Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of non-magnetic metal coated non-woven fabric noise suppressor

The analysis model of non-woven fabric made of synthetic fibers having different diameters for the non-magnetic noise suppressor is developed and the relationship between the wave impedance of free space is considered. The shielding effectiveness to the plane wave can be calculated using the sheet resistance by regarding the non-woven fabrics as a continuous metal sheet. Therefore, it is shown that the low wave-impedance in the fine fiber layers generates high shielding effectiveness.
Corneal virulence of Staphylococcus aureus: roles of alpha-toxin and protein A in pathogenesis

Staphylococcus aureus produces a variety of proteins, including alpha-toxin and protein A, that could contribute to corneal tissue damage during keratitis. We examined corneal infections produced by intrastromal injection of four S. aureus strains--three isogenic mutants, one lacking alpha-toxin (Hly- Spa+), one lacking protein A (Hly+ Spa-), and one lacking both alpha-toxin and protein A (Hly- Spa-), and the wild type (Hly+ Spa+)--in a rabbit model of experimental keratitis. Rabbit corneas were injected intrastromally with 100 CFU of one of the four strains, and the eyes were examined by slit lamp biomicroscopy over a 25-h period. Corneal homogenates were used for determination of CFU and neutrophil myeloperoxidase activity at 5-h intervals. All strains had the same logarithmic growth curve from 0 to 10 h postinfection, after which CFU remained constant at 10(7) CFU per cornea. By 15 h postinfection, slit lamp examination scores were significantly higher for eyes infected with Hly+ strains than for Hly(-)-infected eyes. At this time, distinct epithelial erosions were seen in Hly(+)-infected eyes but not in Hly(-)-infected eyes. Myeloperoxidase activity was significantly greater for Hly(+)-infected corneas than for Hly(-)-infected corneas at both 20 and 25 h postinfection. Spa(+)- and Spa(-)-infected eyes showed no differences in slit lamp examination scores or myeloperoxidase activities. These results suggest that alpha-toxin, but not protein A, is a major virulence factor in staphylococcal keratitis, mediating the destruction of corneal tissue in eyes infected with this bacterial pathogen.
Coordinated multi-point joint transmission evaluation in heterogenous cloud radio access networks

In this paper, the effect of applying coordinated multi-point joint transmission (CoMP-JT) in system performance of 5G heterogeneous cloud radio access networks (H-CRANs) is investigated. For this purpose, two simple user-centric and network-centric clustering methods are presented and the amount of obtained CoMP gain in each of these dynamic-formed clusters is evaluated. Network-centric and user-centric clustering approaches are also compared with each other with respect to imposed cell load and system performance metrics through different simulation setups. The results demonstrate that remarkable improvement could be achieved specially by user-centric clustering at the price of higher imposed load and lower energy efficiency disadvantages.
From mesic to arid environments: Morphological and genetic divergence in Asphodelus aestivus Brot. populations

We studied the effects of different environmental conditions on morphological and genetic variations in the Mediterranean geophyte Asphodelus aestivus in Israel. The study included six populations, ranging from mesic Mediterranean to arid ecosystems. The results showed important differential morphological traits in one population of the Mediterranean ecosystem (M1). They included longer leaves, longer inflorescences-stalks, and larger number of flower buds than those found among the other populations. We used RAPD analysis to get a genetic profile for all studied populations: 30 loci revealed by the use of 11 primers were studied on 30 plants from each study site. No unique allele was found. Nevertheless, the MI population was always different from the others in several molecular markers, and even created a different clade on the phylogenetic tree. Abiotic factors were considered to have caused the differentiation of the M1 population. A contingency χ2 test for heterogeneity of RAPD frequencies across all.
Observing and Shaping the Market: The Dilemma of Central Banks

While the central bank observes the market activity to assess economic fundamentals, it shapes the market outcome through its policy interventions. The more the central bank influences the market, the more it spoils the informational content of economic aggregates. How should the central bank act and communicate when it derives its information from observing the market? This paper analyses the optimal central bank's action and disclosure under endogenous central bank's information for three operational frameworks: pure communication, action and communication, and signaling action. When the central bank takes an action, it would be optimal for the central bank to be fully opaque to prevent its disclosure from deteriorating the information quality of market outcomes. However, in the realistic case where central bank's action is observable, it may be optimal to refrain from implementing any action.
The ebolavirus VP24 interferon antagonist

Suppression during the early phases of the immune system often correlates directly with a fatal outcome for the host. The ebolaviruses, some of the most lethal viruses known, appear to cripple initial stages of the host defense network via multiple distinct paths. Two of the eight viral proteins are critical for immunosuppression. One of these proteins is VP35, which binds double-stranded RNA and antagonizes several antiviral signaling pathways.1,2 The other protein is VP24, which binds transporter molecules to prevent STAT1 translocation.3 A more recent discovery is that VP24 also binds STAT1 directly,4 suggesting that VP24 may operate in at least two separate branches of the interferon pathway. New crystal structures of VP24 derived from pathogenic and nonpathogenic ebolaviruses reveal its novel, pyramidal fold, upon which can be mapped sites required for virulence and for STAT1 binding. These structures of VP24, and new information about its direct binding to STAT1, provide avenues by which we may explore its many roles in the viral life cycle, and reasons for differences in pathogenesis among the ebolaviruses.
Surgical treatment of a paratracheal bronchogenic cyst using cervical mediastinoscopy

Bronchogenic cysts of the mediastinum are benign congenital lesions, usually found in adults. When surgery is indicated, the classical approach is resection of the lesion by thoracotomy or thoracoscopy. Herein, we describe the complete resection of a paratracheal bronchogenic cyst by cervical mediastinoscopy. We also include a brief review and discussion of the literature. Descritores: Cisto broncogênico/diagnóstico; Cisto broncogênico/cirurgia; Cisto mediastínico/radiografia; Mediastinoscopia; Doenças da traquéia/cirurgia; Cirurgia torácica videoassistida/métodos; Tomografia computadorizada por raios X; Relato de caso
A linear time algorithm for computing hexagonal Steiner minimum trees for terminals on the boundary of a regular hexagon

In this paper, we present a linear time algorithm for computing the hexagonal Steiner minimum tree for a set of points on the boundary of a regular hexagon. Computational results on randomly generated test problems show that our algorithm can find the optimal solutions on a 200 MHz Pentium within 18 seconds for n as large as 20000. It is expected that techniques of this paper may be generalized to the case where the points are on the boundary of a polygon.
Possible Measures to Enhance the Performance of Metal–Oxide Arresters in the EHV Network Under Very Fast Transients

It is well known that metal-oxide arresters (MOAs) do not have the capability of protecting the equipment in extra-high voltage networks, when they face the threats from very fast transients (VFTs). This “inaction” on the part of MOA is mainly brought by stray capacitance, which not only delays the conduction of MOA under VFTs but also brings a nonuniform voltage distribution across its structure and thereby impacts its life, especially, that of its top unit. This phenomenon prompts an urgent take on the factors that threaten the functioning of MOA under VFTs. After performing a thorough review of the studies made earlier, this study focuses on the further improvements required. This paper mainly deals with the accurate calculation of stray capacitance, its adverse impacts on MOA during its conduction phase, voltage distribution across the arrester with the aid of a finite-element method (FEM) and the Electromagnetic Transient Program (EMTP), and, finally, it explores the modifications required to get adequate protection for the equipment exposed to VFTs.
HEMO2life as a protective additive to Celsior solution for static storage of donor hearts prior to transplantation

Abstract Background: Prior to heart transplantation, static storage of donor hearts is currently limited to 4–5 h, despite profound hypothermia (4–8 °C). Because heart transplantation is an emergency procedure, improved protection to extend safe storage duration would be advantageous. We investigated whether the naturally respiratory pigment HEMO2life®, which is effective at hypothermia for the passive release of oxygen via oxygen gradient, could improve long-term preservation. Methods: Isolated Langendorff-perfused rat hearts (n = 12/group) were equilibrated (20 min) and function (left ventricular developed pressure: LVDP) measured by intraventricular balloon before arrest with cold (7.5 °C) Celsior® solution, either alone (control) or with the addition of HEMO2life® (Hemarina SA, Morlaix, France) at 1 g/L. Cold storage lasted 8 h prior to reperfusion (60 min) and recovery (as % of pre-ischemic function) was assessed. Hearts (minced and homogenized) were also assessed by TTC staining as a measure of viability and two hearts from each group were sliced and assessed by TTC staining for infarct size. Values are expressed as mean ± standard error of mean and analyzed by Student’s t-test. Results: Hearts recovered rapidly in both groups to a plateau by 20 min of reperfusion; control and HEMO2life® final recovery (60 min) was 45 ± 2% and 57 ± 1% (P < 0.05) respectively. Left ventricular end-diastolic pressure recovered to a similar extent in both groups (between 31 to 35 mmHg), as did heart rate (final recovery between 84 to 89% pre-ischemic value); however, coronary flow was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in HEMO2life® group (7.5 ± 0.7 ml/min) compared to control (5.4 ± 0.4 ml/min). Viability and infarct size measurements were similar between groups. Conclusion: The addition of the natural oxygen releasing pigment HEMO2life® to Celsior® preservation solution significantly improved post-ischemic recovery of heart function. This additive may have major therapeutic potential for clinical heart transplantation.
Determination of antecedent structure for fuzzy modeling using genetic algorithm

Fuzzy modeling is one of the promising methods for describing nonlinear systems. Determination of antecedent structures of fuzzy models, i.e. input variables and number of membership functions for the inputs has been one of the most important problems of the fuzzy modeling. This paper presents a new method to find proper structures in the antecedent for fuzzy modeling of nonlinear systems using genetic algorithm. The new method is effective to identify precise fuzzy models of systems with strong nonlinearities. A simulation is done to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Quantitative Analysis of Traditional Folk Songs from Shikoku District

With the objective of empirically clarifying the musical culture phenomena by which music spreads and changes, this research quantitatively analyzes the musical characteristics and regional differences of folk songs from the Shikoku district (the southern region of Japan's largest island Honshu) as case studies. All the songs from the Shikoku district listed in the quantitatively and qualitatively rich Nihon Min'yo Taikan (Anthology of Japanese Folk Songs) are digitized. We applied a scale detection method based on Seiichi Tokawa's scale theories to the same musical data and captured the characteristics of their respective schemas. In addition, an N-gram model was used to extract the trends for how interval transitions appear. We examined the frequency of each pattern for N = 1, 2, and 3, and found that in the Shikoku district, interval transition patterns that form Koizumi's four basic tetrachords as well as interval transition patterns with melodic leaps followed by progressions back to the first note in the pattern appear with a very high frequency. Additionally, we executed a classification experiment based on multivariate analysis of the tetrachords for the old Japanese provinces (ancient administrative units that were used under the ritsu ryo system before the modern prefecture system was established), and found that geographically adjacent provinces have similar characteristics. In the future, we are willing to facilitate discussion on these matters and discover the knowledge for analyzing endangered folk songs of Japan through this study.
Towards Automated Trust Negotiation for Grids

Trust is an important aspect of decision making for grid applications. It has been a fundamental but challenging problem to gain assurance of the trustworthiness of service providers or requesters. This paper proposes a novel trust negotiation framework, ENVOY, to establish trust relationship between service providers and requesters in grids. ENVOY supports various kinds of delegation by leveraging attribute-based credentials and defines delegation range expediently by using attribute constraint, and we develop a negotiation strategy based on protection tree to support ENVOY, which provides the support for protection of sensitive information of the two negotiation parties. Moreover, ENVOY employs multithreaded technology and trust ticket to speed up negotiation. This paper describes the implementation of ENVOY and designs experiments to evaluate its performance, and the experimental results show that it is applicable.
DC-SIGN and L-SIGN Are Attachment Factors That Promote Infection of Target Cells by Human Metapneumovirus in the Presence or Absence of Cellular Glycosaminoglycans

ABSTRACT It is well established that glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) function as attachment factors for human metapneumovirus (HMPV), concentrating virions at the cell surface to promote interaction with other receptors for virus entry and infection. There is increasing evidence to suggest that multiple receptors may exhibit the capacity to promote infectious entry of HMPV into host cells; however, definitive identification of specific transmembrane receptors for HMPV attachment and entry is complicated by the widespread expression of cell surface GAGs. pgsA745 Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are deficient in the expression of cell surface GAGs and resistant to HMPV infection. Here, we demonstrate that the expression of the Ca2+-dependent C-type lectin receptor (CLR) DC-SIGN (CD209L) or L-SIGN (CD209L) rendered pgsA745 cells permissive to HMPV infection. Unlike infection of parental CHO cells, HMPV infection of pgsA745 cells expressing DC-SIGN or L-SIGN was dynamin dependent and inhibited by mannan but not by pretreatment with bacterial heparinase. Parental CHO cells expressing DC-SIGN/L-SIGN also showed enhanced susceptibility to dynamin-dependent HMPV infection, confirming that CLRs can promote HMPV infection in the presence or absence of GAGs. Comparison of pgsA745 cells expressing wild-type and endocytosis-defective mutants of DC-SIGN/L-SIGN indicated that the endocytic function of CLRs was not essential but could contribute to HMPV infection of GAG-deficient cells. Together, these studies confirm a role for CLRs as attachment factors and entry receptors for HMPV infection. Moreover, they define an experimental system that can be exploited to identify transmembrane receptors and entry pathways where permissivity to HMPV infection can be rescued following the expression of a single cell surface receptor. IMPORTANCE On the surface of CHO cells, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) function as the major attachment factor for human metapneumoviruses (HMPV), promoting dynamin-independent infection. Consistent with this, GAG-deficient pgaA745 CHO cells are resistant to HMPV. However, expression of DC-SIGN or L-SIGN rendered pgsA745 cells permissive to dynamin-dependent infection by HMPV, although the endocytic function of DC-SIGN/L-SIGN was not essential for, but could contribute to, enhanced infection. These studies provide direct evidence implicating DC-SIGN/L-SIGN as an alternate attachment factor for HMPV attachment, promoting dynamin-dependent infection via other unknown receptors in the absence of GAGs. Moreover, we describe a unique experimental system for the assessment of putative attachment and entry receptors for HMPV.
Heat transfer in water under strong gradient magnetic fields

Heat transfer in water was visually investigated using a liquid-crystal sheet with thermochromism in a hybrid magnet. Upward thermal convection was significantly suppressed by gradient magnetic fields, however, it remained even under magnetic levitation conditions with a gradient field of B(dB/dz)=-1360 T/sup 2/ m/sup -1/. A thermal conduction state without convection was realized under a stronger gradient field of B(dB/dz)=-2880 T/sup 2/m/sup -1/ at 35-40/spl deg/C, and surprisingly the downward magnetic convection was observed under the same field at 40-45/spl deg/C. The temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility of water is responsible for the convection behavior in the gradient fields.
Entropy-Constrained High-Resolution Lattice Vector Quantization using a Perceptually Relevant Distortion Measure

In this paper we study high-resolution entropy-constrained coding using multidimensional companding. To account for auditory perception, we introduce a perceptual relevant distortion measure. We will derive a multidimensional companding function which is asymptotically optimal in the sense that the rate loss introduced by the compander will vanish with increasing vector dimension. We compare the companding scheme to a scheme which is based on a perceptual weighting of the source, thereby transforming the perceptual distortion measure into a mean-squared error distortion measure. Experimental results show that even at low vector dimension, the rate loss introduced by the compander is low (less than 0.05 bit per dimension in case of two-dimensional vectors).
The study on a comprehensive evolving network model based on mechanisms of node otherness, node deletion and double preferential attachment

The theories on the complex evolving network models have been researched separately based on the mechanisms of node otherness, uniform node deletion and double preferential attachment (DPA). This paper integrated these three mechanisms that obviously exist in real networks, and proposed a comprehensive evolving network model based on these three mechanisms. The paper performed analytic deductions, calculated the degree distribution, and generalized the scale-free model. And the results show that the comprehensive model has the scale-free feature, and the three mechanisms have different influences on the degree distribution, which were also validated by simulations.
Design of a compact diplexer for multisystem DAS solutions

This paper presents a microstrip diplexer for multisystem Distributed Antenna System (DAS) solutions, namely for DCS and UMTS systems. A low-pass quasi-elliptic filter with a stub-like structure is used for the 1800 MHz band while a band-pass Chebychev filter with a hairpin line structure is employed for the 2150 MHz band. Both filters are connected to the common port through a T junction. The diplexer layout has been optimized in order to ensure compactness. Good agreement between simulated and measured results has been obtained. The diplexer shows excellent performance in terms of high isolation and low insertion loss. A semi-lumped element model of the diplexer is also presented.
Campylobacter jejuni strains from patients with guillain‐barré syndrome belong mostly to penner serogrpup 19 and contain β‐N‐acetylglucosamine residues

Campylobactor jejuni was isolacted from stool cultures from 14(30%) of 46 partients with Guillain‐Barré syndrome and from 6(1.2%) of healthy persons, and the difference was highly significant (P<0.0001). In addition, serological evidence of recent. C. Jejuni infection. Ten of 12(83%) isolated from partients with Guillain‐Barré syndrome belonged to Penner serogroup 19, which is a rare serogroup in sporadic patients with C. Jejuni enterties. In the lection typing stude, all serogroup 19 strains from patients with Guillain‐Barré syndrome patients with Guillain‐Barré syndrome were shown to contain terminal b̃‐N‐acetylglucosamine residues on their cell surface, bur serogroup 19 strains from patients with enteritis were not.
Targeted next‐generation sequencing using fine‐needle aspirates from adenocarcinomas of the lung

Molecular testing of cancer is increasingly critical to medicine. Next‐generation sequencing (NGS) provides comprehensive, unbiased, and inexpensive mutation analysis of multiple genes with a single test. However, to the authors' knowledge, the usefulness of NGS in fine‐needle aspiration (FNA) specimens, which may be the only specimens available, is unknown. Non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is an ideal model in which to evaluate cytopathologic applications of NGS because FNA is used for diagnosis and staging and specific molecular therapeutic targets in NSCLC are known. Herein, the performance and quality of targeted NGS in FNA specimens from a small series of lung adenocarcinomas is evaluated.
Dynamic Capabilities and Transgenerational Value Creation in Family Firms

While some research on entrepreneurship in family businesses has focused on transgenerational value creation, a gap exists in understanding how such value is generated across generations. The present research offers insights through the lens of dynamic capabilities, which are created by knowledge and in turn generate entrepreneurial performance and value creation. A model is built based on literature and case research. The crucial role of the organizational culture emerges through the empirical study. Family inertia is considered to be a factor preventing the creation of dynamic capabilities. We find that family inertia depends on characteristics of the family business culture, where paternalism and entrepreneurial orientation influence family inertia positively and negatively, respectively. Family firms from Switzerland and Italy active in the beverage industry represent the empirical context. Theoretical and practical implications are offered. INTRODUCTION Family firms throughout the world are the most common form of organization, especially among small and medium-sized enterprises (Gersick et al., 1997; Westhead and Howorth, 2007). While family firms play crucial roles in the creation of economic and social wealth, they face significant challenges to survive and prosper across generations. Some family firms, however, have a striking ability to achieve longevity and maintain a competitive edge for many generations. This makes them a vital and important area of study with relevance also for other types of businesses (Miller and LeBreton-Miller, 2005). In particular, there is a strong interest among scholars to gain a deeper understanding of the role of entrepreneurship for long-term growth and longevity of family firms. Entrepreneurial family firms are able to foster competitive resource allocation processes towards value creation across generations (Habbershon and Pistrui, 2002; Sirmon and Hitt, 2003). They form a specific organizational context for entrepreneurship research as a result of the systemic interactions between the family, its members and the business (Habbershon and Williams, 1999).