Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Particle filtering and information fusion of innovative location and tracking device targeting GPS hostile environments

An approximate particle filter and sensor fusion solution in pedestrian tracking for integrating a global position system (GPS) and dead reckoning (DR) from a Stochastic Bayesian perspective for State Space Models is proposed. It is assumed that estimates obtained from the GPS receiver are correct if the GPS quality is good. Therefore estimates from the GPS receiver serves as a primary input into the integrated system whenever both the GPS receiver is on and the signal quality is good. The Suboptimal estimation technique for the DR sensor is based on particle filtering. The DR module takes inputs from an accelerometer based pedometer and a particle filtering method is used for estimating the state of the DR sensor. A sensor fusion model incorporating an exponential smoothing-based smoother/filter/predictor is finally used to integrate the DR sensor and the GPS receiver. The output of the sensor fusion algorithm is constructed as a function of the GPS receiver and DR sensor. At any state, higher weight is assigned to the sensor with minimum error. GPS positioning is weighted more heavily as long as the GPS parameters (DOP, number of satellites, signal quality) indicates good and reliable performance.
Bringing 3D tumor models to the clinic – predictive value for personalized medicine

Current decision‐guiding algorithms in cancer drug treatment are based on decades of research and numerous clinical trials. For the majority of patients, this data is successfully applied for a systemic disease management. For a number of patients however, treatment stratification according to clinically based risk criteria will not be sufficient. The most effective treatment options are ideally identified prior to the start of clinical drug therapy. This review will discuss the implementation of three‐dimensional (3D) cell culture models as a preclinical testing paradigm for the efficacy of clinical cancer treatment. Patient tumor‐derived cells in 3D cultures duplicate the individual tumor microenvironment with a minimum of confounding factors. Clinical implementation of such personalized tumor models requires a high quality of methodological and clinical validation comparable to other biomarkers. A non‐systematic literature search demonstrated the small number of prospective studies that have been conducted in this area of research. This may explain the current reluctance of many physicians and insurance providers in implementing this type of assay into the clinical diagnostic routine despite potential benefit for patients. Achieving valid and reproducible results with a high level of evidence is central in improving the acceptance of preclinical 3D tumor models.
Poplar Extrafloral Nectaries: Two Types, Two Strategies of Indirect Defenses against Herbivores1[C][W]

Many plant species grow extrafloral nectaries and produce nectar to attract carnivore arthropods as defenders against herbivores. Two nectary types that evolved with Populus trichocarpa (Ptr) and Populus tremula × Populus tremuloides (Ptt) were studied from their ecology down to the genes and molecules. Both nectary types strongly differ in morphology, nectar composition and mode of secretion, and defense strategy. In Ptt, nectaries represent constitutive organs with continuous merocrine nectar flow, nectary appearance, nectar production, and flow. In contrast, Ptr nectaries were found to be holocrine and inducible. Neither mechanical wounding nor the application of jasmonic acid, but infestation by sucking insects, induced Ptr nectar secretion. Thus, nectaries of Ptr and Ptt seem to answer the same threat by the use of different mechanisms.
EXCHANGE RATE FLEXIBILITY, CAPITAL MOBILITY AND INFLATION TRANSMISSION IN MALAYSIA

The paper assesses the international transmission of inflation for a small economy, Malaysia, over three sample periods marked by different degrees of exchange rate flexibility. Contradicting to conventional wisdom of less pronounced foreign nominal influences under the flexible exchange rate regime, this research finds evidence that the inflation transmission from the US to Malaysia is strongest during the period marked by increasing exchange rate flexibility (i.e. 1993-1998). This research also observes significant inflation effects of exchange rate depreciation during the same period. While this research observe less pronounced impacts of the US during the limited exchange rate flexibility period (i.e. 1988-1999), the US influences are virtually absent during the recent fixed regime (i.e. 1998-2005). This research believes that the intensity of capital flows across the three periods might have explained the results.
Incidence of breast and chest wall asymmetries: 4D photography.

BACKGROUND Few authors have addressed preoperative soft tissue and chest wall analysis as it pertains to asymmetries that must be identified for preoperative breast augmentation planning. OBJECTIVES The authors evaluate the incidence of breast and chest wall asymmetries. METHODS In the present study, 125 consecutive patients underwent a voluntary dimensional analysis by a single practitioner, followed by a confirmatory 4D photographic analysis. During each patient's evaluation, the following measurements were recorded: distance from nipple to inframammary fold (IMF), base width, distance from sternal notch to nipple, horizontal areolar width, vertical areolar height, upper and lower pole pinch tests, and medial and lateral pinch tests. RESULTS Following exclusion of patients who had undergone prior breast surgery, 117 patients were included in the final statistical analysis. Significant differences between right and left breasts were found in 81.7% of patients in one or more of the measured dimensions (p < .05). The manual measurements were confirmed with computerized 4D photography, and there was no significant difference found between the two measurement types in any objective parameter. However, there was a significant difference in the level of chest wall asymmetries identified by 4D photography. Nipple-to-IMF position asymmetry was present in 59.6% of the patients, and sternal notch-to-nipple asymmetry was present in 81.2%. Overall, 100% of the women had some degree of asymmetry (soft tissue and/or chest wall) confirmed by 4D photography. CONCLUSIONS The 4D photography measurements in this study were consistent with objective manual measurements but provided the added benefit of identifying chest wall asymmetries more objectively. The data from this study underscore the importance of developing a systematic preoperative breast and chest wall analysis that can be individualized for each patient. The resulting asymmetries should then be discussed with the patient, along with the potential for continued or more pronounced asymmetry postoperatively.
Analysis of Longitudinally Inhomogeneous Rectangular Waveguide Using Equivalent Circuit Method

A longitudinally inhomogeneous waveguide (LIW) with rectangular cross section is analyzed using equivalent circuit method. The reflection and transmission characteristics of the waveguide are studied and verified. The profile of the dielectric constant is chosen to be in sine form along the transmission direction though it can be arbitrary shape for actual implementation. Numerical results are given for various parameters concerned with the profile. These results are helpful for the design of rectangular waveguide filters. And the method can be applied for other LIWs with arbitrary cross sections.
Influence of measured and simulated basis sets on metabolite concentration estimates

By quantification of brain metabolites, localized brain proton MRS can non‐invasively provide biochemical information from distinct regions of the brain. Quantification of short‐TE signals is usually based on a metabolite basis set. The basis set can be obtained by two approaches: (1) by measuring the signals of metabolites in aqueous solution; (2) by quantum‐mechanically simulating the theoretical metabolite signals. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of these two approaches on metabolite concentration estimates. Metabolite concentrations were quantified with the QUEST method, using both approaches. A comparison was performed with the aid of Monte Carlo studies, by using signals simulated from both basis sets. The best results were obtained when the basis set used for the fit was the same as that used to simulate the Monte Carlo signals. This comparison was also performed using in vivo short‐TE signals acquired at 7 T from the central region of rat brains. The concentration estimates, with confidence intervals, obtained using both basis sets were in good agreement with values from the literature. The in vivo study showed that, in general, the differences between the estimates obtained with the two basis sets were not statistically significant or scientifically important. Consequently, a simulated basis set can be used in place of a measured basis set. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Comparison of the USCOM ultrasound cardiac output monitor with pulmonary artery catheter thermodilution in patients undergoing liver transplantation

The aim of the study was to compare the standard technique of cardiac output determination by pulmonary artery catheter thermodilution (PAC‐TD) with a noninvasive ultrasound Doppler monitor (USCOM Pty., Ltd., Coffs Harbour, Australia) in surgery for liver transplantation. We wished to determine if the degree of accuracy would allow the ultrasound cardiac output monitor (USCOM) to be used as an alternative monitor in a clinical setting in which wide fluctuations in cardiac output could be expected. This was a prospective method comparison study, with 71 paired measurements obtained in 12 patients undergoing liver transplantation in a university teaching hospital. Bland‐Altman analysis of the 2 techniques showed a bias of 0.39 L/minute, with the USCOM cardiac output lower compared with that of PAC‐TD. The bias was small and did not vary with the magnitude of the cardiac output. The 95% limits of agreement were −1.47 and 2.25 L/minute. There was good repeatability for USCOM measurements, with a repeatability coefficient of 0.43 for USCOM versus 0.77 for PAC‐TD. We conclude that USCOM is acceptable for the clinical determination of noninvasive cardiac output, particularly in situations in which tracking changes over time is more important than knowing the precise value. However, the utility of USCOM is limited by its inability to measure pulmonary artery pressure. Liver Transpl 14:1038–1043, 2008. © 2008 AASLD.
Thai ASR development for network-based speech translation

A network-based multilingual speech translation service under the Universal Speech Translation Advanced Research (U-STAR) consortium requires a well-tuned Thai automatic speech recognition (ASR) service. This paper summarizes the development of the service by utilizing both Thai read-speech and telephone speech (LOTUS-CELL 2.0) corpora. Tuning is performed regarding different sets of acoustic unit and training data. An evaluation shows that the recognition accuracy of ASR working over data channels can be improved by using the LOTUS-CELL 2.0 corpus although the corpus was constructed via voice channels. The problem of Named-entity (NE) words often found in the working domain is obvious and leads to an urgent future work.
Glutamatergic and neurometabolic alterations in chronic cocaine users measured with 1H‐magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Cocaine addiction is a chronically relapsing disorder that is associated with harmful consequences. Relapses occur frequently and effective pharmacotherapies are currently sparse. Preclinical studies suggest that altered glutamatergic signaling is crucial for the maintenance of cocaine self‐administration. However, the translational validity of these models is currently unknown. Therefore, we investigated potential differences of glutamate, glutamine and further metabolite levels in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC) and the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) of chronic cocaine users and controls using the PRior knOwledge FITting 2.0 tool in combination with two‐dimensional J‐resolved single‐voxel 1H‐magnetic resonance spectroscopy at 3T and voxel tissue composition and relaxation correction. Glutamate and glutamine levels did not differ between cocaine users and controls, but higher weekly cocaine use and higher cocaine hair concentrations were associated with lower glutamine/creatine ratios in the pgACC. Interestingly, cocaine users exhibited higher glucose/total creatine ratios than controls in the pgACC and higher choline/creatine ratios in the pgACC and rDLPFC. These results imply that cocaine use is associated with altered cortical glucose metabolism and membrane turnover. Finally, cocaine use over the past 6 months appears to decrease cortical glutamine levels indicating changes in glutamate cycling.
Reflective nonlinear transmission lines for single-antenna non-self-jamming RFID

We present a harmonic radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder based on reflective nonlinear transmission lines (NLTLs), where the tag size is significantly reduced with single antenna configuration. To show the feasibility and design procedure, two open-ended NLTLs are fabricated in IBM 0. 13µm CMOS process. Both of the 0.35 mm by 0.95 mm open-ended NLTLs show around −11 dBm reflected second harmonic by 0 dBm small signal input. Distance of wireless transmission is characterized by single dualband/broadband antenna connection.
Two Entropy-Based Methods for Detecting Errors in POS-Tagged Treebank

This paper proposes two methods of employing conditional entropy to find errors and inconsistencies in tree bank corpora. These methods are based on two principles that high entropy implies high possibility of error and that entropy is reduced after error correction. The first method ranks error candidates using a scoring function based on conditional entropy. The second method uses beam search to find a subset of error candidates in which the change of labels leads to decreasing of conditional entropy. We carried out experiments with Vietnamese tree bank corpus at two levels of annotation including word segmentation and part-of-speech tagging. Our experiments showed that these methods detected high-error-density subsets of original error candidate sets. The size of these subsets is only one third the size of whole sets, while these subsets contain 80%-90% of errors in whole sets. Moreover, entropy was significantly reduced after error correction.
Mini-Bond-Backed Securities: A Breakthrough for Italian SMEs?

This article offers an overview on the recent Italian regulation of nongranular securitization. A specific legal framework for mini-bonds enables small enterprises to issue and list bonds at a reduced cost and under an advantageous fiscal regime. It incentivizes securitization by improving investors’ insulation against a number of operational risks. The article provides a technical summary of the Elite Basket Bond, the first securitization of diversified mini-bonds, which has the potential to become a benchmark for other similar transactions in terms of pool, issuer characteristics, and liability structure. Recent innovations represent a pivotal effort to make investments in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) interesting for large funds and institutional players and open interesting prospects for investors. Going forward, mini-bond securitizations may represent a structured way to invest in SMEs, thereby enhancing SME access to finance. The Elite Basket Bond is arguably an instrument that is scalable and might be replicated elsewhere in Europe. TOPICS: Fixed income and structured finance, international investing, risk management, legal/regulatory/public policy
Local delivery of TNF by retrovirus-transduced T lymphocytes exacerbates experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease of the central nervous system that serves as a model for the human disease multiple sclerosis. Paralysis is "induced" by CD4+ T cells of the Th1 phenotype. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a Th1 type cytokine, has been shown to be upregulated in the CNS during the onset of EAE, and systemic manipulations of TNF have had substantial effects on disease progression. However, the precise role of TNF in EAE has been called into question by recent experiments utilizing TNF and lymphotoxin knockout mice. We demonstrate here that the local delivery of TNF by myelin basic protein (MBP)-specific T cells, retrovirally transduced to express TNF, exacerbated MBP-induced disease following adoptive transfer into syngeneic mice.
Comparison of atherogenic risk factors among poorly controlled and well-controlled adolescent phenylketonuria patients

Abstract Background Previous studies investigating the known risk factors of atherosclerosis in phenylketonuria patients have shown conflicting results. The primary aim of our study was to investigate the serum atherogenic markers in adolescent classical phenylketonuria patients and compare these parameters with healthy peers. The secondary aim was to compare these atherogenic markers in well-controlled and poorly controlled patients. Methods A total of 59 patients (median age: 12.6 years, range: 11–17 years) and 44 healthy controls (median age: 12.0 years, range: 11–15 years) were enrolled in our study. Phenylketonuria patients were divided into two groups: well-controlled (serum phenylalanine levels below 360 µmol/L; 24 patients) and poorly controlled patients (serum phenylalanine levels higher than 360 µmol/L). Results The mean high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels of well-controlled patients (1.0±0.2 mmol/L) were significantly lower compared with poorly controlled patients and controls (1.1±0.2 mmol/L, p=0.011 and 1.4±0.2 mmol/L, p<0.001, respectively). Poorly controlled patients had lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels than healthy controls (p=0.003). Homocysteine levels of both well-controlled (9.8±6.4 µmol/L) and poorly controlled (9.2±5.6 µmol/L) patients were higher compared with controls (5.8±1.8 µmol/L, p<0.01). The mean platelet volume of well-controlled patients (9.5±1.1 fL) was higher than that of poorly controlled patients and controls (8.9±0.8 fL, p=0.024 and 7.7±0.6 fL, p<0.001, respectively). Conclusion Lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and higher homocysteine and mean platelet volume levels were detected in phenylketonuria patients. In particular, these changes were more prominent in well-controlled patients. We conclude that phenylketonuria patients might be at risk for atherosclerosis, and therefore screening for atherosclerotic risk factors should be included in the phenylketonuria therapy and follow-up in addition to other parameters.
Neuron densities vary across and within cortical areas in primates

The numbers and proportion of neurons in areas and regions of cortex were determined for a single cortical hemisphere from two prosimian galagos, one New World owl monkey, one Old World macaque monkey, and one baboon. The results suggest that there is a common plan of cortical organization across the species examined here and also differences that suggest greater specializations in the Old World monkeys. In all primates examined, primary visual cortex (V1) was the most neuron-dense cortical area and the secondary visual areas had higher-than-average densities. Primary auditory and somatosensory areas tended to have high densities in the Old World macaque and baboon. Neuronal density varies less across cortical areas in prosimian galagos than in the Old World monkeys. Thus, cortical architecture varies greatly within and across primate species, but cell density is greater in cortex devoted to the early stages of sensory processing.
Eco-labels: A tool for green marketing or just a blind mirror for consumers

Author(s): Sharma, Nagendra Kumar; Kushwaha, Gyaneshwar Singh | Abstract: Studies show that greening the business is not only helpful in getting the green products to the consumers, which may be better for their health and environment, but it also helps the business as a kind of strategy for enjoying a competitive advantage and strengthening brand image. Green marketing practices are now days gaining wide acceptance among various marketing practices. Green marketing is the set of marketing activities which start from the procurement of the product to the delivery of the product to the end user in a greener way. On the other hand, eco-labeling is one of the important tools for the green marketing as it helps to differentiate the green products from non-green products. But it has been seen that many times these eco-labels fail to attain their objectives. The objective of this paper is to establish a relationship of eco-labels with consumer knowledge, information communication, consumer trust and its impact on green purchase intention. Further, all these relationships have been verified with the help of structural equation modeling (SEM), performed by using SmartPLS 3.0. The study reveals that eco-labeling is a significant criterion for consumer trust and green purchase intention via consumer information and knowledge.
Non-cognitive skills and climate change adaptation: empirical evidence from Ghana’s pineapple farmers

ABSTRACT In the context of accelerating climate change, it is important to understand the determinants of farmers’ adaptive capacity. Here, we focus on the role of non-cognitive skills, including perceived self-efficacy, locus of control beliefs, and time preferences. Our sample consists of 398 pineapple farmers in Southern Ghana and we rely on instrumental variables to identify the causal effect. We find that those with higher non-cognitive skills are more likely to respond to the adversities of climate change by adopting a climate smart technology (mulching). When exploring why, we find that they perceive their costs of innovation adoption as lower.
Nuclear Export Signal Consensus Sequences Defined Using a Localization‐Based Yeast Selection System

Proteins bearing nuclear export signals (NESs) are translocated to the cytoplasm from the nucleus mainly through the CRM1‐dependent pathway. However, the NES consensus sequence remains poorly defined, and there are currently no high‐throughput methods for identifying NESs. In this study, we report the development of an efficient yeast selection system for detecting nuclear export activity as well as several reliable NES consensus sequences identified using this method. Our selection system is based on the nuclear export‐dependent rescue of Tys1p, an essential cytoplasmic protein that has been artificially localized to the nucleus in a haploid Δtys1 knockout strain. A screen of a random peptide library revealed 101 distinct CRM1‐dependent NESs, which were classified into six patterns according to the conserved hydrophobic spacing. By combining mutational analyses, we have defined new NES consensus sequences with more specific and redundant residues than the traditional consensus sequence, which are consistent with most experimentally confirmed NESs. These NES consensus sequences should help identify functional NESs, and our selection system can be used to identify other targeting signals or proteins imported to specific subcellular compartments.