Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Aseptic Meningitis Epidemic during a West Nile Virus Avian Epizootic

While enteroviruses have been the most commonly identified cause of aseptic meningitis in the United States, the role of the emerging, neurotropic West Nile virus (WNV) is not clear. In summer 2001, an aseptic meningitis epidemic occurring in an area of a WNV epizootic in Baltimore, Maryland, was investigated to determine the relative contributions of WNV and enteroviruses. A total of 113 aseptic meningitis cases with onsets from June 1 to September 30, 2001, were identified at six hospitals. WNV immunoglobulin M tests were negative for 69 patients with available specimens; however, 43 (61%) of 70 patients tested enterovirus-positive by viral culture or polymerase chain reaction. Most (76%) of the serotyped enteroviruses were echoviruses 13 and 18. Enteroviruses, including previously rarely detected echoviruses, likely caused most aseptic meningitis cases in this epidemic. No WNV meningitis cases were identified. Even in areas of WNV epizootics, enteroviruses continue to be important causative agents of aseptic meningitis.
Modeling by example

In this paper, we investigate a data-driven synthesis approach to constructing 3D geometric surface models. We provide methods with which a user can search a large database of 3D meshes to find parts of interest, cut the desired parts out of the meshes with intelligent scissoring, and composite them together in different ways to form new objects. The main benefit of this approach is that it is both easy to learn and able to produce highly detailed geometric models -- the conceptual design for new models comes from the user, while the geometric details come from examples in the database. The focus of the paper is on the main research issues motivated by the proposed approach: (1) interactive segmentation of 3D surfaces, (2) shape-based search to find 3D models with parts matching a query, and (3) composition of parts to form new models. We provide new research contributions on all three topics and incorporate them into a prototype modeling system. Experience with our prototype system indicates that it allows untrained users to create interesting and detailed 3D models.
Training Aided Frequency Offset Estimation for MIMO OFDM Systems via Polynomial Rooting

In this paper, we investigate training aided frequency offset estimation for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems via polynomial rooting over frequency selective fading channels. By designing the training sequences properly, both integer and fractional carrier frequency offsets (CFO) can be estimated from the polynomials corresponding to the cost function. Moreover, we show through analysis that rooting the cost function is equivalent to rooting the first-order derivative of the cost function in the considered MIMO case. Simulation results verify the good performance of our new CFO estimator and the corresponding analytical results.
BEHAVIORAL AND ELECTROPHYSIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF SEMANTIC PROCESSING IN SKILLED AND LESS-SKILLED COMPREHENDERS

Theorists of reading comprehension failure are split between two groups: those that posit low-level word reading skills and phonological awareness as underlying factors of poor comprehension ability and those that consider poor comprehension as partially independent of these low-level skills. Several studies with children have now demonstrated that poor comprehenders with adequate decoding skills make up a small but significant proportion of poor readers. One promising hypothesis posits that semantic processing deficits underlie these children's comprehension difficulties. This hypothesis was supported by findings that demonstrated less-skilled comprehenders to show poorer than average performance on a variety of semantic tasks. In order to test whether these findings would generalize to adult poor comprehenders, we evaluated the dissociability of high-level and low-level skills in adults. In addition, we evaluated whether adult less-skilled comprehenders (with adequate decoding abilities) have semantic processing difficulties. A PCA compared the reading skills of large group of college aged readers and found that high level skills such as reading comprehension and vocabulary were partly dissociable from low-level reading skills such as decoding ability. Furthermore, in order to evaluate the semantic processing deficit hypothesis, adult skilled and less-skilled comprehenders were compared on several behavioral and electrophysiological tests of semantic and phonological processing. The findings from these studies revealed that less-skilled comprehenders generated fewer semantic associates in a verbal fluency task and showed reduced categorical priming in an automatic semantic priming task. Additionally, electrophysiological records of less-skilled comprehenders differed from skilled readers during a semantic processing task but no during a phonological processing task. Taken together these findings provide evidence that supports semantic knowledge/semantic processing differences between skilled and less-skilled comprehenders. Implications of these findings are discussed within the construct of an experience based model of semantic knowledge acquisition.
Datenalmanach Studierendensurvey 1983 - 2007 : Studiensituation und Studierende an Universitäten und Fachhochschulen

Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Simeaner, H. , Dippelhofer, S. , Bargel, H. , Ramm, M. , & Bargel, T. (2007). Datenalmanach Studierendensurvey 1983-2007: Studiensituation und Studierende an Universitäten und Fachhochschulen (Hefte zur Bildungsund Hochschulforschung, 51). Konstanz: Universität Konstanz, Geisteswissenschaftliche Sektion, FB Geschichte und Soziologie, Arbeitsgruppe Hochschulforschung. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-236497
Fast indoor radio-map building for RSSI-based localization systems

Wireless Indoor localization systems based on RSSI-values typically consist of an offline training phase and online position determination phase. During the offline phase, geo-referenced RSSI measurements, called fingerprints, are recorded to build a radio-map of the building. This radiomap is then searched during the position determination phase to estimate another nodes' location. Usually the radiomap is build manually, either by users pin-pointing their location on a ready-made floorplan or by moving in pre-specified patterns while scanning the network for RSSI values. This cumbersome process leads to inaccuracies in the radiomap. Here, we propose a system to build the floorplan and radio-map simultaneously by employing a handheld laser mapping system in an IEEE802.15. 4-compatible network. This makes indoor- and radio-mapping for wireless localization less cumbersome, faster, more reliable and delivers a new way to evaluate wireless localization systems.
Characterization of Protein Kinase A-mediated Phosphorylation of Ezrin in Gastric Parietal Cell Activation*

Gastric ezrin was initially identified as a phosphoprotein associated with parietal cell activation. To explore the nature of ezrin phosphorylation, proteins from resting and secreting gastric glands were subjected to two-dimensional SDS-PAGE. Histamine triggers acid secretion and a series of acidic isoforms of ezrin on two-dimensional SDS-PAGE. Mass spectrometric analysis of these acidic ezrin spots induced by stimulation suggests that Ser66 is phosphorylated. To determine whether Ser66 is a substrate of protein kinase A (PKA), recombinant proteins of ezrin, both wild type and S66A mutant, were incubated with the catalytic subunit of PKA and [32P]ATP. Incorporation of 32P into wild type but not the mutant ezrin verified that Ser66 is a substrate of PKA. In addition, expression of S66A mutant ezrin in cultured parietal cells attenuates the dilation of apical vacuolar membrane associated with stimulation by histamine, indicating that PKA-mediated phosphorylation of ezrin is necessary for acid secretion. In fact, expression of phosphorylation-like S66D mutant in parietal cells mimics histamine-stimulated apical vacuole remodeling. Further examination of H,K-ATPase distribution revealed a blockade of stimulation-induced proton pump mobilization in S66A but not S66D ezrin-expressing parietal cells. These data suggest that PKA-mediated phosphorylation of ezrin plays an important role in mediating the remodeling of the apical membrane cytoskeleton associated with acid secretion in parietal cells.
The common good in a plural society : Muslims, Christians and the Public Arena in Britain

This thesis develops an idea of how the common good might be pursued in a plural society, beginning from Jonathan Sacks' vision of such a society as a'community of communities'. It does so principally by developing Alasdair Maclnytre's concept of 'tradition'. Chapter 1 begins by assembling conceptual tools for the task, drawing on the work of scholars from a variety of disciplines. These include understandings of morality, plurality, community relations, the common good, the public arena, and modernity. Chapter 2 begins to refine these tools through a case study of The Satanic Verses controversy. The analysis is achieved principally by viewing the controversy in terms of a conflict between two communities of interpretation, a'literary community' and 'the British Muslim community'. While it is recognised that these constructs are over-simplistic, it is argued that the conflict can most fairly be viewed by seeing participants in the controversy as members of communities of interpretation, each with their own history, practices and identities at stake. In the course of the chapter, the 'literary community' is identified as broadly 'liberal' in outlook. Liberalism is then the topic of Chapter 3, in particular recent theoretical formulations of liberalism in the work of Rawls, Kymlicka and Galston, and their application of liberal theory to minority cultures in plural secularised societies. Chapter 4 provides an account of the failure of such liberal approaches according to Maclntyre, developing his concept of tradition as an alternative way to safeguard the integrity of individuals and communities, and to pursue the common good in a plural society. Chapters 5 and 6 seek to understand aspects of British Muslim and Christian communities respectively in the light of this analysis, in particular their inter-relationship with British society, and their contribution to the common good. Chapter 7 then problematises and refines the concept of tradition through an examination of the work of John Milbank, suggesting an understanding of tradition which combines teleological orientation, emphasis on concrete cultural practices and recognition of difference. Finally, Chapter 8 applies this refined concept of tradition to two contested fields; the international debate on Islam and human rights, and multicultural, citizenship and religious education in schools in England and Wales.
Fuzzy based Image Enhancement Method

Though, there has been an enormous research contribution on image de-noising methods which are also called as image enhancement methods that actually enhance the desired information and suppress unwanted portion in a digital image. However, robustness is still a major challenge in this area of digital image processing. The performance has been improved by several research papers using fuzzy approaches. This work proposed a non-linear method for removing impulse noise, that is salt and pepper noise in digital grayscale images. The modified fuzzy based decision algorithm (MFBDA) is used. The noisy pixels are detected and then fuzzy based filtering works to correct the pixel. The proposed method performs better than conventional and other non-linear fuzzy based image enhancement methods. The values of statistical parameters such as PSNR (Peak signal-to-noise ratio), IEF (Image Enhancement factor), IQI (Image quality index) and SSIM (Structural similarity index) were obtained better as compared to conventional fuzzy filters.
Genome-Wide Identification of KANADI1 Target Genes

Plant organ development and polarity establishment is mediated by the action of several transcription factors. Among these, the KANADI (KAN) subclade of the GARP protein family plays important roles in polarity-associated processes during embryo, shoot and root patterning. In this study, we have identified a set of potential direct target genes of KAN1 through a combination of chromatin immunoprecipitation/DNA sequencing (ChIP-Seq) and genome-wide transcriptional profiling using tiling arrays. Target genes are over-represented for genes involved in the regulation of organ development as well as in the response to auxin. KAN1 affects directly the expression of several genes previously shown to be important in the establishment of polarity during lateral organ and vascular tissue development. We also show that KAN1 controls through its target genes auxin effects on organ development at different levels: transport and its regulation, and signaling. In addition, KAN1 regulates genes involved in the response to abscisic acid, jasmonic acid, brassinosteroids, ethylene, cytokinins and gibberellins. The role of KAN1 in organ polarity is antagonized by HD-ZIPIII transcription factors, including REVOLUTA (REV). A comparison of their target genes reveals that the REV/KAN1 module acts in organ patterning through opposite regulation of shared targets. Evidence of mutual repression between closely related family members is also shown.
Attentional Profiles and White Matter Correlates in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Predominantly Inattentive Type

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a widely studied neurodevelopmental disorder. It is a highly heterogeneous condition, encompassing different types of expression. The predominantly inattentive type is the most prevalent and the most stable over the lifetime, yet it is the least-studied presentation. To increase understanding of its cognitive profile, 29 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder of predominantly inattentive type (ADHD-I) and 29 matched controls, aged 7–15 years, had their attentional abilities assessed through the Conners’ continuous performance test. Diffusion tensor imaging data were collected for all of the participants using a 3.0-T MRI system. Fractional anisotropy (FA) values were obtained for 20 fiber tracts, and brain-behavior correlations were calculated for 42 of the children. The ADHD-I children differed significantly from the typically developing (TD) children with respect to attentional measures, such as the ability to maintain response-time consistency throughout the task (Hit RT SE and Variability), vigilance (Hit RT ISI and Hit RT ISI SE), processing speed (Hit RT), selective attention (Omissions), sustained attention (Hit RT Block Change), error profile (Response Style), and inhibitory control (Perseverations). Evidence of significant differences between the ADHD-I and the TD participants was not found with respect to the mean FA values in the fiber tracts analyzed. Moderate and strong correlations between performance on the attention indicators and the tract-average FA values were found for the ADHD-I group. Our results contribute to a better characterization of the attentional profile of ADHD-I individuals and suggest that in children and adolescents with ADHD-I, attentional performance is mainly associated with the white matter structure of the long associative fibers that connect anterior–posterior brain areas.
S32212, a Novel Serotonin Type 2C Receptor Inverse Agonist/α2-Adrenoceptor Antagonist and Potential Antidepressant: I. A Mechanistic Characterization

Although most antidepressants suppress serotonin (5-HT) and/or noradrenaline reuptake, blockade of 5-HT2C receptors and α2-adrenoceptors likewise enhances monoaminergic transmission. These sites are targeted by the urea derivative N- [4-methoxy-3-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)phenyl]-1,2-dihydro-3-H-benzo[e]indole-3-carboxamide (S32212). S32212 was devoid of affinity for monoamine reuptake sites, yet displayed pronounced affinity (pKi, 8.2) for constitutively active human 5-HT2CINI (h5-HT2CINI) receptors, behaving as an inverse agonist in reducing basal Gαq activation, [3H]inositol-phosphate production, and the spontaneous association of h5-HT2CINI-Renilla luciferase receptors with β-arrestin2-yellow fluorescent protein. Furthermore, upon 18-h pretreatment, S32212 enhanced the plasma membrane expression of h5-HT2CINI receptors as visualized by confocal microscopy and quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Its actions were prevented by the neutral antagonist 6-chloro-5-methyl-N-[6-(2-methylpyridin-3-yloxy)pyridin-3-yl]indoline-1-carboxamide (SB242,084), which also impeded the induction by long-term exposure to S32212 of otherwise absent Ca2+ mobilization in mouse cortical neurones. In vivo, S32212 blunted the inhibitory influence of the 5-HT2C agonist 2-(3-chlorobenzyloxy)-6-(1-piperazinyl)pyrazine (CP809,101) on ventrotegmental dopaminergic neurones. S32212 also blocked 5-HT-induced Gαq and phospholipase C activation at the h5-HT2A and, less potently, h5-HT2B receptors and suppressed the discriminative stimulus properties of the 5-HT2A agonist 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane in rats. S32212 manifested marked affinity for human α2A- (pKi 7.2), α2B- (pKi 8.2), and α2C- (pKi 7.4) adrenoceptors, at which it abolished noradrenaline-induced recruitment of Gαi3, Gαo, adenylyl cyclase, and extracellular-regulated kinase1/2. Moreover, S32212 dose-dependently abolished the discriminative stimulus effects of the α2-adrenoceptor agonist (S)-spiro[(1-oxa-2-amino-3-azacyclopent-2-ene)-4,2′-(1′,2′,3′,4′-tetrahydronaphthalene)] (S18616). Finally, S32212 displayed negligible affinity for α1A-adrenoceptors, histamine H1 receptors, and muscarinic M1 receptors. In conclusion, S32212 behaves as an inverse agonist at h5-HT2C receptors and as an antagonist at human α2-adrenoceptors (and h5-HT2A receptors). Its promising profile in preclinical models potentially relevant to the treatment of depression is described in J Pharmacol Exp Ther 340:765–780, 2012.
Method-Sequence Exploration for Automated Unit Testing of Object-Oriented Programs

A unit test for an object-oriented program involves a sequence of method calls, which create, mutate, or observe objects. Some method arguments may have primitive types. Recent advances in symbolic execution enable the effective generation of relevant primitive values, given a fixed sequence of method calls. However, there exists a challenge in test generation: determining a sequence of method calls that may bring an object into a desirable state if the right primitive values are chosen. A desirable state may be a state that causes a particular branch in a particular method to be exercised. Thus, a unit-test generation technique that aims at maximal code coverage (i.e., covering all reachable branches) must involve the selection of relevant method-call sequences. (In that sense, maximal code coverage includes the detection of possible assertion violations.) Existing major techniques for addressing this challenge include bounded-exhaustive testing, random testing, and evolutionary testing; sequence generation in these techniques are often not effective, not sufficiently guided by a test objective such as covering a particular branch or path. In this position paper, we present our recent techniques for method-sequence exploration and our ongoing and future work to address remaining challenges.
Application of genetic algorithm for handwritten Kannada characters

Automation of character recognition system is an open research problem. Many researchers have worked on recognition of printed characters, numerals but a very little amount of work is available on handwritten character recognition. Our work is just a step towards checking the applicability of genetic algorithm for the recognition of handwritten Kannada characters. Unfortunately, results obtained are very poor. First we have used Euclidian distance method as a fitness function for our genetic algorithm. Then we have used Mahalanobis distance method as a fitness function. Results of the two are compared to check their effects on recognition rate of genetic algorithm.
Enlightenment against Empire

In the late eighteenth century, an array of European political thinkers attacked the very foundations of imperialism, arguing passionately that empire-building was not only unworkable, costly, and dangerous, but manifestly unjust. "Enlightenment Against Empire" is the first book devoted to the anti-imperialist political philosophies of an age often regarded as affirming imperial ambitions. Sankar Muthu argues that thinkers such as Denis Diderot, Immanuel Kant, and Johann Gottfried Herder developed an understanding of humans as inherently cultural agents and therefore necessarily diverse. These thinkers rejected the conception of a culture-free "natural man. " They held that moral judgments of superiority or inferiority could be made neither about entire peoples nor about many distinctive cultural institutions and practices.Muthu shows how such arguments enabled the era's anti-imperialists to defend the freedom of non-European peoples to order their own societies. In contrast to those who praise "the Enlightenment" as the triumph of a universal morality and critics who view it as an imperializing ideology that denigrated cultural pluralism, Muthu argues instead that eighteenth-century political thought included multiple Enlightenments. He reveals a distinctive and underappreciated strand of Enlightenment thinking that interweaves commitments to universal moral principles and incommensurable ways of life, and that links the concept of a shared human nature with the idea that humans are fundamentally diverse. Such an intellectual temperament, Muthu contends, can broaden our own perspectives about international justice and the relationship between human unity and diversity.
A new approach for minimum-torque-ripple maximum-efficiency control of BLDC motor

Torque-ripple control of the brushless DC motor has been the main issue of the servo drive systems in which the speed fluctuation, vibration, and acoustic noise should be minimized. Most methods for suppressing the torque ripples require Fourier series analysis and either iterative or least-mean-square minimization. In this paper, a novel approach to achieve ripple-free torque control with maximum efficiency based on the d-q-0 reference frame is presented. The proposed method optimizes the reference phase current waveforms which include the case of three-phase unbalanced conditions. As a result, the proposed approach provides a simple way to obtain optimal motor excitation currents. The validity and practical applications of the proposed control scheme are verified through the simulations and experimental results.
Potential Use of Pharmacological Markers to Quantitatively Assess Liver Function during Liver Transplantation Surgery

Early functioning of the transplanted liver is of crucial importance to the recipient. This function may be assessed by measuring the disposition of substances that are mainly eliminated via the liver. None of the agents currently used is ideal for this purpose. Measurement of mono-ethyleneglycinexylidide (MEGX) formation from lignocaine is useful and has been widely used in liver transplantation to assess liver graft function. MEGX formation can be affected by the use of drugs that influence liver perfusion or interfere with the CYP450 enzyme system. Indocyanine green clearance is a convenient method but both blood flow and hepatocellular function affect the test results. Tests of caffeine clearance, galactose elimination capacity and antipyrine clearance all require time-consuming, technically cumbersome and expensive serial blood sampling. The aminopyrine breath test is non-invasive, but gastric emptying and the patient's physical state affect results. The potential hazard of exposure to radioactive compounds limits the wide clinical use of both aminopyrine and erythromycin breath tests. Monitoring the rate of recovery from neuro-muscular blockade induced by vecuronium and rocuronium can provide valuable information on liver function.