Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Repeatability of the TEN(HL) test for detecting cochlear dead regions

The aim of this study was to investigate the short-term test-retest repeatability of the TEN(HL) test. Participants comprised 15 teenagers (mean age 14 years) with long-standing severe-to-profound hearing impairment, and 20 adults (mean age 74 years) with moderate-to-severe hearing impairment. Testing was repeated using the same equipment and procedures, after an interval of less than five days. The number of ears that met the criteria for diagnosing a cochlear dead region on initial test was three (13%) and nine (22.5%) for the teenagers and adults, respectively. Overall, the number of ears that changed category on retest was two (8%) and three (7.5%) for the teenagers and adults, respectively. Except at 1.5 and 4 kHz, the number of ears that changed category at individual frequencies was less than 5% for both groups of participants. TEN(HL) test repeatability was good when the results were categorized by ear or by frequency. The majority of ears that changed category on retest just met the dead-region criteria at an isolated frequency. An immediate retest is advisable in such cases.
In-Line Characterization of Micro-Droplets Based on Partial Light Reflection at the Solid-Liquid Interface

In this paper a novel optofluidic setup, fabricated on a single layer device for in line droplet characterization yielding droplet size, droplet frequency, and optical proper ties with compatibility for full on chip integration is presented. Chips were fabricated using a simple, fast, and cost effective technology. A T junction arrangement on the device is used for droplet generation. The optical part of the setup consists of an external light source, external silicon photodetectors, integrated air micro lenses, and an integrated waveguide. The design makes use of partial light reflection/transmission at the solid liquid interface to count, size, and discriminate droplets based on their optical properties. When passing the interrogation point, droplets having a lower refractive index as the continuous phase result in light deflections. Both, reflected and transmitted light, are detected simultaneously. A relation of those two signals is then used for the analysis resulting in a continuously stable signal. The generated pattern is unique for different droplets and can be exploited for droplet characterization. Using this arrangement, droplets of de ionized water (DI) were counted at frequencies of up to 320 droplets per second. In addition, information about the droplet sizes and their variations could be obtained. Finally, 5 mol/L CaCl 2 and DI droplets, having different indices of refraction were examined and could clearly be discriminated based on their unique reflected and transmitted light signals. This principle can be applied for the detection of dissolved molecules in droplets as long as they influence the index of refraction. Examples could be the determination of DNA or protein content in the droplet.
Clashing Theories: Why Is Unemployment So High When Interest Rates Fall to Zero?

General-equilibrium models for studying the zero lower bound on the nominal interest rate contain implicit theories of unemployment. In some cases, the theory is explicit. When the nominal rate is above the level that clears the current market for output, the excess supply shows up as diminished output, lower employment, and higher unemployment. Quite separately, the Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides model is a widely accepted and well-developed account of turnover, wage determination, and unemployment. The standard DMP model is a clashing theory of unemployment, in the sense that its determinants of unemployment do not include any variables that signal an excess supply of current output. Altering the DMP model by allowing the rate of ination to inuence
Hypoxic Tumor Cell Modulates Its Microenvironment to Enhance Angiogenic and Metastatic Potential by Secretion of Proteins and Exosomes*

Under hypoxia, tumor cells produce a secretion that modulates their microenvironment to facilitate tumor angiogenesis and metastasis. Here, we observed that hypoxic or reoxygenated A431 carcinoma cells exhibited enhanced angiogenic and metastatic potential such as reduced cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix adhesion, increased invasiveness, and production of a secretion with increased chorioallantoic membrane angiogenic activity. Consistent with these observations, quantitative proteomics revealed that under hypoxia the tumor cells secreted proteins involved in angiogenesis, focal adhesion, extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, and immune cell recruitment. Unexpectedly, the secreted proteins were predominantly cytoplasmic and membrane proteins. Ultracentrifugation at 100,000 × g precipitated 54% of the secreted proteins and enriched for many exosome-associated proteins such as the tetraspanins and Alix and also proteins with the potential to facilitate angiogenesis and metastasis. Two tetraspanins, CD9 and CD81, co-immunoprecipitated. Together, these data suggested that tumor cells secrete proteins and exosomes with the potential to modulate their microenvironment and facilitate angiogenesis and metastasis.
Xanthine dehydrogenase and 2-furoyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase from Pseudomonas putida Fu1: two molybdenum-containing dehydrogenases of novel structural composition

The constitutive xanthine dehydrogenase and the inducible 2-furoyl-coenzyme A (CoA) dehydrogenase could be labeled with [185W]tungstate. This labeling was used as a reporter to purify both labile proteins. The radioactivity cochromatographed predominantly with the residual enzymatic activity of both enzymes during the first purification steps. Both radioactive proteins were separated and purified to homogeneity. Antibodies raised against the larger protein also exhibited cross-reactivity toward the second smaller protein and removed xanthine dehydrogenase and 2-furoyl-CoA dehydrogenase activity up to 80 and 60% from the supernatant of cell extracts, respectively. With use of cell extract, Western immunoblots showed only two bands which correlated exactly with the activity stains for both enzymes after native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Molybdate was absolutely required for incorporation of 185W, formation of cross-reacting material, and enzymatic activity. The latter parameters showed a perfect correlation. This evidence proves that the radioactive proteins were actually xanthine dehydrogenase and 2-furoyl-CoA dehydrogenase. The apparent molecular weight of the native xanthine dehydrogenase was about 300,000, and that of 2-furoyl-CoA dehydrogenase was 150,000. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of both enzymes revealed two protein bands corresponding to molecular weights of 55,000 and 25,000. The xanthine dehydrogenase contained at least 1.6 mol of molybdenum, 0.9 ml of cytochrome b, 5.8 mol of iron, and 2.4 mol of labile sulfur per mol of enzyme. The composition of the 2-furoyl-CoA dehydrogenase seemed to be similar, although the stoichiometry was not determined. The oxidation of furfuryl alcohol to furfural and further to 2-furoic acid by Pseudomonas putida Fu1 was catalyzed by two different dehydrogenases.
Hardware configuration of DC-DC converter for renewable energies conversion

A DC/DC converter that can be used to charge a lead-acid battery bank from a wide variety of input renewable sources is presented. The motherboard of the converter can be populated in such way that a boost or a SEPIC (Single-Ended Primary-Inductor Converter) structure is obtained. In order to lower the stress on the electronic components, the converter uses four DC/DC stages connected in parallel and driven with interleaved PWM signals. The main advantage resides in the fact that all parameters of the control loops as well as the nominal values for input and output electrical values can be adjusted by the final user. Two converters were built and tested simultaneously inside a low power distributed system, implementing MPPT algorithm. Key aspects of the low level hardware implementation and component dimensioning will be detailed.
Incremental Reconstruction Approach for Telepresence or AR Applications

This paper proposes an on-line incremental 3D reconstruction framework aimed at fulﬁlling the needs of telep-resence or human machine interaction applications. The research presents a teleconference system that improves and induces the feeling that persons are in the presence of each other. A free viewpoint method, based on realistic user’s appearances, is proposed to simulate a real face-to-face meeting. The contributions are: a new incremental version of Crust algorithm that enables incremental fusion of sensor data and a conﬁdence-based method that automatically decides whether or not to integrate newly acquired data in the existing model based on measure uncertainty and novelty. To avoid the classical stereo vision reconstruction problems, the method bases on hybrid sensors to acquire simultaneous depth information and the corresponding texture image (e.g. kinect). This enables the alignment between acquired data and pre-adquired model by maximizing a criterion that is related with the matching between visual features and between acquired shapes. A mesh based representation enables the use of the surface topological geometric information during the data model integration process.
A novel robust SMC for discrete systems with both state and input delays

In this work, we investigated the sliding mode control (SMC) for uncertain systems with both state and input varying delays. In most existing SMC, a common input and delayed input matrix are considered to apply the conventional method, which is very restrictive assumption. Therefore, we proposed a new sliding surface which takes account of the system state and the control input in order to remove the restrictive assumption. The parameters of the sliding function are obtained using the linear matrix inequality. Furthermore, the Jensen's inequality and reciprocally convex approach are employed, to further reduce the conservatism in the existing results. A simulation example is studied to illustrates the advantages of this method.
Einstein–Weyl geometry, dispersionless Hirota equation and Veronese webs

Abstract We exploit the correspondence between the three–dimensional Lorentzian Einstein–Weyl geometries of the hyper–CR type and the Veronese webs to show that the former structures are locally given in terms of solutions to the dispersionless Hirota equation. We also demonstrate how to construct hyper–CR Einstein–Weyl structures by Kodaira deformations of the flat twistor space $T\mathbb{CP}^1$, and how to recover the pencil of Poisson structures in five dimensions illustrating the method by an example of the Veronese web on the Heisenberg group.
Neuronal survival and calcium influx induced by basic fibroblast growth factor in chick ciliary ganglion neurons

Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF/FGF2) exhibits widespread biological activities in the nervous system. However, little is known about the cascade of intracellular events that links the activation of its tyrosine kinase receptors to these effects. Here we report that, in ciliary ganglion neurons from chick embryo, this trophic factor significantly enhanced neuronal survival. The percentage of surviving neurons was reduced when intracellular calcium was chelated by adding a membrane‐permeable BAPTA ester to the culture medium, while antagonists of L‐ and N‐type voltage‐dependent calcium channels were ineffective. The ionic signals in response to bFGF stimulation have been studied using cytofluorimetric and patch‐clamp techniques. In single‐cell Fura‐2 measurements, bFGF elicited a long lasting rise of the cytosolic calcium concentration that was dependent on [Ca2+]o. In whole‐cell experiments, we observed a reversible depolarization of the membrane resting potential and an inward cationic current. Single channel experiments, performed in the cell‐attached configuration, provide evidence for the activation of two families of Ca2+‐permeable cationic channels. Moreover, inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate opens channels with similar properties, suggesting that this cytosolic messenger can be responsible for the calcium influx induced by bFGF.
Social networks and support in long-term psychiatric patients

Synopsis This paper describes quantitative and qualitative aspects of social support in a sample of 40 long-term schizophrenic day patients attending a rehabilitation unit. The influence of symptomatology and experience of life stressors on network and support characteristics was also investigated. The primary networks of these patients were found to be small, comprising on average 7 members, of whom only 3 were seen regularly. Despite this, subjects rated their perceived support as adequate. The secondary networks were of the order of 32. It emerged that greater prevalence of negative symptoms was significantly associated with lower ideal levels of support and this group of patients was significantly less likely to seek support in the event of a life stressor. This may be a protective mechanism to insulate the person from the effects of stressful relationships but at the same time means that they are isolated from potential supports. The clinical implications are discussed in terms of offering optimum support for this marginalized group.
Ultrasound-induced uptake of different size markers in mammalian cells

The ability of ultrasound to increase the permeability of biological membranes has been demonstrated both in-vitro and in-vivo studies. The physical mechanism by which this occurs is not well understood, however, microbubble disruption seems to be certainly implicated. One of the proposed models of sonoporation is the formation of pores on the cell membrane when bubbles are disrupted in the vicinity of cells. Understanding this process is important in establishing parameters for in-vivo drug delivery. Here, we studied the influence of microbubble disruption on the formation and size of pores on cell membranes using an in-vitro cell suspension model. The uptake of different molecular weight markers (10kDa to 2MDa FITC-dextran) was measured using flow cytometry. At our optimal conditions, we had almost 100% bioeffect, with 80% permeabilization. Similar uptake of different size markers was measured when cells were exposed to ultrasound in the presence of Definity and Optison. However, Definity permeabilized more cells than Optison at all acoustic pressures, where viability did not vary. Scanning electron microscopy images of cells exposed to ultrasound showed the formation of pores. The sizes of the pores (20nm to 500nm) were bigger than the largest molecular weight marker. This implies that drug size is not a limiting factor for
Importance of perfusion in myocardial viability studies using delayed contrast‐enhanced magnetic resonance imaging

To investigate whether an extracellular gadolinium‐(Gd)‐based contrast agent (CA) enters nonperfused myocardium during acute coronary occlusion, and whether nonperfused myocardium presents as hyperintense in delayed contrast‐enhanced (DE) MR images in the absence of CA in that region.
Evaluating the efficiency of polymerase chain reaction in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis in indigenous and non-indigenous patients.

The DOTS strategy was proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1993 with the objective of containing the global expansion of tuberculosis (TB). This strategy emphasizes the decentralization of diagnosis and treatment in order to increase the access of the population to the health system, while maintaining the quality of health care through supervision, quality control and monitoring. The goals of the WHO have been the detection of 70% of the patients with active TB, in addition to the treatment success of at least 85% of the cases detected. In countries that have achieved high levels of implementation of the DOTS strategy, the overall rate of treatment success has increased from 60% to 82%. However, case detection remained stable at 43%. (1) Therefore, the increase in the case detection of pulmonary TB has come to be considered an additional worldwide strategy for the 2006 to 2009 period. (2) The majority of studies that evaluate molecular biology techniques for the diagnosis of TB have been carried out in industrialized countries, and few studies have evaluated the clinical usefulness of such techniques as routine procedures. (3-5) In developing countries, the analysis of molecular biology techniques in the diagnostic field has not been prioritized, due to its elevated costs, technical and operational difficulties of implementation, even in reference laboratories, and due to the lack of information on its clinical relevance and/or the cost-effectiveness ratio in different clinical scenarios. Among the few reports described in these regions, most of those evaluating new molecular methods for the diagnosis of TB are based on laboratory diagnostic criteria or on the use of clinical information to evaluate conflicting results. (6-7) In addition, Evaluating the efficiency of polymerase chain reaction in diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis in indigenous and non-indigenous patients
Coupled-cavity erbium fiber lasers incorporating fiber grating reflectors.

Narrow-linewidth erbium-doped fiber lasers of monolithic multiple linear cavity configurations that use intracore fiber grating reflectors are demonstrated. Robust single-frequency operation of a miniature coupled-cavity fiber laser with a linewidth of 30 kHz is reported. A novel multiple-cavity erbium fiber laser with simultaneous dual single-frequency lasing is also demonstrated. A 16-kHz linewidth and a frequency separation of 59 GHz with a stability of better than 3 MHz were achieved in this dual-frequency laser.
The effect of vessel speed on the survivorship of biofouling organisms at different hull locations

This study used a specially designed MAGPLATE system to quantify the en route survivorship and post-voyage recovery of biofouling assemblages subjected to short voyages (<12 h) across a range of vessel speeds (slow, medium, fast; in the range 4.0–21.5 knots). The effect of hull location (bow, amidships and stern) was also examined. While no significant differences were evident in en route survivorship of biofouling organisms amongst hull locations, biofouling cover and richness were markedly reduced on faster vessels relative to slower craft. Therefore, the potential inoculum size of non-indigenous marine species and richness is likely to be reduced for vessels that travel at faster speeds (>14 knots), which is likely to also reduce the chances of successful introductions. Despite this, the magnitude of introductions from biofouling on fast vessels can be considered minor, especially for species richness where 90% of source-port species were recorded at destinations.
Surface core-level shifts of clean and oxygen-covered Ru(0001)

We have performed high resolution x-ray photoemission spectroscopy experiments on the Ru~0001! surface, both clean and covered with well-defined amounts of oxygen up to 1 monolayer coverage. For the clean surface we detected two distinct components in the Ru 3d5/2 core-level spectra, for which a definite assignment was made using the high resolution angle-scan photoelectron diffraction approach. For the p(232), p(231), ( 232)-3O, and ( 131)-O oxygen structures we found Ru 3d5/2 core-level peaks that are shifted to higher binding energies by up to 1 eV. Very good agreement with density functional theory calculations of these surface core-level shifts ~SCLS’s ! is reported. The overriding parameter for the resulting Ru SCLS’s turns out to be the number of directly coordinated O atoms. Since the calculations permit the separation of initial and final state effects, our results give valuable information for the understanding of bonding and screening at the surface that is not accessible in measurements of the core-level energies alone.
Autonomous underwater robots with distributed behavior control architecture

This paper describes the design and overall structure of a test-bed system for developing multiple autonomous underwater robot systems. The developed system can be regarded as a multi-agent system which consists of a pair of autonomous underwater robots, named "The Twin-Burger-I and II", an ultrasonic positioning system, and a human diver. An ultrasonic command link system is used for communication among each agents. The distributed vehicle management architecture (DVMA) is applied to the Twin-Burger robot as an architecture for the control software of the robot. Mission execution experiments are carried out in the Institute of Industrial Science (IIS) testing pool. The results show the effectiveness and applicability of the DVMA.
Automated Evaluation of OCR Zoning

Many current optical character recognition (OCR) systems attempt to decompose printed pages into a set of zones, each containing a single column of text, before converting the characters into coded form. The authors present a methodology for automatically assessing the accuracy of such decompositions, and demonstrate its use in evaluating six OCR systems. >
Reluctance Versus Urge to Disclose Child Maltreatment: The Impact of Multi-Type Maltreatment

Child maltreatment is a major public health issue in Israel. According to a recent Israeli national epidemiological survey, approximately half of Jewish and Arab girls and boys between the ages 12 and 17 experienced at least one type of child maltreatment, at any severity level. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of multi-type maltreatment on Israeli children and youth survivors’ reluctance versus urge to disclose; with the effects of gender, age, and ethnicity taken into account. The study is important since non-disclosure has deleterious effects in terms of continuation of the abuse, delays in criminal prosecution and commencement of treatment. A self-report questionnaire incorporating the following instruments was administered: the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and the Disclosure of Trauma Questionnaire. The sample consisted of 6,253 Jewish and Arab children and youth who reported experiencing at least one lifetime child maltreatment event. Study results indicated that children and youth’s reluctance to disclose is positively associated with their emotional reactions to disclosure, as well as with higher instances of child maltreatment exposure; whereas urge to talk is negatively correlated with their emotional reactions to disclosure.
Regulation of Vegetative Phase Change by SWI2/SNF2 Chromatin Remodeling ATPase BRAHMA1

SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling ATPase BRAHMA controls vegetative phase change by regulation of miR156 expression at the level of nucleosome in Arabidopsis. Plants progress from a juvenile vegetative phase of development to an adult vegetative phase of development before they enter the reproductive phase. miR156 has been shown to be the master regulator of the juvenile-to-adult transition in plants. However, the mechanism of how miR156 is transcriptionally regulated still remains elusive. In a forward genetic screen, we identified that a mutation in the SWI2/SNF2 chromatin remodeling ATPase BRAHMA (BRM) exhibited an accelerated vegetative phase change phenotype by reducing the expression of miR156, which in turn caused a corresponding increase in the levels of SQUAMOSA PROMOTER BINDING PROTEIN LIKE genes. BRM regulates miR156 expression by directly binding to the MIR156A promoter. Mutations in BRM not only increased occupancy of the −2 and +1 nucleosomes proximal to the transcription start site at the MIR156A locus but also the levels of trimethylated histone H3 at Lys 27. The precocious phenotype of brm mutant was partially suppressed by a second mutation in SWINGER (SWN), but not by a mutation in CURLEY LEAF, both of which are key components of the Polycomb Group Repressive Complex 2 in plants. Our results indicate that BRM and SWN act antagonistically at the nucleosome level to fine-tune the temporal expression of miR156 to regulate vegetative phase change in Arabidopsis.