Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effect of Solvent Annealing in the Presence of Electric Field on P3HT:PCBM Films Used in Organic Solar Cells

The performance of poly-3-hexyl thiophene (P3HT) blended with (6,6) phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM)-based bulk heterojunction solar cells is known to improve with thermal annealing of the P3HT:PCBM device active layer during its formation by the solvent-drying step. In this paper, we have proposed carrying out the annealing for solvent drying in the presence of a constant electric field across active layer film solution. Comparative studies of film morphology and electrooptical properties of the film and devices have been presented to understand the effect of the electric field during the solvent annealing of the device active layer. The external quantum efficiency and power conversion efficiency of the solar cells made is found to be significantly enhanced in devices that were subject to an electric field during the solvent-annealing steps.
The Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis specific mptD gene is required for maintenance of the metabolic homeostasis necessary for full virulence in mouse infections

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) causes Johne's disease, a chronic granulomatous enteritis in ruminants. Furthermore, infections of humans with MAP have been reported and a possible association with Crohn's disease and diabetes type I is currently discussed. MAP owns large sequence polymorphisms (LSPs) that were exclusively found in this mycobacteria species. The relevance of these LSPs in the pathobiology of MAP is still unclear. The mptD gene (MAP3733c) of MAP belongs to a small group of functionally uncharacterized genes, which are not present in any other sequenced mycobacteria species. mptD is part of a predicted operon (mptABCDEF), encoding a putative ATP binding cassette-transporter, located on the MAP-specific LSP14. In the present study, we generated an mptD knockout strain (MAPΔmptD) by specialized transduction. In order to investigate the potential role of mptD in the host, we performed infection experiments with macrophages. By this, we observed a significantly reduced cell number of MAPΔmptD early after infection, indicating that the mutant was hampered with respect to adaptation to the early macrophage environment. This important role of mptD was supported in mouse infection experiments where MAPΔmptD was significantly attenuated after peritoneal challenge. Metabolic profiling was performed to determine the cause for the reduced virulence and identified profound metabolic disorders especially in the lipid metabolism of MAPΔmptD. Overall our data revealed the mptD gene to be an important factor for the metabolic adaptation of MAP required for persistence in the host.
Automatic generation of medical recommendations using topic maps as knowledge source

In this paper is presented a method for automated generation of medical recommendations, using the combined power of the topic maps and expert systems. To obtain new knowledge from topic maps and to integrate this knowledge with a medical decision making systems, keywords for interrogation are needed. The keywords will be extracted from various sources of medical decision making systems: patient data documents, rules documents or even recommendations.
Winners don't take all: Characterizing the competition for links on the web

As a whole, the World Wide Web displays a striking “rich get richer” behavior, with a relatively small number of sites receiving a disproportionately large share of hyperlink references and traffic. However, hidden in this skewed global distribution, we discover a qualitatively different and considerably less biased link distribution among subcategories of pages—for example, among all university homepages or all newspaper homepages. Although the connectivity distribution over the entire web is close to a pure power law, we find that the distribution within specific categories is typically unimodal on a log scale, with the location of the mode, and thus the extent of the rich get richer phenomenon, varying across different categories. Similar distributions occur in many other naturally occurring networks, including research paper citations, movie actor collaborations, and United States power grid connections. A simple generative model, incorporating a mixture of preferential and uniform attachment, quantifies the degree to which the rich nodes grow richer, and how new (and poorly connected) nodes can compete. The model accurately accounts for the true connectivity distributions of category-specific web pages, the web as a whole, and other social networks.
Statistical Shape Models for Object Recognition and Part Localization

This paper deals with part-based object recognition. We present a statistical shape model that characterizes both variations intrinsic to an object class and perturbations unique to each observation. Object parts, constrained by the learned shape model, are efficiently localized using the max-product algorithm on a triangulated Markov random field (TMRF). As a combination of both techniques, our system is able to recognize objects with large deformations and locate their parts accurately. We test our method on standard databases. The recognition performance is compared to the state of the art and favorable results are reported.
Multi-stream multiplexing for MIMO two-way mesh networks

In this paper, mutli-stream multiplexing for MIMO two-way mesh network is considered. In MIMO two-way mesh network, co-channel interference cancellation and efficient bi-directional transmission can be realized. In this paper, an enhanced MIMO two-way mesh network that introduce multi-stream multiplexing at each link is proposed. It is confirmed from numerical analysis that the enhanced MIMO two-way mesh network supplies higher capacity and reliability than that of conventional schemes.
Geographic Concentration and Spatial Inequality: Two Decades of EPO Patenting at the Level of European Micro Regions

This paper contributes with empirical findings to the research on structural inequality and geographic concentration of European inventorship activity at the level of European micro regions. We analyze the spatial structure and dynamics of 43 technology fields (ISI-SPRU-OST concordance) and 6 high-technology fields based on data on EPO patent applications and EPO inventors for the reference period 1977-2004. Based upon OECD RegPAT database (January 2009), we extract EPO patent applications (fractional counting) and inventor IDs (full counting), which are spatially linked to 819 European micro regions (OECD TL3), covering the EU-25, Switzerland and Norway. Besides standard descriptives, we compute Herfindahl-Hirschman indices, location quotients and weighted locational and spatial GINI coefficients. We confirm the hypotheses that (i) the technology fields under analysis differ in their overall size with respect to the stock of EPO patent applications and inventors; (ii) the share of regions with LQ > 1 has decreased compared to the share of regions with at least a single patent application; (iii) the sample of European regions is characterized by highly concentrated and unequally distributed technology fields; (iv) spatial inequality of EPO patenting and inventor location has decreased significantly within the last two decades for most technology fields. In this respect, our quantitative approach clearly depicts dispersion tendencies and decreasing inequality, although structural dynamics differ between technology fields.
Implication of technology on society in Asia: Automated detection of Cervical Cancer

Technology has been a driving force in changing the society of the developing Nations in Asia. Technology in healthcare is one of those various applications areas. Women in remote areas of developing nations are subject to lack of adequate healthcare facilities and specialist doctors. One of the commonest forms of cancer in women worldwide is Uterine Cervical Cancer. Most cases of cervical cancer can be prevented through screening programs aimed at detecting precancerous lesions. Due to lack of the gyneco-oncologists in those resource less regions, the women are not treated early which often leads to Cervical Interepithelial Neoplasia(CIN) or cancerous lesions and proves fatal. In this paper, we have proposed an automated system to detect the cervical lesions which may be used by trained health workers to these affected people in remote locations. On detection of the lesions by our system, the affected patients may be called to the cities for further treatment by the specialist doctors. Now, a National Program has been started in most of the Asian countries to overcome this menace.
In-network caching effect on optimal energy consumption in content-centric networking

In content-centric networking (CCN), the in-network caching feature provides several attractive advantages such as low dissemination latency and network transport load reduction. Thus, CCN requires less transport energy but additional energy to provide a caching capability at every content router. In this paper, we investigate the minimum energy consumption that CCN can achieve with optimal cache locations by considering different caching hardware technologies, number of downloads per hour, and content popularity. We first set up an energy consumption model for CCN and then formulate linear and nonlinear programming problems to minimize total energy consumption of CCN. Also, a genetic algorithm (GA) approach is proposed to find energy-efficient cache locations. Using reported energy efficiency of computational hardware and network equipment, we show CCN yield greater energy savings for very popular content and small-sized catalog, compared to conventional CDN. Our results also indicate that two aspects of the memory technology, energy-proportional caching and sufficient memory capacity, are critical to the overall energy efficiency gain of CCN.
Face Recognition by Face Bunch Graph Method

Face Bunch Graph method method uses a simple comparison function both for the localization and the recognition of faces. The input data for the two processes are so-called Jets, which represent image properties in the neighbourhood of a face bunch graph (FBG) node. The algorithm described below was chosen for implementation because of its very good results and because of the application of the same representation for both searching for and comparing images. Key-Words: Face Bunch Graph, recognition, Jets, algorithm, Gabor wavelet, similarity function
A comparison of three methods for classifying fuel loads in the Southern Appalachian Mountains

As the wildland-urban interface in the Southern Appalachian Mountains has grown and become more complex, land managers, property owners, and ecologists have found it increasingly necessary to understand factors that drive fuel loading. Few predictive fuel loading models have been created for this important region. Three approaches to estimating fuel loads are compared here. Community type, landscape position, and disturbance may all affect fuel loading, but no prior studies have compared them as predictors of fuel loading. The Landscape Ecosystem Classification system uses information about landform, vegetation, and soils to identify distinct forest community types. Slope position and aspect also contribute to the effects of topography on forest community types. Finally, disturbance type is discussed in the context of its contribution to fuel accumulation. Using discriminant analysis, we found significant differences in resubstitution success rates among the methods. However, the vectors of discriminating fuel variables for these methods are similar, indicating the importance of ericaceous fuels in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Unmet quality indicators for metastatic cancer patients admitted to intensive care unit in the last two weeks of life.

BACKGROUND The majority of U.S. cancer patients express the desire to die at home, though most do not, and are often subjected to ineffective therapies near the end of life (EOL). In 2008 the U.K. Department of Health and National Health Care Service implemented a set of 10 quality markers to improve EOL care (EOLC) for seriously ill persons. Data show that this intervention has had a positive impact on patients' EOLC. PURPOSE The study assessed the quality of EOLC received by terminally ill cancer patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in the last two weeks of life. DESIGN A retrospective chart review was done of the electronic medical record (EMR) of 2498 patients admitted to the ICU from January to August 2011. The six U.K. quality indicators pertaining to patients were used to assess quality of EOLC. SETTING The setting was a tertiary academic medical center with 663 beds and 66 adult ICU beds in northern California. PATIENTS EMR analysis identified 2498 patients admitted to the ICU during the study period--232 died within two weeks of admission. Sixty-nine decedents had metastatic cancer. Of the patients, 58% were male, average age 59.8 years (range 25-91). RESULTS Quality indicators were met in a relatively small percentage of patients admitted to the ICU in the last two weeks of life: prognostication 67%, advance care planning 32%, goals of care 42%, caregiver needs 0%, coordination of care across organizational boundaries 7%, and standardized care pathway implementation 58%. Palliative care consultations occurred in 28 patients. CONCLUSIONS Quality indicators for EOLC were unmet in cancer patients admitted to the ICU in the last two weeks of life. Hospital-wide provider education about the need for early advance care planning with all seriously ill patients has been implemented in an effort to improve quality of care at EOL.
Reducing aliasing artifacts through resampling

Post-processing antialiasing methods are well suited for deferred shading because they decouple antialiasing from the rest of graphics pipeline. In morphological methods, the final image is filtered with a data-dependent filter. The filter coefficients are computed by analyzing the non-local neighborhood of each pixel. Though very simple and efficient, such methods have intrinsic quality limitations due to spatial undersampling and temporal aliasing. We explore an alternative formulation in which filter coefficients are computed locally for each pixel by supersampling geometry, while shading is still done only once per pixel. During pre-processing, each geometric subsample is converted to a single bit indicating whether the subsample is different from the central one. The ensuing binary mask is then used in the post-processing step to retrieve filter coefficients, which were precomputed for all possible masks. For a typical 8 subsamples, it results in a sub-millisecond performance, while improving the image quality by about 10 dB. To compare subsamples, we use a novel symmetric angular measure, which has a simple geometric interpretation. We propose to use this measure in a variety of applications that assess the difference between geometric samples (rendering, mesh simplification, geometry encoding, adaptive tessellation).
Hypercholesterolemia Blunts Forearm Vasorelaxation and Enhances the Pressor Response During Acute Systemic Hypoxia

Objective—During hypoxia, active substances released by the endothelium play a key role in the cardiovascular and respiratory responses elicited to optimize oxygen delivery. As hypercholesterolemia is a major cause of endothelial dysfunction, it may interfere with these responses. Methods and Results—We studied cardiovascular and ventilatory responses to acute systemic hypoxia in 14 patients with hypercholesterolemia (HC) and 13 control (CO) subjects. Oxygen saturation decreased similarly in both groups. Diastolic blood pressure increased only in the HC group (P =0.0002) and, despite systolic blood pressure increases both in the HC group, 140±4 (95% confidence interval [CI],131 to 149 mm Hg) to 154±4 mm Hg (95% CI,145 to 164 mm Hg), and in the CO group, 133±3 (95% CI,126 to 140 mm Hg) to 140±4 mm Hg (95% CI,132 to 148 mm Hg), the HC group showed an enhanced pressor response (P =0.03, group comparison). Both groups had increased forearm blood flow, but the decrease in forearm vascular resistance in the CO group, 40±5 (95% CI, 30 to 51 UR) to 31±4 UR (95% CI,23 to 39 UR) (P =0.0001) was not seen in the HC group, 29±3 (95% CI, 22 to 37 UR) to 26±3 UR (95% CI, 20 to 33 UR), (P =0.03, group comparison). Conclusions—Hypercholesterolemic patients demonstrate a hyperreactive pressor response and absence of forearm vasodilation during acute systemic hypoxia.
Bit-interleaved coded modulations for multiple-input multiple-output channels

We describe a soft feedback iterative decoding technique for bit-interleaved coded modulations (BICM) where the modulator uses multiple transmitting antennas and the receiver employs space-time coherent detection with multiple antennas. We investigate the bit error rate and frame error rate performance of this technique applied to two families of error-control codes: simple nonrecursive binary convolutional codes and parallel turbo codes based on two recursive constituents. Two different types of fading channels are considered: independent flat Rayleigh and block fading channels. A 64-state rate 1/2 binary convolutional code performs at 1.5 dB from the outage capacity with perfect channel state information and at 3 dB with expectation-maximization estimation on the block fading channel.
A two‐dimensional modeling study of the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo

The formation and temporal evolution of the sulphate aerosol cloud generated by the volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991 is simulated using a two-dimensional sulphate aerosol model. Results are compared to time series of SO2 and aerosol data (aerosol mass, optical depth, and surface area density). The modeled SO2 decay appears to be broadly consistent with observations. The absence of homogeneous nucleation in the model seems to lead to significant discrepancies in the timing of the peak in aerosol loading and the magnitude of the surface area density. This suggests that homogeneous nucleation plays an important role during the early stages of a volcanic eruption in determining the average size of volcanic sulphate particles and hence their residence time in the atmosphere. By including the heterogeneous hydrolysis of N2O5 to HNO3, the model predicts subtantial decreases in NO2 column, enhancements in ClO column and a small reduction in global O3. The modeled aerosol layer is still far from having recovered its background level 2 years after the eruption.
Strategy sort of died around april last year for a lot of us - CIO perceptions on ICT value and strategy in the UK financial sector

The role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) is one of facilitating executive decisions regarding the innovations, provision and use of state-of-the-art Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The aim of this paper is to investigate CIO perceptions of strategy and ICT investment through qualitative interviews with CIOs from leading UK financial sector organizations. We were keen to find out how these executives strategise wile coping with the increasing ubiquity and complexity of ICT on one hand and hyper business pressures on the other. As the title suggests, we found that recent changes in the market conditions, as well as in the trust bestowed technology as an agent for radical change, have had serious consequences for the perceptions of risk, strategy and ICT investment. CIOs expressed the dot-com boom to bust transition in terms of a shift from a higher-risk, top-down technology led strategy centred on killer applications towards a lower-risk, bottom-up, organic approach to strategy with the purpose of providing open, user driven enabling infrastructures for competitive advantage. We also note the implications of these trends for the value assessment activity and the enhanced value skill base which information age professionals would increasingly need.
Predictive head movement tracking using a Kalman filter

The use of head movements in control applications leaves the hands free for other tasks and utilizes the mobility of the head to acquire and track targets over a wide field of view. We present the results of applying a Kalman filter to generate prediction estimates for tracking head positions. A simple kinematics approach based on the assumption of a piecewise constant acceleration process is suggested and is shown to track head positions with an rms error under 2 degrees for head movements with accelerations smaller than 3000 degrees /s. To account for the wide range of head dynamic characteristics, an adaptive approach with input estimation is developed. The performance of the Kalman filter is compared to that based on a simple polynomial predictor.
Bovine tuberculosis in domestic and wild mammals in an area of Dorset. II. The badger population, its ecology and tuberculosis status

SUMMARY Following a major outbreak of tuberculosis in cattle on a farm in Dorset, badgers were discovered to be infected with Mycobacterium bovis. Two hundred and forty sets were found in the 1200 hectares of the study area. The sets were found predominantly in areas of Portland Sand. A high prevalence of tuberculosis was found in the badger population which was removed and repopulation prevented for 3 years. The removal of the infected badgers led to the resolution of the problem in cattle. Re-colonization of the area has progressed slowly and the cattle have remained free from infection for a period of 5 years.
Expression levels of parvalbumins determine allergenicity of fish species

To cite this article: Griesmeier U, Vázquez‐Cortés S, Bublin M, Radauer C, Ma Y, Briza P, Fernández‐Rivas M, Breiteneder H. Expression levels of parvalbumins determine allergenicity of fish species. Allergy 2010; 65: 191–198.
Layered Interpretation of Street View Images

We propose a layered street view model to encode both depth and semantic information on street view images for autonomous driving. Recently, stixels, stix-mantics, and tiered scene labeling methods have been proposed to model street view images. We propose a 4-layer street view model, a compact representation over the recently proposed stix-mantics model. Our layers encode semantic classes like ground, pedestrians, vehicles, buildings, and sky in addition to the depths. The only input to our algorithm is a pair of stereo images. We use a deep neural network to extract the appearance features for semantic classes. We use a simple and an efficient inference algorithm to jointly estimate both semantic classes and layered depth values. Our method outperforms other competing approaches in Daimler urban scene segmentation dataset. Our algorithm is massively parallelizable, allowing a GPU implementation with a processing speed about 9 fps.
Synthesis of earthquake‐generated T‐waves

T‐phases excited by earthquakes propagate with low transmission loss along the ocean sound channel, and are characterized by long duration wavetrains, often having multiple peaks associated with bathymetric highs in the source region. Although T‐waves were first identified almost fifty years ago, their activation has not been adequately explained. In this paper we show that, for continental margin earthquakes, realistic T‐phase coda can be computed by expressing the acoustic energy in terms of several low order modes excited by point sources distributed uniformly over the seafloor. The conversion of seismic energy to acoustic energy is thus consistent with seafloor scattering.