Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Urbanization in the Framework of the Spatial Structuring of Social Institutions: A Discussion of Concepts with Reference to British Material

The object of this paper is to develop a framework for the study of the 'urbanization' of British society under capitalist industrialism. By a framework I mean a relatively simple set of concepts which focus on urbanization in sociological terms, Here the study of British urbanization is faced with a seeming paradox. In contrast to the development of theory in the study of urbanization in areas of peripheral or dependent capitalism, the theoretical analysis of British urbanization, as an aspect of the growth of advanced capitalism, is poorly developed. 2 Yet there has in recent times been a flowering of historical studies of urban life in the nineteenth century. This calls for explanation and comment. Very few authors have tried to formulate systematic theoretical accounts of British urbanization. In one such attempt, however, Berry claims that there is no single process of urbanization and that one cannot take nineteenthcentury European experience as a model for other periods and regions of the world 3 I agree with him, but in making the claim he gives the impression that the nineteenth-century experience of European urbanization is well understood, Hence he devotes only one chapter, of nine pages, to describing it, and the bulk of this chapter dwells on theories, 'conventional wisdoms', and on how to deal with the consequences of urbanization. Yet what is urbanization? It is significant to note that Berry takes A. F. Weber as his main text. 4 He thus inevitably conceptualizes urbanization mainly in demographic terms. The problem, as he sees it, is the concentration of population in towns, and this is explained mainly as the result of economic change, especially increasing productive efficiency, the developing specialization and division of labour, and the large-scale shift from agriculture to industry. Hence, the structure of the industrial city is analysed within demographic parameters: patterns of migration, age composition, etc.
Gender differences in body composition deficits at diagnosis in children and adolescents with Crohn's disease

Background: Childhood Crohn's disease (CD) is associated with poor growth and decreased body mass index (BMI); however, lean mass (LM) and fat mass (FM) deficits prior to therapy have not been characterized. Objectives: To quantify LM and FM in incident pediatric CD subjects and controls, and to identify determinants of LM and FM deficits. Methods: Whole body LM and FM were assessed using DXA in 78 CD subjects and 669 healthy controls, ages 5‐21 yr. Gender specific z‐scores for LM (LM‐Ht) and FM (FM‐Ht) relative to height were derived using log linear regression models in the controls. Multivariate linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders. Results: CD was associated with significantly lower height and BMI for age. Within CD subjects, FM‐Ht and LM‐Ht were significantly lower in females compared with males (FM‐Ht z: −0.66 ± 0.83 vs. −0.08 ± 0.95, p < 0.01; LM‐Ht z: −1.12 ± 1.12 vs. −0.57 ± 0.99, p < 0.05). In females, CD was associated with significantly lower LM‐Ht (p < 0.001) and FM‐Ht (p = 0.001), adjusted for age, race and Tanner stage, compared with controls. LM and FM deficits were significantly greater in older females with CD; 47% of adolescent females had LM‐Ht ≤ 5th percentile. In non‐black males, CD was also associated with lower LM‐Ht (p < 0.02); FM‐Ht deficits were not significant. Conclusions: Incident CD was associated with significant LM deficits in males and females, and FM deficits in females. Future studies are needed to identify etiologies for the age and gender differences and to evaluate therapies for these deficits.
Selective enrichment of DJ‐1 protein in primate striatal neuronal processes: Implications for Parkinson's disease

Mutations in DJ‐1 cause autosomal recessive, early‐onset Parkinson's disease (PD). The precise function and distribution of DJ‐1 in the central nervous system remain unclear. In this study, we performed a comprehensive analysis of DJ‐1 expression in human, monkey, and rat brains with antibodies that recognize distinct, evolutionarily conserved epitopes of DJ‐1. We found that DJ‐1 displays region‐specific neuronal and glial labeling in human and nonhuman primate brain, sharply contrasting with the primarily neuronal expression pattern observed throughout rat brain. Further immunohistochemical analysis of DJ‐1 expression in human and nonhuman primate brains showed that DJ‐1 protein is expressed in neurons within the substantia nigra pars compacta and striatum, two regions critically involved in PD pathogenesis. Moreover, immunoelectron microscopic analysis revealed a selective enrichment of DJ‐1 within primate striatal axons, presynaptic terminals, and dendritic spines with respect to the DJ‐1 expression in prefrontal cortex. Together, these findings indicate neuronal and synaptic expression of DJ‐1 in primate subcortical brain regions and suggest a physiological role for DJ‐1 in the survival and/or function of nigral‐striatal neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 500:585–599, 2007. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Performance of Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems in Fixed and Sun-Tracking Configurations

This paper deals with the performance of grid- connected photovoltaic (PV) systems with parallel-connected converters. The focus of the paper is twofold. The first part concerns the assessment of the energy production and of the operational characteristics of multiple photovoltaic systems in Sun-tracking configurations, comparing their performance to the one of the corresponding fixed PV systems. The second part refers to assessing the harmonic characteristics of the integration of several converters in PV plants of various size. Different indicators are taken into account, including the individual and total harmonic distortion, the harmonic and interharmonic summation ratios at different harmonic orders, as well as the indicators formulated in the IEC Std. 61000-4-7 for group total harmonic distortion (THDG) and subgroup total harmonic distortion (THDS). Results from PV applications in Germany and Italy are shown and discussed.
HRV4Training: Large-scale longitudinal training load analysis in unconstrained free-living settings using a smartphone application

We describe an approach to support athletes at various fitness levels in their training load analysis using heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV). A smartphone-based application (HRV4Training) was developed that captures heart activity over one to five minutes using photoplethysmography (PPG) and derives HR and HRV features. HRV4Training integrated a guide for an early morning spot measurement protocol and a questionnaire to capture self-reported training activity. The smartphone application was made publicly available for interested users to quantify training effect. Here we analyze data acquired over a period of 3 weeks to 5 months, including 797 users, breaking down results by gender and age group. Our results suggest a strong relation between HR, HRV and self-reported training load independent of gender and age group. HRV changes due to training were larger than those of HR. We conclude that smartphone-based training monitoring is feasible and a can be used as a practical tool to support large populations outside controlled laboratory environments.
Evidence that phospholipase C‐dependent, calcium‐independent mechanisms are required for directional migration of T lymphocytes in response to the CCR4 ligands CCL17 and CCL22

Macrophage‐derived chemokine [CC chemokine ligand 22 (CCL22)] and thymus‐ and activation‐regulated chemokine (CCL17) mediate cellular effects, principally by binding to their receptor CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) and together, constitute a multifunctional chemokine/receptor system with homeostatic and inflammatory roles within the body. This study demonstrates that CCL22 and CCL17 stimulate pertussis toxin‐sensitive elevation of intracellular calcium in the CEM leukemic T cell line and human peripheral blood‐derived T helper type 2 (Th2) cells. Inhibition of phospholipase C (PLC) resulted in the abrogation of chemokine‐mediated calcium mobilization. Chemokine‐stimulated calcium responses were also abrogated completely by the inhibition of inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate [Ins(1,4,5)P3] receptor‐mediated calcium release. Chemotactic responses of CEM and human Th2 cells to CCL17 and CCL22 were similarly abrogated by inhibition of PLC and inhibition of novel, Ca2+‐independent/diacylglycerol‐dependent protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms. Inhibition of Ins(1,4,5)P3 receptor‐mediated calcium release from intracellular stores had no effect on chemotactic responses to CCR4 ligands. Taken together, this study provides compelling evidence of an important role for PLC and diacylglycerol‐dependent effector mechanisms (most likely involving novel PKC isoforms) in CCL17‐ and CCL22‐stimulated, directional cell migration. In this regard, CCL22 stimulates phosphatidylinositol‐3 kinase‐independent phosphorylation of the novel δ isoform of PKC at threonine 505, situated within its activation loop—an event closely associated with increased catalytic activity.
Efficiency-based optimization of steady-state operating points for parallel source converters in stand-alone power system

The operation efficiency is always considered to be a significant issue for power electronics system, such as parallel source converters in stand-alone power system. Quite a few solutions have been developed to increase power conversion efficiency of a single converter. However, existing work concerning efficiency issue on system level is scarce. On the basis of hierarchical multilevel control theory, this paper proposed a coordinative control strategy on tertiary level to optimize steady-state operating points for each source converter in the system, reducing losses and improving the overall efficiency. Based on the quadratic loss model, the optimal power distribution ratio between two converters is firstly analyzed. By introducing the concept of equivalent converter loss model, a forward-backward sweep calculation method is generalized to N-parallel-converter system. Furthermore, the successive switching points of N converters are precisely designed to maintain minimum system losses under full load range. According to datasheets of typical industrial products, calculation examples are presented to demonstrate the validity of this proposed strategy. The maximum and average efficiency improvement is 1.55 and 0.56 in percentage respectively. Considering the rising development of renewable energy generation and microgrids, this efficiency increase will contribute considerable energy and economic savings in the long run.
Fetoplacental chromosomal discrepancy

Chorionic villus sampling is now an acceptable alternative to second trimester amniocentesis. Several reports have raised concerns about the occurrence of discrepancies between the chorionic villi and fetal chromosomal constitution, which adds multiple diagnostic complexities to the process of prenatal genetic counselling. We report on a series of 26 cases in which fetoplacental discrepancies have occurred. The chromosomal aberration was exclusively confined to the placenta in 21 cases. Twice the identical aberration was also observed in amniotic fluid with variant range of aneuploidy. The chromosomal abnormality was found in amniotic fluid and fetal blood samples in two cases, and was absent in chorionic villi. One case had very unusual cytogenetic findings as two different non‐mosaic chromosomal abnormalities were identified separately in the placenta and amniocytes. Among the 21 gestations with confined placental abnormal karyotype, three cases of intrauterine growth retardation were identified. Of six cases evaluated for uniparental disomy, four demonstrated biparental inheritance. These findings support a positive correlation between placental aneuploidy and abnormal fetal development. They also emphasize the importance of further DNA analysis whenever discrepant karyotype findings between the placenta and amniocytes are identified. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Subgingival microbiota in adult Down syndrome periodontitis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The subgingival microbiota in Down syndrome and non-Down syndrome adults receiving periodic dental care was examined for 40 bacterial species using checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization and the results were related to clinical periodontal attachment loss. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 44 Down syndrome, 66 non-Down syndrome mentally retarded and 83 mentally normal adults were clinically evaluated. This involved, for each subject, the removal of subgingival specimens from three interproximal sites on different teeth; all subgingival samples per subject were then pooled and assessed for the presence and levels of 40 bacterial species using species-specific whole-genomic DNA probes and checkerboard DNA-DNA hybridization. Significant group differences in species proportions averaged across subjects were evaluated using the Kruskal-Wallis test, and associations between subgingival species and mean subject attachment loss within Down syndrome and non-Down syndrome subject groups were quantified using Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analysis. RESULTS Down syndrome subjects exhibited greater attachment loss than non-Down syndrome subjects (p=0.05). Most microbial species were present in Down syndrome subjects at levels similar to non-Down syndrome subjects, except for higher proportions of Selenomonas noxia, Propionibacterium acnes, Streptococcus gordonii, Streptococcus mitis and Streptococcus oralis in Down syndrome subjects compared with non-Down syndrome study subjects, higher proportions of Treponema socranskii in Down syndrome subjects compared with non-Down syndrome mentally retarded subjects, and higher proportions of Streptococcus constellatus in Down syndrome subjects compared with mentally normal subjects. Down syndrome adults classified with periodontitis revealed higher subgingival levels of T. socranskii than Down syndrome subjects with no periodontitis (p=0.02). Higher subgingival proportions of S. constellatus, Fusobacterium nucleatum ssp. nucleatum, S. noxia and Prevotella nigrescens showed significant positive correlations (r=0.35-0.42) and higher proportions of Actinomyces naeslundii II and Actinomyces odontolyticus showed negative correlations (r=-0.36 to -0.40), with increasing mean subject attachment loss in Down syndrome adults. CONCLUSION Individuals with Down syndrome show higher levels of some subgingival bacterial species and specific associations between certain subgingival bacterial species and loss of periodontal attachment. These findings are consistent with the notion that certain subgingival bacteria may contribute to the increased level of periodontal disease seen in Down syndrome individuals and raise the question as to the reason for increased colonization in Down syndrome.
Early Detection of Osteoporosis by Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry

Background and Objective: An early detection of osteoporosis through DEXA procedure will not only improve the disease management practices but also would help in impeding national productivity losses by mass screening and awareness. Our objective was to measure efficacy of DEXA procedure in early detection of osteoporosis and prevention of its complications. Methods: This case series observational study was designed to confirm the bone mineral density by dual energy x-ray absorptiometery (DEXA). The duration of study was three years from November 2010 to October 2013. Subjects aged between 30 (when the risk of osteoporosis is low) to 60 (when osteoporosis is almost sure to be found). Results: Three hundred thirty patients were evaluated. There were 23 (6.96%) male and 307 (93.03%) female. Normal male were 09 (39.10%), osteopenia 11 (47.80%) and osteoporosis 3 (13%). Normal females were 72 (23.50%), osteopenia 140 (45.60%) and osteoporosis 95 (30.90%). P-value was more then 0.005 and not significant. Mean age was 48.73, minimum 30, maximum 60 and SD 7.247. Population category distribution was 243(76.6%) from urban and 87(26.4%) rural. In urban areas normal were 56(23%), osteopenia 113(46.50%) and osteoporosis 74(30.50%). In rural areas normal 25(28.70%), osteopenia 38(43.70%) and osteoporosis 24(27.60%). P-value was 0.567. Out of 330 there were 81(24.54%) normal, 98 ((29.69%) osteoporosis and 151 (45.75%) osteopenia. Conclusion: Osteopenia was the most common diagnosis mostly in younger age group and early diagnosis of this problem can help prevent osteoporosis.
A highly efficient rate control algorithm for JPEG2000 images

The JPEG2000 image compression standard is the newest still image compression standard for digital image consumer electronics, such as digital cameras. However, Tier-1 encoding in the JPEG2000 standard algorithm requires a significant amount of memory and code time. In this study, a highly efficient and low-complexity rate control algorithm for JPEG2000 is proposed to reduce the memory requirements and the computation time. A revisable threshold is developed and is used to select the passes of each code block during Tier-1 encoding. Only the selected passes are encoded during Tier-1 and Tier-2 encoding. This routine avoids the encoding of all code passes and improves the coding efficiency. The experimental results based on standard test images show that the proposed algorithm can reduce the Tier- 1 coding time by up to 86.36% and the working memory by up to 95.50% at a bit rate of 0.125 bpp in comparison to the post-compression rate distortion algorithm. The peak-signal-to-noise ratio across the images remains almost unchanged. The proposed algorithm can not only significantly improve the encoding efficiency but also maintain the image quality. Therefore, it can be applied to consumer imaging devices such as digital cameras, cameras in mobile phones and compact consumer cameras in the form of either embedded or processing software to reduce the memory and hardware requirements.
Marathi digit recognition using lip geometric shape features and dynamic time warping

The aim of our proposed research work is to identify language of spoken utterance using visual speech recognition and include Marathi language in language identification (LID) system. In this paper we have focused on the task of identifying first three digits in Marathi language. For this first Lips are extracted from video frames of face images and then landmark points on the lips are detected. Then lip features like height, width, area are calculated using these landmark points. In this paper we have analyse different geometric shape features of lips like height, width, area and height width ratio in the task of first three Marathi Digit Recognition using visual speech recognition. Dynamic Time warping is used for classification of time series sequence of each utterance. The result of the experiment shows that the recognition rate with feature ΔW (width) is nearly 63% which is highest as compare to other features.
Double-Circuit Transmission-Line Fault Location With the Availability of Limited Voltage Measurements

This paper presents a new approach for locating short-circuit faults on a double-circuit transmission line. Various algorithms have been proposed previously that usually require measurements recorded from one or two buses of the faulted line. However, such measurements may not always be available in some scenarios, rendering inapplicability of existing methods. To complement existing methods, this paper proposes a novel, general fault-location method by harnessing voltage measurements at one or more buses, which may not be taken from the faulted line. The bus impedance matrix of each sequence network with the addition of a fictitious bus at the fault point can be derived as a function of the fault location. The fault location can then be obtained based on the bus impedance matrix and voltage measurements. The distributed parameter line model is utilized. The network data are assumed to be available so that the bus impedance matrix can be constructed. When multiple voltage measurements are available, an optimal estimator capable of identifying bad measurement data is also proposed for enhanced fault location. Since field data are not available at this time, simulated data are utilized for evaluation studies, and quite accurate results have been achieved.
Effects of elevated CO(2) and light availability on the photosynthetic light response of trees of contrasting shade tolerance.

Photosynthetic light response curves (A/PPFD), leaf N concentration and content, and relative leaf absorbance (alpha(r)) were measured in 1-year-old seedlings of shade-intolerant Betula papyrifera Marsh. , moderately shade-tolerant Quercus rubra L. and shade-tolerant Acer rubrum L. Seedlings were grown in full sun or 26% of full sun (shade) and in ambient (350 ppm) or elevated (714 ppm) CO(2) for 80 days. In the shade treatments, 80% of the daily PPFD on cloud-free days was provided by two 30-min sun patches at midday. In Q. rubra and A. rubrum, leaf N concentration and alpha(r) were significantly higher in seedlings in the shade treatments than in the sun treatments, and leaf N concentration was lower in seedlings in the ambient CO(2) treatments than in the elevated CO(2) treatments. Changes in alpha(r) and leaf N content suggest that reapportionment of leaf N into light harvesting machinery in response to shade and elevated CO(2) tended to increase with increasing shade tolerance of the plant. Shifts induced by elevated CO(2) in the A/PPFD relationship in sun plants were largest in B. papyrifera and least in A. rubrum: the reverse was true for shade plants. Elevated CO(2) resulted in increased light-saturated A in every species x light treatment combination, except in shaded B. papyrifera. The light compensation point (Gamma) decreased in response to shade in all species, and in response to elevated CO(2) in A. rubrum and Q. rubra. Acer rubrum had the greatest increases in apparent quantum yield (phi) in response to shade and elevated CO(2). To illustrate the effects of shifts in A, Gamma and phi on daily C gain, daily integrated C balance was calculated for individual sun and shade leaves. Ignoring possible stomatal effects, estimated daily (24 h) leaf C balance was 218 to 442% higher in the elevated CO(2) treatments than in the ambient CO(2) treatments in both sun and shade seedlings of Q. rubra and A. rubrum. These results suggest that the ability of species to acclimate photosynthetically to elevated CO(2) may, in part, be related to their ability to adapt to low irradiance. Such a relationship has implications for altered C balance and nitrogen use efficiency of understory seedlings.
Identification of induction motor at standstill using artificial neural network

This work deals with electric parameters identification of the induction motor at standstill using Adaline (ADAptive LInear NEuron) which is a type of ANN (artificial neural network). We will show that, at standstill, the motor can be expressed by a second order differential equation linking the current to the voltage. This second order transfer function can be approximated by two first order differential equations: one valid at the low frequencies and the other at the high frequencies. This decomposition in two subsystems, slow and fast, reduce much constraints related to the experiment. The identification, by ANN, of the coefficients corresponding to the two differential equations, enables us to go back easily to the electric parameters of the motor. The use of Adaline as identifier is not fortuitous; it is possible to interpret physically the weights, which is not done generally with the multi-layer neural network. In our case these weights merge with the constant parameters of the discretized equations.