Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Disturbance Observer Based Control of Multirotor Helicopters Based on a Universal Model with Unstructured Uncertainties

To handle different perspectives of unstructured uncertainties, two robust control techniques on the basis of a universal model are studied in this paper. Rather than building a model only applicable to a specific small-scale multirotor helicopter (MHeli), the paper proposes a modeling technique to develop a universal model-framework. Particularly, it is straightforward to apply the universal model to a certain MHeli because the contribution and allocation matrix is proposed in the model-framework. Based on the model uncertainties, the load perturbation of the rotor is the primary focus due to its indispensable importance in the tracking performance. In contrast to the common methods, it is proposed to take this unstructured uncertainty in that external disturbance and designs disturbance observer (DOB). In addition, a class of lead-compensator is specifically designed as for compensating phase lag induced by DOB. Compared with H∞ loop-shaping, greater robust tracking performance on rejecting load perturbation could be achieved as a tradeoff between robust stability and tracking performance which is successfully avoided with DOB-based control strategy.
Determinants of the ZAR/USD exchange rate and policy implications: A simultaneous-equation model

Abstract This paper examines the determinants of the South African rand/US dollar (ZAR/USD) exchange rate based on demand and supply analysis. Applying the EGARCH method, the paper finds that the ZAR/USD exchange rate is positively associated with the South African government bond yield, US real GDP, the US stock price and the South African inflation rate and negatively influenced by the 10-year US government bond yield, South African real GDP, the South African stock price, and the US inflation rate. The adoption of a free floating exchange rate regime has reduced the value of the rand vs. the US dollar.
Preventing Unintended Pregnancies and Improving Contraceptive Use Among Young Adult Women in a Rural, Midwestern State: Health Promotion Implications

Despite high rates of unintended pregnancy among women aged 18 to 30 years, little research has been conducted to understand the factors associated with their contraceptive use. Eighteen focus groups were conducted with young adult women (N = 106) who were mostly white, non-Hispanic. Results suggested that contraceptive use was negatively affected by low contraceptive knowledge; use of alcohol; a lack of planning for sex; a misperception of the likelihood of pregnancy; forgetting to use contraceptives; and concerns about side effects, cost, and confidentiality. Women liked the peace of mind that using contraceptives gave them and the benefits of regular periods from some hormonal methods. Implications for reducing unintended pregnancies through interventions are offered.
Sna3 Is an Rsp5 Adaptor Protein that Relies on Ubiquitination for Its MVB Sorting

The process in which ubiquitin (Ub) conjugation is required for trafficking of integral membrane proteins into multivesicular bodies (MVBs) and eventual degradation in the lumen of lysosomes/vacuoles is well defined. However, Ub‐independent pathways into MVBs are less understood. To better understand this process, we have further characterized the membrane protein Sna3, the prototypical Ub‐independent cargo protein sorted through the MVB pathway in yeast. We show that Sna3 trafficking to the vacuole is critically dependent on Rsp5 ligase activity and ubiquitination. We find Sna3 undergoes Ub‐dependent MVB sorting by either becoming ubiquitinated itself or associating with other ubiquitinated membrane protein substrates. In addition, our functional studies support a role for Sna3 as an adaptor protein that recruits Rsp5 to cargo such as the methionine transporter Mup1, resulting in efficient Mup1 delivery to the vacuole.
The multi-valuation Agreement Hierarchy

This paper investigates multi-valuation, i.e. cases where one probe agrees with multiple goals thus obtaining multiple feature values. Focusing on number agreement, I look at the cross-linguistic patterns on multi-valued Ns in the nominal Right Node Raising construction (Nominal RNR) reported in Belyaev et al. (2015); Harizanov & Gribanova (2015); Shen (2016) as well as multi-valued Ts in TP RNR construction reported in Yatabe (2003); Grosz (2009; 2015); Kluck (2009). I show that three types of languages are attested: languages like Serbo-Croatian that show singular marking on both multi-valued Ns and Ts, languages like Russian that show plural marking on both multi-valued Ns and Ts, and languages like English that show singular marking on multi-valued Ns and plural marking on multi-valued Ts. No language is attested that shows plural marking on multi-valued Ns and singular marking on multi-valued Ts. I use this 3/4 pattern to argue that multi-valuation shows the effect of the Agreement Hierarchy discussed by Corbett (1979; 2006) among others.
Forced pulsatile flow to provoke chaotic advection in wavy walled microchannel heat sinks

Through a series of numerical simulations, thermo fluid performance of wavy walled microchannels under steady and pulsatile flow regimes are examined and the phenomenon observed was explained by looking into the advection problem from dynamical systems point of view. It is observed that for steady regime, chaotic advection may happen for highly modulated channels and with a significant pressure drop penalty. However, in the second part of the paper, it is shown that for slightly modulated channels under pulsatile flow regime, significant increments in heat transfer may be observed while pressure drop is kept reasonable. The study on steady regime examines the effect of geometrical parameters like channel expansion factor, wall waviness and channel aspect ratio, keeping Re constant. On the other hand, for the pulsating regime, geometry is kept constant while the effects of pulsation frequency and pulsation amplitude are examined. For both regimes, significant enhancement in heat transfer is observed when chaotic advection is present while this comes with large pressure drop penalties for the steady regime and acceptable pressure loss for pulsatile flow regime.
Combination of honokiol and magnolol inhibits hepatic steatosis through AMPK-SREBP-1 c pathway

Honokiol and magnolol, as pharmacological biphenolic compounds of Magnolia officinalis, have been reported to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 c (SREBP-1 c) plays an important role in the development and processing of steatosis in the liver. In the present study, we investigated the effects of a combination of honokiol and magnolol on SREBP-1 c-dependent lipogenesis in hepatocytes as well as in mice with fatty liver due to consumption of high-fat diet (HFD). Liver X receptor α (LXRα) agonists induced activation of SREBP-1 c and expression of lipogenic genes, which were blocked by co-treatment of honokiol and magnolol (HM). Moreover, a combination of HM potently increased mRNA of fatty acid oxidation genes. HM induced AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), an inhibitory kinase of the LXRα-SREBP-1 c pathway. The role of AMPK activation induced by HM was confirmed using an inhibitor of AMPK, Compound C, which reversed the ability of HM to both inhibit SREBP-1 c induction as well as induce genes for fatty acid oxidation. In mice, HM administration for four weeks ameliorated HFD-induced hepatic steatosis and liver dysfunction, as indicated by plasma parameters and Oil Red O staining. Taken together, our results demonstrated that a combination of HM has beneficial effects on inhibition of fatty liver and SREBP-1 c-mediated hepatic lipogenesis, and these events may be mediated by AMPK activation.
A protein trap strategy to detect GFP-tagged proteins expressed from their endogenous loci in Drosophila

In Drosophila, enhancer trap strategies allow rapid access to expression patterns, molecular data, and mutations in trapped genes. However, they do not give any information at the protein level, e.g., about the protein subcellular localization. Using the green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a mobile artificial exon carried by a transposable P-element, we have developed a protein trap system. We screened for individual flies, in which GFP tags full-length endogenous proteins expressed from their endogenous locus, allowing us to observe their cellular and subcellular distribution. GFP fusions are targeted to virtually any compartment of the cell. In the case of insertions in previously known genes, we observe that the subcellular localization of the fusion protein corresponds to the described distribution of the endogenous protein. The artificial GFP exon does not disturb upstream and downstream splicing events. Many insertions correspond to genes not predicted by the Drosophila Genome Project. Our results show the feasibility of a protein trap in Drosophila. GFP reveals in real time the dynamics of protein's distribution in the whole, live organism and provides useful markers for a number of cellular structures and compartments.
Molecular and biochemical characterization of the NS1 protein of non-cultured influenza B virus strains circulating in Singapore

In this study we compared the NS1 protein of Influenza B/Lee/40 and several non-cultured Influenza B virus clinical strains detected in Singapore. In B/Lee/40 virus-infected cells and in cells expressing the recombinant B/Lee/40 NS1 protein a full-length 35 kDa NS1 protein and a 23 kDa NS1 protein species (p23) were detected. Mutational analysis of the NS1 gene indicated that p23 was generated by a novel cleavage event within the linker domain between an aspartic acid and proline at amino acid residues at positions 92 and 93 respectively (DP92–93), and that p23 contained the first 92 amino acids of the NS1 protein. Sequence analysis of the Singapore strains indicated the presence of either DP92–93 or NP92–93 in the NS1 protein, but protein expression analysis showed that p23 was only detected in NS1 proteins with DP92–93. An additional adjacent proline residue at position 94 (P94) was present in some strains and correlated with increased p23 levels, suggesting that P94 has a synergistic effect on the cleavage of the NS1 protein. The first 145 amino acids of the NS1 protein are required for inhibition of ISG15-mediated ubiquitination, and our analysis showed that Influenza B viruses circulating in Singapore with DP92–93 expressed truncated NS1 proteins and may differ in their capacity to inhibit ISG15 activity. Thus, DP92–93 in the NS1 protein may confer a disadvantage to Influenza B viruses circulating in the human population and interestingly the low frequency of DP92–93detection in the NS1 protein since 2004 is consistent with this suggestion.
Quality of life and discriminating power of two questionnaires in fibromyalgia patients: Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire and Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey.

BACKGROUND Fibromyalgia is a painful syndrome characterized by widespread chronic pain and associated symptoms with a negative impact on quality of life. OBJECTIVES Considering the subjectivity of quality of life measurements, the aim of this study was to verify the discriminating power of two quality of life questionnaires in patients with fibromyalgia: the generic Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the specific Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ). METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted on 150 participants divided into Fibromyalgia Group (FG) and Control Group (CG) (n=75 in each group). The participants were evaluated using the SF-36 and the FIQ. The data were analyzed by the Student t-test (α=0.05) and inferential analysis using the Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) Curve--sensitivity, specificity and area under the curve (AUC). The significance level was 0.05. RESULTS The sample was similar for age (CG: 47.8 ± 8.1; FG: 47.0 ± 7.7 years). A significant difference was observed in quality of life assessment in all aspects of both questionnaires (p<0.05). Higher sensibility, specificity and AUC were obtained by the FIQ (96%, 96%, 0.985, respectively), followed by the SF-36 (88%, 89% and 0.948 AUC). CONCLUSION The FIQ presented the highest sensibility, specificity and AUC showing the most discriminating power. However the SF-36 is also a good instrument to assess quality of life in fibromyalgia patients, and we suggest that both should be used in parallel because they evaluate relevant and complementary aspects of quality of life.
Maximizing Ecosystem Services Provided to the New Oil Crop Brassica carinata Through Landscape and Arthropod Diversity

Prairies, once spanning the Upper Midwest, have now largely been replaced by agriculture. The lack of resources available to pollinators in agricultural fields and practices commonly employed has led to a decline in insect diversity. To enhance sustainable practices, we must better understand how ecosystem services such as pest control and pollination services provided by a diverse insect and pollinator community scale to current farming practices as related to crop yield and how landscape features may positively contribute to insect and pollinator diversity. We examined how landscape heterogeneity relates to insect and pollinator diversity, as well as how insect and pollinator diversity relates to crop yield across common farming practices. We planted 35 single acre sites of Brassica carinata, a generalist flower possibly capable of supporting a diverse insect community. We randomly assigned each site with a combination of three common farming practices: tilling (yes/no), added honey bee hives (yes/no), and treatment with systemic neonicotinoids (yes/no). Insect and pollinator diversity and the surrounding landscape at multiple spatial scales were calculated. We observed a significant positive relationship between insect (and pollinator) diversity with yield in the absence of any farming practice. All farming practices will increase yield. However, farming practices alter the relationship between yield and diversity. The addition of seed treatment or tillage negates the relationship between insect (and pollinator) diversity with yield. Seed treatment alone results in a flat relationship between diversity and yield for all insects and a negative relationship for pollinators. Increased landscape heterogeneity results in a positive relationship between insect diversity at the 1000 m scale and pollinator diversity at the 3000 m scale, suggesting large-scale heterogeneity contributes to overall insect diversity. Our results show that increasing large-scale landscape heterogeneity increases diversity serving as a substitute for common farming practices such as application of pesticides, tilling, or bee hives. Increased heterogeneity could save farmers from the input cost of treatment or tillage, by way of increased insect diversity, while still providing similar yields.
The SR Protein SC35 Is Responsible for Aberrant Splicing of the E1α Pyruvate Dehydrogenase mRNA in a Case of Mental Retardation with Lactic Acidosis

ABSTRACT Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) complex deficiency is a major cause of lactic acidosis and Leigh's encephalomyelopathies in infancy and childhood, resulting in early death in the majority of patients. Most of the molecular defects have been localized in the coding regions of the E1α PDH gene. Recently, we identified a novel mutation of the E1α PDH gene in a patient with an encephalopathy and lactic acidosis. This mutation, located downstream of exon 7, activates a cryptic splice donor and leads to the retention of intronic sequences. Here, we demonstrate that the mutation results in an increased binding of the SR protein SC35. Consistently, ectopic overexpression of this splicing factor enhanced the use of the cryptic splice site, whereas small interfering RNA-mediated reduction of the SC35 protein levels in primary fibroblasts from the patient resulted in the almost complete disappearance of the aberrantly spliced E1α PDH mRNA. Our findings open the exciting prospect for a novel therapy of an inherited disease by altering the level of a specific splicing factor.
Teaching Semantic Radicals Facilitates Inferring New Character Meaning in Sentence Reading for Nonnative Chinese Speakers

This study investigates the effects of teaching semantic radicals in inferring the meanings of unfamiliar characters among nonnative Chinese speakers. A total of 54 undergraduates majoring in Chinese Language from a university in Hanoi, Vietnam, who had 1 year of learning experience in Chinese were assigned to two experimental groups that received instructional intervention, called “old-for-new” semantic radical teaching, through two counterbalanced sets of semantic radicals, with one control group. All of the students completed pre- and post-tests of a sentence cloze task where they were required to choose an appropriate character that fit the sentence context among four options. The four options shared the same phonetic radicals but had different semantic radicals. The results showed that the pre-test and post-test score increases were significant for the experimental groups, but not for the control group. Most importantly, the experimental groups successfully transferred the semantic radical strategy to figure out the meanings of unfamiliar characters containing semantic radicals that had not been taught. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of teaching semantic radicals for lexical inference in sentence reading for nonnative speakers, and highlight the ability of transfer learning to acquire semantic categories of sub-lexical units (semantic radicals) in Chinese characters among foreign language learners.
Rigorous Extraction of Process Variations for 65-nm CMOS Design

Statistical circuit analysis and optimization are critical for robust nanoscale CMOS design. To accurately perform such analysis, primary process variation sources need to be identified and modeled for further circuit simulation. In this work, a rigorous method to extract process variations from in situ IV measurements is present. Transistor statistics are collected from a test chip fabricated in a 65-nm process. Gate length (L ), threshold voltage (Vth) and mobility (¿) are recognized as the leading variation sources, due to the tremendous process challenges in lithography, channel doping, and the stress engineering. To decompose these variations, three critical IV points from the cut-off and linear regions are identified. The extracted L , Vth and ¿ variations are normally distributed, with negligible spatial correlation. By including extracted variations in the nominal model file, accurate prediction of the change of drive current in all operation regions and process corners is achieved. The new extraction method guarantees excellent model matching with hardware for further statistical circuit analysis.
Understanding Agricultural Labor Exits in Tanzania

The process of economic development is embodied by rising output per agricultural worker and the exit of labor from agriculture to other sectors, which together result in rising incomes and falling incidence of poverty. This paper addresses agricultural technology's role in slowing or speeding exits of labor from agriculture in Tanzania through its effects on labor productivity. Using a structural multinomial model of occupational choice, I model households' decisions to participation in different activities, i.e. farming, self employment, and working as a wage laborer. Using nationally representative household survey datasets from Tanzania, I jointly estimate households' returns to participating in these activities and their occupational choices conditional on important contextual features, such as agro-climatic potential and market access. Then, I simulate the impacts of interventions, such as improved agricultural technology, infrastructure, and human capital, on labor productivity and labor exits from agriculture. I discuss the implications of the research for policy makers seeking to understand how key policy interventions are likely to influence structural change trajectories in different contexts.
Drug Delivery by Contact Lens in Spontaneously Glaucomatous Dogs

Purpose: The efficacy of ophthalmic drug delivery through contact lenses in animal model was explored to evaluate its potential for serving as an alternative to eye drops, which are inefficient vehicles for delivering ophthalmic drugs. Methods: The efficacy of timolol delivered via contact lenses was compared to eye drops in beagle dogs that suffer from spontaneous glaucoma. Experiments were conducted with NIGHT & DAY™ silicone hydrogel contact lenses and NIGHT & DAY™ loaded with vitamin E, which was included in the lens to extend the release duration of the drug. Timolol was loaded into contact lenses by soaking in drug/phosphate buffered saline solution, and the drug-loaded lenses were subsequently inserted in one of the eyes, with the other eye serving as control. The lenses were replaced every 24 hours, and the pharmacodynamics of intraocular pressure (IOP) and pupil size were monitored in both eyes. Results: The IOP reduction from baseline by NIGHT & DAY™ (5.02 ± 0.83 mmHg) was comparable with that by eye drops with similar drug dosing (4.64 ± 0.41 mmHg). In addition, lenses with one-third of the drug loading as eye drops resulted in the similar IOP reduction, suggesting higher bioavailability for contact lenses compared to eye drops. Inclusion of vitamin E into the lenses did not improve the IOP reduction. The IOP in the untreated eye also decreased from baseline for eye drops (3.17 ± 0.42 mmHg) but it remained relatively unchanged with treatments based on lenses, suggesting reduction in systemic absorption for delivery of drugs by contact lenses. Conclusions: Ophthalmic drug delivery through contact lenses increases bioavailability and reduces systemic drug uptake.
Application of a new 600 V GaN transistor in power electronics for PV systems

The benefits of using gallium nitride (GaN) based transistors in power electronic converters are demonstrated in this paper. The key characteristics of a new recently available normally-off GaN Gate Injection Transistor (GIT) with a blocking voltage of 600 V and a nominal drain current of 15 A are reviewed and analysed. An optimised driving circuit for low conduction and switching losses is shown. The low switching losses of the GaN GIT lead to high efficient converters with higher switching frequencies. This is demonstrated by the application of the GaN GIT in power electronic converters for photovoltaic (PV) systems (DC/DC-Converter for MPP tracking). The obtained efficiency is compared to the results with common Si devices. As freewheeling diodes Schottky diodes based on SiC and GaN are used and compared.
A New Perspective on Daily Value at Risk Estimates

Daily value at risk (VaR) estimates are sometimes calculated as if the institution is only concerned about short-term performance or risk position. In reality though, a risk manager may not consider changing the investment allocation in the foreseeable future, and with a highly-leveraged position daily VaR could be very misleading in terms of true risk to the financial institution. This paper recommends looking at VaR, taking the possibility that a financial institution will use the same assest allocation over a longer period of time while borrowing at over night rates. Finally, the paper introduces a more conservative estimate than the traditional VaR estimates.