear with reversal near 0 mV. Over the range of 1 microM-10 mM, the AMPA-induced current is dose-dependent with an ED50 of 40 microM. AMPA currents are insensitive to the selective NMDA receptor antagonist, 2-amino-5-phosphonovalerate, and the putative quisqualate selective blocker, glutamate diethyl ester, but are partially inhibited by kynurenic acid. In competition experiments, applications of saturating concentrations of AMPA and either kainate or quisqualate produce responses intermediate between the response to either agonist alone, indicating commonality in the mechanism of these agents. Applications of AMPA with the NMDA-selective agonist aspartate give an additive response. Analysis of current fluctuations indicates that AMPA, quisqualate, and kainate gate a channel with a primary conductance near 20 pS. Differences in maximal macroscopic current evoked by saturating concentrations of AMPA, kainate, and quisqualate cannot be explained by differences in mean channel open time as the most efficacious agonist, kainate, has the shortest channel open time (AMPA = 5.9 +/- 0.4 msec, kainate = 2.7 +/- 0.1 msec, quisqualate = 5.0 +/- 0.5 msec). Rather, kainate induces a greater frequency of channel opening. This finding contrasts with results obtained at the nicotinic ACh receptor, where the most efficacious agonists have the longest mean channel open time. Our results suggest that AMPA acts at the same receptor-channel complex as kainate and quisqualate on chick motoneurons and support the hypothesis that only 2 classes of excitatory amino acid receptor complexes exist in this preparation.
The Effect of Employment Protection on Labor Productivity

The theoretical predictions of how employment protection affects firm productivity are ambiguous. In this paper I study the effect of employment protection rules on labor productivity using micro data on Swedish firms. A reform of the employment protection rules in 2001 made it possible for small firms with less than eleven employees to exempt two workers from the seniority rules. I exploit the reform as a natural experiment. My results indicate that increased labor market flexibility increases labor productivity. The increase is not explained by capital intensity or the educational level of workers.
The role of salivary cortisol measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in the diagnosis of subclinical hypercortisolism.

OBJECTIVE The use of late-night salivary cortisol (LNSalC) for diagnosing subclinical hypercortisolism (SH) is debated. No data are available regarding the role of LNSalC as measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) in SH diagnosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of LNSalC measured by LC-MS/MS in SH. DESIGN Cross-sectional prospective study of outpatients. METHODS In 70 consecutive patients with adrenal incidentalomas (AI), without signs and symptoms of hypercortisolism, we diagnosed SH in the presence of at least two of the following: cortisol after 1 mg overnight dexamethasone suppression test (1 mg DST) >83 nmol/l, 24-h urinary free cortisol (UFC) >193 nmol/24 h, and morning ACTH <2.2 pmol/l. The LNSalC levels by LC-MS/MS at 2300 h (normal values <2.8 nmol/l) and the presence of hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and osteoporosis (OP) were assessed. RESULTS The increased LNSalC levels (>2.8 nmol/l) had an 83.3% specificity (SP) and a 31.3% sensitivity (SN) for predicting the biochemical diagnosis of SH. The increased LNSalC had an 85.2% SP and a 55.6% SN for predicting the presence of hypertension, T2DM, and OP, while the combination of LNSalC >1.4 nmol/l (cutoff with 100% SN) plus 1 mg DST >50 nmol/l had an 88.9% SN and an 85.2% SP (similar to SH criterion at enrollment). CONCLUSIONS In AI patients, LNSalC measured by LC-MS/MS appears to be useful in combination with 1 mg DST for diagnosing SH, while it is not useful as a single criterion.
Socio-demographic characteristics of New Zealand smokers: results from the 1996 census.

AIMS To examine the key socio-demographic characteristics of adult smokers in New Zealand based on 1996 census data. METHODS Data were obtained from the 1996 Census of Populations and Dwellings on smoking status and key socio-demographic variables. Age standardised smoking prevalence rates were calculated. RESULTS Of the New Zealand population aged 15 years and over, 23.7% reported that they were regular smokers. Maori have the highest smoking prevalence in New Zealand (40.5%) and the peak rate is 55% among young Maori women aged 25-29 years. Pacific Island people, particularly males, have higher smoking rates than Europeans, while among Asians, the rate for males is three to four times the rate for females. People with no qualifications, who are unemployed or earning less than $30,000 per year, and women with high parities also have relatively high smoking prevalence rates. CONCLUSION The smoking rates of New Zealand population groups are highly heterogeneous and there is substantial scope for focusing tobacco control interventions on those groups with the highest prevalence.
A Quick Algorithm for Snapping 3D Objects in Augmented Reality

This paper describes a quick algorithm for snapping a moving object (being moved by a user) to existing objects in Augmented Reality (AR) environment. Because in AR, human-computer interactions are in the real time mode, the algorithm should be fast enough not to affect the scene rendering but still assure accuracy. It is currently designed to deal with primitive geometries such as cubes, cones, cylinders, spheres. And it should work well even after these geometries are transformed with scaling, rotating, moving operations. The main idea of the algorithm is that for each kind of geometry, some “hot spots” are defined. Each hot spot is a sphere with a certain radius. If the center point of the moving object is within a hot spot of any existing geometry it will be snapped to this geometry at that hot spot. This algorithm is already employed in an AR modeling system to evaluate its efficiency.
The El Nino‐Southern Oscillation and winter precipitation extremes over India

Daily rainfall data for the winter season October–December for the long period of 102 years 1901–2002 over southeast peninsular India have been used to study the characteristics of daily precipitation extremes. The frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events do not show statistically significant long‐term trend. The relationship of El Nino‐southern oscillation index with these extremes shows that this index can be used to predict frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events, 4–6 months in advance. However spell lengths of continuous wet/dry days are not modulated by variations in Pacific sea surface temperatures. Copyright © 2007 Royal Meteorological Society
Long‐term results (>25 years) of a randomized, prospective clinical trial evaluating chemotherapy in patients with high‐grade, operable osteosarcoma

The authors present the long‐term follow‐up (>25 years) data from 1 of the original prospective, randomized trials that compared adjuvant chemotherapy with expectant management in patients with high‐grade, localized osteosarcoma. In addition, the value of pathologic necrosis induced by a single cycle of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was analyzed as a predictive marker of disease‐free and overall survival.
Local vs Non-local Forward Equations for Option Pricing

When the underlying asset is a continuous martingale, call option prices solve the Dupire equation, a forward parabolic PDE in the maturity and strike variables. By contrast, when the underlying asset is described by a discontinuous semimartingale, call prices solve a partial integro-differential equation (PIDE), containing a non-local integral term. We show that the two classes of equations share no common solution: a given set of option prices is either generated from a continuous martingale (”diffusion”) model or from a model with jumps, but not both. In particular, our result shows that Dupire’s inversion formula for reconstructing local volatility from option prices does not apply to option prices generated from models with jumps.
Measuring the Performance of the Microsoft Kinect across Multiple Platforms

The Microsoft Kinect is a versatile sensor used in a variety of applications and therefore needs to be benchmarked on various operating systems. The problem addressed was to determine how well the Kinect performs under Windows 7, Ubuntu 11.10 and Mac OS X 10.6 and if the sensor would be a viable addition to Dr. Striegel’s stroke Wii-habilitation project. To quantify the effect of different operating systems on the Kinect’s performance, a program to record frames per second (fps) and write to disk speed was developed from the OpenNI and NITE sample code. The program was run with the skeletal computation function enabled as well as excessive movement during user tracking. Finally, a histogram of the results between the three operating systems was created to compare the average fps and write to disk speed for each system. The results show that workstation hardware has a large impact on the Kinect’s performance. These findings suggest that the WiiHabilitation project would benefit from the Kinect by providing a more technical analysis of the stroke rehabilitation process.
Prehospital Trauma Care in Singapore

Abstract Prehospital emergency care in Singapore has taken shape over almost a century. What began as a hospital-based ambulance service intended to ferry medical cases was later complemented by an ambulance service under the Singapore Fire Brigade to transport trauma cases. The two ambulance services would later combine and come under the Singapore Civil Defence Force. The development of prehospital care systems in island city–state Singapore faces unique challenges as a result of its land area and population density. This article defines aspects of prehospital trauma care in Singapore. It outlines key historical milestones and current initiatives in service, training, and research. It makes propositions for the future direction of trauma care in Singapore. The progress Singapore has made given her circumstances may serve as lessons for the future development of prehospital trauma systems in similar environments. Key words: Singapore; trauma; prehospital emergency care; emergency medical services
Comparison of Gas Puff Imaging Data in NSTX with DEGAS 2 Simulations

Abstract Gas puff imaging is a two-dimensional diagnostic that measures the edge Dα light emission from a neutral D2 gas puff near the outer midplane of the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX). DEGAS 2 is a three-dimensional Monte Carlo code used to model neutral transport and plasma-neutral interactions in fusion plasmas. In this paper, we compare the measured and modeled Dα light emission for specific NSTX experiments. Both the simulated spatial distribution and the radiance of the Dα light emission agree well with the experimental data obtained during time periods between edge-localized modes (ELMs) in ELMy H-modes.
Analysis of a Novel Multi-Tooth Flux-Switching PM Brushless AC Machine for High Torque Direct-Drive Applications

A three-phase, multi-tooth flux-switching permanent magnet brushless ac machine is analyzed, its electromagnetic performance, viz., the phase flux-linkage and back-EMF waveforms, the self- and mutual-inductances, the cogging torque, the electromagnetic torque, and the torque-current characteristic, are predicted by 2-D and 3-D finite-element analyses and validated experimentally. Compared with a conventional flux-switching machine, a multi-tooth machine requires a significantly smaller volume of magnet material, since only half the number of permanent magnets is required, and it exhibits a higher torque density at low excitation currents as well as a lower torque ripple. However, since it saturates more quickly as the current is increased due to the higher armature reaction, and at very high electric loadings its torque capability is lower than that of a conventional flux-switching machine.
A novel turbo decoder architecture for hand-held communication devices

Mobile communication systems, such as IMT-2000, adopt turbo codes because they provide reliable, bandwidth-efficient communication over AWGN channels. The BER of turbo codes is close to the Shannon limits. As a mobile communication device can use only a limited power supply, use of low power design techniques is essential for successful device implementation. This paper proposes an architecture for the turbo decoder which adopts a fast decoding structure by initial threshold setting such that the number of decoding iterations can be reduced without BER performance degradation. The proposed decoding structure can be easily modified for other MAP decoders by employing a simple decision module. The initial iteration threshold has been decided via simulations by varying decoder parameters (mean/normalized-variance of the log-likelihood ratio; BER of the decoder outputs). Performance validations for the proposed decoder have been performed under the IMT-2000 high-speed data transmission testbed with the channel characteristic being set to BER=10/sup -6/. Simulation results show 55%-90% reductions in the number of decoding iterations when compared with conventional turbo decoders with a fixed number of iterations.