Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new current control strategy for three-phase three wire shunt active power filters

A new current control strategy is proposed for the control of three-phase three-wire shunt active power filters. In this strategy it is sufficient to measure the source voltage and the load currents. Analyses of the balanced nonlinear and unbalanced linear load cases are performed. Simulations are performed for these cases as well as for a nonlinear load drawing quasi-square-wave currents from the mains. Stability analysis is also performed to determine the stability region of the proportional-integral controller gains used in the voltage control loop. Simulation studies show that the proposed strategy is quite effective in eliminating harmonics, compensating for reactive power and also balancing unbalanced loads. It is simpler than most strategies proposed in the literature.
A comparison of methods for detecting leukocyte antibodies in autoimmune neutropenia

A six‐month‐old girl and an 18‐month‐old boy with autoimmune neutropenia due to anti‐NA1 are described. The antibodies were detected by granulocyte microagglutination, and their disappearance in the girl coincided with a return of a normal neutrophil count. The autoantibodies in both patients also reacted in the granulocyte cytotoxicity (GC) assay, and in one patient, in the staphylococcal protein A (SPA) assay. However, neither the GC nor the SPA assays showed the anti‐NA1 specificity found by agglutination, and the presence of GC and SPA antibodies did not coincide with neutropenia. These three leukocyte antibody techniques may detect different antibodies and have different clinical significances. This report provides additional evidence of the existence of autoimmune neutropenia and indicates that the clinical role of neutrophil antibodies detected by different serologic techniques is not yet established. Antibodies detected by granulocyte agglutination were clinically significant in these two patients with autoimmune neutropenia, while the results of testing with GC and SPA were not.
SUPPRESSION OF HEPATIC CYTOCHROME P450-MEDIATED DRUG METABOLISM DURING THE LATE STAGE OF SEPSIS IN RATS

The effects of polymicrobial sepsis on the activity and gene expression of hepatic microsomal cytochrome P450 (CYP) were examined. Rats were subjected to polymicrobial sepsis by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). Liver and blood samples were taken 2, 6, and 24 h after CLP. The serum aminotransferase levels and lipid peroxidation increased 24 h after CLP. The hepatic concentrations of reduced glutathione and total CYP content decreased 24 h after CLP. The CYP1A1 activity and its protein level decreased 24 h after CLP. The CYP1A2 activity decreased 2 h and 24 h after CLP. Although the CYP2B1 mRNA expression level decreased 6 h and 24 h after CLP, the CYP2B1 activity and its protein level did not change in any of the experimental groups. The CYP2E1 activity and its protein level decreased 24 h after CLP. The CYP2E1 mRNA levels were lower at both 6 h and 24 h after CLP. The TNF-α mRNA expression level increased 2, 6, and 24 h after CLP. The iNOS mRNA expression level increased 24 h after CLP. These findings suggest that sepsis causes abnormalities in the microsomal drug-metabolizing function, particularly in the late stage, which is associated with higher level of oxidant stress and lipid peroxidation.
A Novel 2-B Multifunctional Active Frequency Selective Surface for LTE-2.1 GHz

This paper proposes a 2-b multifunctional active frequency selective surface (MAFSS) whose structure is made up of two metallic layers printed on both sides of an F4BME substrate, measuring $320 \times 320 \times 0.8$ mm3. The PIN diodes, embedded on two metallic layers, are controlled through two independent sets of external dc bias network. No additional feeder lines are considered necessary within the MAFSS array, which weakens the bias network’s negative impact on the transmission characteristics of the MAFSS. Using an innovative and effective diode switching technique, two functions (electromagnetic switch and polarization selection) and thus four working states (dual-polarized bandpass for code “00,” dual-polarized shielding for code “11,” TE wave selection for code “10,” and TM wave selection for code “01”) have been realized. The equivalent circuit method and the surface current analysis have been used for a better understanding of the physical principles of the design. A prototype of the proposed structure has been fabricated and measured. The measurements have shown a good agreement between the simulated and the measured results, demonstrating thereby that the proposed structure can give excellent performance. Using the results of extensive numerical and experimental studies, the proposed structure has also been proved to give stable performance, with respect to different incident angles and wave polarizations around LTE-2.1 GHz.
Driving Style Classification Using a Semisupervised Support Vector Machine

Supervised learning approaches are widely used for driving style classification; however, they often require a large amount of labeled training data, which is usually scarce in a real-world setting. Moreover, it is time-consuming to manually label huge amounts of driving data due to uncertainties of driver behavior and variances among the data analysts. To address this problem, a semisupervised approach, a semisupervised support vector machine (S3VM), is employed to classify drivers into aggressive and normal styles based on a few labeled data points. First, a few data clusters are selected and manually labeled using a $ k$ -means clustering method. Then, a specific differentiable surrogate of a loss function is developed, which makes it feasible to use standard optimization tools to solve the nonconvex optimization problem. One of the most popular quasi-Newton algorithms is then used to assign the optimal label to all of the training data. Finally, we compare the S3VM method with a support vector machine method for classifying driving styles from different amounts of labeled data. Experiments show that the S3VM method can improve the classification accuracy by about 10% and reduce the labeling effort by using only a few labeled data clusters among huge amounts of unlabeled data.
A novel NO‐responding regulator controls the reduction of nitric oxide in Ralstonia eutropha

Ralstonia eutropha H16 mediates the reduction of nitric oxide (NO) to nitrous oxide (N2O) with two isofunctional single component membrane‐bound NO reductases (NorB1 and NorB2). This reaction is integrated into the denitrification pathway that involves the successive reduction of nitrate to dinitrogen. The norB1 gene is co‐transcribed with norA1 from a σ54 (RpoN)‐dependent promoter, located upstream of norA1. With the aid of norA1′–lacZ transcriptional fusions and the generation of regulatory mutants, it was shown that norB1 gene transcription requires a functional rpoN gene and the regulator NorR, a novel member of the NtrC family of response regulators. The regulator gene maps adjacent to norAB, is divergently transcribed and present in two copies on the megaplasmid pHG1 (norR1) and the chromosome (norR2). Transcription activation by NorR responds to the availability of NO. A nitrite reductase‐deficient mutant that is incapable of producing NO endogenously, showed a 70% decrease of norA1 expression. Addition of the NO‐donating agent sodium nitroprusside caused induction of norA1′–lacZ transcription. Truncation of the N‐terminal receiver domain of NorR1 interrupted the NO signal transduction and led to a constitutive expression of norA1′–lacZ. The results indicate that NorR controls the reductive conversion of NO in R. eutropha. This reaction is not strictly co‐ordinated on the regulatory level with the other nitrogen oxide‐reducing steps of the denitrification chain that are independent of NorR.
Improving light load efficiency of high frequency DC/DC converters with planar nonlinear inductors

Light load efficiency of high frequency DC/DC converters used in portable electronic devices is very important for extending lifetime of batteries. This paper proposes to use large-range gradually changed nonlinear inductors with adaptive on time control to improve the light load efficiency not only in DCM, but also in CCM. Loss reduction is demonstrated by calculating loss of a conventional converter and a converter with the proposed method. Multi-permeability magnetic cores based on LTCC technology are advanced to realize the nonlinear inductors. An analytic model is set up to show the design of inductor. A two permeability inductor prototype is fabricated. Its inductance is 91nH at full load, 53nH at no load.
Inhibition of bcl-2 and cox-2 Protein Expression after Local Application of a New Carmustine-Loaded Clinoptilolite-Based Delivery System in a Chemically Induced Skin Cancer Model in Mice

Our research has focused on in vitro and in vivo evaluations of a new Carmustine (BCNU)-loaded clinoptilolite-based delivery system. Two clinoptilolite ionic forms—hydrogen form (HCLI) and sodium form (NaCLI)—were prepared, allowing a loading degree of about 5–6 mg BCNU/g of zeolite matrix due to the dual porous feature of clinoptilolite. Clinoptilolite-based delivery systems released 35.23% of the load in 12 h for the BCNU@HCLI system and only 10.82% for the BCNU@NaCLI system. The BCNU@HCLI system was chosen to develop gel and cream semisolid dosage forms. The cream (C_BCNU@HCLI) released 29.6% of the loaded BCNU after 12 h in the Nylon synthetic membrane test and 31.6% in the collagen membrane test, higher by comparison to the gel. The new cream was evaluated in vivo in a chemically induced model of skin cancer in mice. Quantitative immunohistochemistry analysis showed stronger inhibition of B-cell lymphoma-2 (bcl-2) and cyclooxygenase 2 (cox-2) protein expression, known markers for cancer survival and aggressiveness, after the treatment with C_BCNU@HCLI by comparison to all the control treatment types, including an off-label magistral formula commercially available Carmustine cream as reference, bringing evidence that a clinoptilolite-based delivery systems could be used as a cancer drug carriers and controlled release systems (skin-targeted topical delivery systems).
High order cumulants based spectrum sensing and power recognition in hybrid interweave-underlay spectrum access

In this paper, we propose a high order cumulants based spectrum sensing and power recognition (CSR) detector for hybrid interweave-underlay spectrum access, where the primary system is with multiple transmit power levels. Specifically, to detect the idle spectrum when primary user (PU) is absent, high order cumulants based spectrum sensing is performed in interweave model. When PU is detected, the working model is switched to underlay model, where detection of PU's transmit power level is performed to allow secondary user (SU) to adjust its power for fully exploring spectrum access opportunities without harmful interference to PU. Given a certain order and a certain lag, the test statistics of the proposed detector is derived by leveraging general likelihood ratio test. Since cumulants higher than second order are zero for Gaussian distributions, the proposed CSR detector can extract non-Gaussian signal from Gaussian noise even when the noise is colored. Additionally, the proposed detector does not require any prior knowledge about the noise variance, thus it is robust to noise uncertainty. Closedform results for threshold expression are derived, and numerical results are provided to evaluate the proposed detector.
Direct sequencing of the HA gene of influenza (H3N2) virus in original clinical samples reveals sequence identity with mammalian cell-grown virus

When influenza (H3N2) viruses from infected individuals are grown in embryonated chicken eggs, viruses are isolated which differ antigenically and structurally from viruses grown in mammalian Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cell culture [G.C. Schild, J.S. Oxford, J.C. de Jong, and R.G. Webster, Nature (London) 303:706-709, 1983]. To determine which of these viruses is most representative of virus replicating in the infected individual, a region of the HA gene of virus present in original clinical samples was amplified by using the polymerase chain reaction and sequenced directly. Comparison of 170 amino acid residues of HA1 flanking and containing the receptor-binding site and antigenic sites indicated that over this region, the HA of virus replicating in the infected individual was identical to that of virus after growth in MDCK cells and was distinct from the HA of viruses grown in eggs. Therefore, cultivation of human influenza H3N2 virus in mammalian MDCK cells results in a virus similar to the predominant population of virus found in the infected individual.
Dynamic Peak-Based Threshold Estimation Method for Mitigating Impulsive Noise in Power-Line Communication Systems

Impulsive noise (IN) is one of the most dominant factors responsible for degrading the performance of power-line communication systems. One of the common techniques for mitigating IN is blanking which is applied at the front end of the receiver to zero the incoming signal when it exceeds a certain threshold. Determining the optimal blanking threshold (OBT) is, however, key for achieving the best performance. Most reported work to find the OBT is based on the availability of the long-term characteristics of IN at the receiver. In this paper, we consider orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)-based power-line communications and propose a method for finding the OBT without requiring any knowledge about the IN. We show that there is a direct relationship between the OBT and the peak-to-average power value of the OFDM symbol and utilize it to identify the OBT. The results reveal that the proposed technique not only eliminates the need to prior knowledge about the characteristics of IN but also achieves a gain between 0.5-2.5 dB depending on the accuracy of the signal peak-to-average estimate. It will also be shown how the performance of the proposed method can be further enhanced by employing some basic signal per processing at the transmitter.
Radioassay Determination of Insulin Autoantibodies in NOD Mice: Correlation With Increased Risk of Progression to Overt Diabetes

In an initial cross-sectional study, 29 female and 25 male nondiabetic weaned nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice of various ages (age range 30–300 days, mean 108 ± 10 days) and 11 unweaned NOD pups were evaluated for competitive insulin autoantibodies (CIAAs) with a fluid-phase radioassay. Eleven of 54 (20%) weaned NOD mice had CIAA levels above the range (>39 nU/ml) of 81 control mice. The group of NOD mice that progressed to diabetes had a significantly higher level of CIAAs than NOD mice that did not progress to diabetes (NOD mice progressing to diabetes: CIAA 63 ± 12 nU/ml; NOD mice not progressing to diabetes: CIAA 8 ± 4 nU/ml; P < .02). Seven of 11 (64%) NOD mice having CIAA concentrations exceeding the normal range progressed to diabetes, whereas only 4 of 43 (9%) NOD mice progressed to diabetes without detection of elevated CIAAs (Fisher's exact test, P < .0005). The relative risk of progressing to overt diabetes with CIAA levels >39 nU/ml was therefore 17 (P < .005), giving a positive predictive value of 64%, a negative predictive value of 91%, and an overall accuracy of 85%. None of 11 unweaned NOD pups had CIAA levels above the normal range (mean −9.4 ± 4.9 nU/ml). At 6 wk of age, 37% of female NOD mice were CIAA+, whereas none of the male animals exceeded the normal range at this age (38 ± 13 vs. 5 ± 6 nU/ml, P < .05). Results of testing two samples during the follow-up of NOD mice indicated that individual NOD mice positive or negative for CIAAs generally remain positive or negative, and CIAA concentrations often increased in initially positive animals. Fourteen NOD mice were included in a prospective study, and CIAAs were evaluated at 9-wk intervals over a follow-up of 8 mo. Four of these NOD mice had elevated CIAA levels, and 3 of 4 CIAA+ mice developed overt diabetes, whereas none of the NOD mice with CIAAs <39 nU/ml developed diabetes. These results were consistent with the results of our cross-sectional study. From these data, we concluded that 1) NOD mice express CIAAs to insulin before progressing to overt diabetes, 2) these antibodies appear after weaning, and 3) CIAA analysis can identify animals with increased or decreased risk of progressing to overt diabetes.
Phospholipase D in the human ocular surface and in pterygium.

PURPOSE Pterygium is a fibro-vascular disease of unknown etiology characterized by proliferation and advancement of tissue onto the cornea. Phospholipase Ds (PLDs) are members of an important class of enzymes involved in inflammation and differentiation. In cultured corneal epithelial cells, these enzymes play a role in wound healing, and in other contexts, they suppress apoptosis and increase cell motility. We aimed to study the presence of PLD subtypes in native ocular surface tissue and pterygium. METHODS This study involved paired control or uninvolved conjunctival and pterygium tissues from 6 patients. Reverse transcription semiquantitative and quantitative polymerase chain reactions were performed to assess transcript levels for PLD1-5 in normal conjunctiva and pterygium tissue. Immunofluorescent staining by using antibodies against PLD1/2 was used to study the expression and tissue distribution. Western blots were performed for protein detection and to confirm the specificity of the antibodies used. RESULTS PLD1, 2, 3, and 4 transcripts were detected in normal conjunctiva tissue, and types 2, 3, and 4 were upregulated in pterygium. Immunofluorescent staining showed the presence of phospholipase-D1/2 in normal cornea, conjunctival, and pterygial epithelia. In normal cornea and conjunctival epithelia, the expression was mainly localized to the nuclei of the basal and suprabasal epithelial cells, whereas in pterygium, this expression was limited to the cytoplasm and peri-plasma membrane regions. Western blot confirmed the presence of PLD1/2 in proteins extracted from pterygium and conjunctiva tissue. CONCLUSIONS PLD subtypes are present in human ocular surface epithelium. PLD may be involved in pterygium pathogenesis.
Improved in vitro development of cloned bovine embryos using S‐adenosylhomocysteine, a non‐toxic epigenetic modifying reagent

In this study, fibroblast cells were stably transfected with mouse POU5F1 promoter‐driven enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) to investigate the effect of S‐adenosylhomocysteine (SAH), the reversible non‐toxic inhibitor of DNA‐methyltransferases (DNMTs), at different intervals post‐fusion on in vitro development of cloned bovine embryos. Treatment with SAH for 12 hr resulted in 54.6 ± 7.7% blastocyst production, which was significantly greater than in vitro fertilized embryos (IVF: 37.2 ± 2.7%), cloned embryos treated with SAH for 72 hr (31.0 ± 7.6%), and control cloned embryos (34.6 ± 3.6%). The fluorescence intensities of the EGFP‐POU5F1 reporter gene at all intervals of SAH treatment, except of 72 hr, were significantly higher than control somatic cell nuclear transfers (SCNT) embryos. The intensity of DNA‐methylation in cloned embryos treated with SAH for 48 hr was similar to that of IVF embryos, and was significantly lower than the other SCNT groups. The levels of H3K9 acetylation in all SCNT groups were significantly lower than IVF embryos. Real‐time PCR analysis of gene expression revealed significantly higher expression of POU5F1 in cloned versus IVF blastocysts. Neither embryo production method (SCNT vs. IVF) nor the SAH treatment interval affected expression of the BCL2 gene. Cloned embryos at all intervals of SAH treatment, except for 24 hr, had significantly increased VEGF transcript compared to IVF and control SCNT embryos. It was suggested that the time interval of DNMT inhibition may have important consequences on different in vitro features of bovine SCNT, and the improving effects of DNMT inhibition on developmental competency of cloned embryos are restricted to a specific period of time preceding de novo methylation. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 78:576–584, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Identification of PB2 Mutations Responsible for the Efficient Replication of H5N1 Influenza Viruses in Human Lung Epithelial Cells

ABSTRACT Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses have caused outbreaks among poultry worldwide, resulting in sporadic infections in humans with approximately 60% mortality. However, efficient transmission of H5N1 viruses among humans has yet to occur, suggesting that further adaptation of H5N1 viruses to humans is required for their efficient transmission among humans. The viral determinants for efficient replication in humans are currently poorly understood. Here, we report that the polymerase PB2 protein of an H5N1 influenza virus isolated from a human in Vietnam (A/Vietnam/UT36285/2010, virus 36285) increased the growth ability of an avian H5N1 virus (A/wild bird/Anhui/82/2005, virus Wb/AH82) in human lung epithelial A549 cells (however, the reassortant virus did not replicate more efficiently than human 36285 virus). Furthermore, we demonstrate that the amino acid residues at positions 249, 309, and 339 of the PB2 protein from this human isolate were responsible for its efficient replication in A549 cells. PB2 residues 249G and 339M, which are found in the human H5N1 virus, are rare in H5N1 viruses from both human and avian sources. Interestingly, PB2-249G is found in over 30% of human seasonal H3N2 viruses, which suggests that H5N1 viruses may replicate well in human cells when they acquire this mutation. Our data are of value to H5N1 virus surveillance. IMPORTANCE Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses must acquire mutations to overcome the species barrier between avian species and humans. When H5N1 viruses replicate in human respiratory cells, they can acquire amino acid mutations that allow them to adapt to humans through continuous selective pressure. Several amino acid mutations have been shown to be advantageous for virus adaptation to mammalian hosts. Here, we found that amino acid changes at positions 249, 309, and 339 of PB2 contribute to efficient replication of avian H5N1 viruses in human lung cells. These findings are beneficial for evaluating the pandemic risk of circulating avian viruses and for further functional analysis of PB2.
Potentiation of ‘on’ bipolar cell flash responses by dim background light and cGMP in dogfish retinal slices

The high sensitivity of the vertebrate visual system results from amplification inherent in phototransduction in rods and from the amplification of rod signals on their synaptic transfer at the first synapse with ‘on’ bipolar cells. These cells possess a metabotropic glutamate receptor linked via a cGMP cascade to the control of cGMP‐activated channels. In the study presented here, we show that very dim background light, isomerising only one rhodopsin in 1 out of 10 rods per second, potentiates ‘on’ bipolar cell responses to superimposed flashes. Responses to dim flashes, which were undetectable above the noise in the dark, were boosted above the increased noise level induced by the background. This potentiation could be reproduced by elevating cGMP, which increases with light, or by dialysing the cells with a non‐hydrolysable cGMP analogue. Inhibition of tyrosine kinase activity also reproduced the effect and induced a speeding up of the rising phase of the flash response, similar to the action of dim background light. Conversely, inhibition of tyrosine phosphatase activity blocked the potentiation. These results suggest that cGMP promotes tyrosine‐site dephosphorylation of ‘on’ bipolar cell cGMP‐activated channels, resulting in a rise in the sensitivity to cGMP, as has recently been demonstrated for rod cGMP‐activated channels. This constitutes a positive feedback mechanism such that as cGMP increases with light, the sensitivity of the channels to cGMP increases and boosts the signal above background noise. This mechanism would allow stochastic resonance to occur, facilitating single‐photon detection when dark‐adapted, and may therefore lead to improved discrimination.