Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An improved model aided navigation method with online dynamics parameters estimation for multirotor UAV (IEEE CGNCC)

In recent years, multi rotorcraft is widely used in monitoring and investigation field in the near ground environment. At present, inertial / GPS / magnetic sensor/barometric altimeter integrated navigation scheme is usually used in multi rotorcraft. Velocity information in this scheme is of great dependence on GPS, and the velocity error will diverge rapidly in GPS-denied circumstance. In this paper, the reliability improvement of navigation system is investigated in the case of GPS failure. An online aerodynamic parameters estimation method of multi rotorcraft ADM aided navigation is presented. And the feasibility of the method is verified through observability analysis. Simulation results show that the method proposed in this paper can effectively improve the estimation accuracy of velocity.
Improved backwards analysis for architectural vulnerability factor estimation

The effects of single event upsets (SEU) are becoming increasingly important to circuit designers. Exact and detailed error rate estimations are needed to determine a system's level of reliability. The architectural vulnerability factor (AVF) is a measure for the relative reliability of a circuit. In this paper we outline the properties of several known approaches such as statistical testing (fault injection), probabilistic error propagation and formal techniques. In addition we present necessary improvements to the Backwards Analysis method for AVF estimation. These improvements allow the analysis of any kind of RT-level circuit. Finally we present optimizations of the algorithm, which result in linear runtime overhead for the analysis of circuits compared to their simulation time.
Experimental spectral measurements of heavy K-edge filtered beams for x-ray computed mammotomography

A dual modality computed mammotomography (CmT) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system for dedicated 3D breast imaging is in development. Using heavy K-edge filtration, the CmT component narrows the energy spectrum of the cone-shaped x-ray beam incident on the patient's pendant, uncompressed breast. This quasi-monochromatic beam is expected to improve discrimination of tissue with similar attenuation coefficients while restraining absorbed dose to below that of dual view mammography. Previous simulation studies showed the optimal energy that maximizes dose efficiency for a 50/50% adipose/glandular breast is between 30 and 40 keV. This study experimentally validates these results using pre-breast and post-breast spectral measurements made under tungsten tube voltages between 40 and 100 kVp using filter materials with K-edge values ranging from 15 to 70 keV. Different filter material thicknesses are used, approximately equivalent to the 200th and 500th attenuating value layer (VL) thickness. Cerium (K = 40.4 keV) filtered post-breast spectra for 8–18 cm breasts are measured for a range of breast compositions. Figures of merit include mean beam energy, spectral full-width at tenth-maximum, beam hardening and dose for the range of breast sizes. Measurements corroborate simulation results, indicating that for a given dose, a 200th VL of cerium filtration may have optimal performance in the dedicated mammotomography paradigm.
Plasma Drug Activity in Patients on Treatment for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis

ABSTRACT Little is known about plasma drug concentrations relative to quantitative susceptibility in patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). We previously described a TB drug activity (TDA) assay that determines the ratio of the time to detection of plasma-cocultured Mycobacterium tuberculosis versus control growth in a Bactec MGIT system. Here, we assess the activity of individual drugs in a typical MDR-TB regimen using the TDA assay. We also examined the relationship of the TDA to the drug concentration at 2 h (C2) and the MICs among adults on a MDR-TB regimen in Tanzania. These parameters were also compared to the treatment outcome of sputum culture conversion. Individually, moxifloxacin yielded superior TDA results versus ofloxacin, and only moxifloxacin and amikacin yielded TDAs equivalent to a −2-log killing. In the 25 patients enrolled on a regimen of kanamycin, levofloxacin, ethionamide, pyrazinamide, and cycloserine, the C2 values were found to be below the expected range for levofloxacin in 13 (52%) and kanamycin in 10 (40%). Three subjects with the lowest TDA result (<1.5, a finding indicative of poor killing) had significantly lower kanamycin C2/MIC ratios than subjects with a TDA of ≥1.5 (9.8 ± 8.7 versus 27.0 ± 19.1; P = 0.04). The mean TDAs were 2.52 ± 0.76 in subjects converting to negative in ≤2 months and 1.88 ± 0.57 in subjects converting to negative in >2 months (P = 0.08). In Tanzania, MDR-TB drug concentrations were frequently low, and a wide concentration/MIC range was observed that affected plasma drug activity ex vivo. An opportunity exists for pharmacokinetic optimization in current MDR-TB regimens, which may improve treatment response.
Physiological factors involved in the transformation of Mycobacterium smegmatis

Transfer of streptomycin resistance and changes from methionine and leucine auxotrophy to prototrophy were achieved in Mycobacterium smegmatis by transformation. Recipient cells were more resistant to mitomycin C and methyl methlanesulfonate treatments than were wild-type cells. A high level of calcium ions was essential for transformation, especially during DNA adsorption, whereas the presence of magnesium ions and the exposure of recipient cells to mild doses of UV light enhanced recombination frequencies. Transformants were not isolated when recipient cell-DNA mixtures were first treated with deoxyribonuclease. Recipient cells at various stages of growth showed similar transformabilities. Transformation was successful only when recipient cells were incubated on rich agar medium after mixture with DNA. Exposure of recipient cells to Pronase before treatment with donor DNA did not affect transformation, suggesting the absence of a protein competence factor. Throughout the present experiments, cotransformation frequencies were very low and unselected-marker segregation patterns were independent, indicating that the methionine, leucine, and streptomycin markers are not closely linked in M. smegmatis.
Research on the Relationship between Iron Ore Futures Price and Spot Price in China

Based on cointegration test, vector error correction model and impulse response function, this paper took the relevant daily data from October 2013 to May 2018 as the research object to study the relationship between iron ore futures price and spot price in China. The results show that there is a long-term equilibrium relationship between iron ore futures price and spot price. Compared with the futures market, the spot market is more sensitive to the departure of short-term price from equilibrium, and adjusts long-term equilibrium more quickly. The spot price unidirectionally guides the futures price. The impact strength of the futures market on the spot market is higher than that of the spot market on the futures market. Keywords—Iron ore futures price; Iron ore spot price; Cointegration test; Vector error correction model; Impulse response
NNcon: improved protein contact map prediction using 2D-recursive neural networks

Protein contact map prediction is useful for protein folding rate prediction, model selection and 3D structure prediction. Here we describe NNcon, a fast and reliable contact map prediction server and software. NNcon was ranked among the most accurate residue contact predictors in the Eighth Critical Assessment of Techniques for Protein Structure Prediction (CASP8), 2008. Both NNcon server and software are available at http://casp.rnet. missouri.edu/nncon.html.
Structural Organization of the Laryngeal Motor Cortical Network and Its Implication for Evolution of Speech Production

The laryngeal motor cortex (LMC) is essential for the production of learned vocal behaviors because bilateral damage to this area renders humans unable to speak but has no apparent effect on innate vocalizations such as human laughing and crying or monkey calls. Several hypotheses have been put forward attempting to explain the evolutionary changes from monkeys to humans that potentially led to enhanced LMC functionality for finer motor control of speech production. These views, however, remain limited to the position of the larynx area within the motor cortex, as well as its connections with the phonatory brainstem regions responsible for the direct control of laryngeal muscles. Using probabilistic diffusion tractography in healthy humans and rhesus monkeys, we show that, whereas the LMC structural network is largely comparable in both species, the LMC establishes nearly 7-fold stronger connectivity with the somatosensory and inferior parietal cortices in humans than in macaques. These findings suggest that important “hard-wired” components of the human LMC network controlling the laryngeal component of speech motor output evolved from an already existing, similar network in nonhuman primates. However, the evolution of enhanced LMC–parietal connections likely allowed for more complex synchrony of higher-order sensorimotor coordination, proprioceptive and tactile feedback, and modulation of learned voice for speech production. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The role of the primary motor cortex in the formation of a comprehensive network controlling speech and language has been long underestimated and poorly studied. Here, we provide comparative and quantitative evidence for the significance of this region in the control of a highly learned and uniquely human behavior: speech production. From the viewpoint of structural network organization, we discuss potential evolutionary advances of enhanced temporoparietal cortical connections with the laryngeal motor cortex in humans compared with nonhuman primates that may have contributed to the development of finer vocal motor control necessary for speech production.
C-reactive protein and other circulating markers of inflammation in the prediction of coronary heart disease.

BACKGROUND C-reactive protein is an inflammatory marker believed to be of value in the prediction of coronary events. We report data from a large study of C-reactive protein and other circulating inflammatory markers, as well as updated meta-analyses, to evaluate their relevance to the prediction of coronary heart disease. METHODS Measurements were made in samples obtained at base line from up to 2459 patients who had a nonfatal myocardial infarction or died of coronary heart disease during the study and from up to 3969 controls without a coronary heart disease event in the Reykjavik prospective study of 18,569 participants. Measurements were made in paired samples obtained an average of 12 years apart from 379 of these participants in order to quantify within-person fluctuations in inflammatory marker levels. RESULTS The long-term stability of C-reactive protein values (within-person correlation coefficient, 0.59; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.52 to 0.66) was similar to that of both blood pressure and total serum cholesterol. After adjustment for base-line values for established risk factors, the odds ratio for coronary heart disease was 1.45 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.25 to 1.68) in a comparison of participants in the top third of the group with respect to base-line C-reactive protein values with those in the bottom third, and similar overall findings were observed in an updated meta-analysis involving a total of 7068 patients with coronary heart disease. By comparison, the odds ratios in the Reykjavik Study for coronary heart disease were somewhat weaker for the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (1.30; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.13 to 1.51) and the von Willebrand factor concentration (1.11; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.97 to 1.27) but generally stronger for established risk factors, such as an increased total cholesterol concentration (2.35; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.03 to 2.74) and cigarette smoking (1.87; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.62 to 2.16). CONCLUSIONS C-reactive protein is a relatively moderate predictor of coronary heart disease. Recommendations regarding its use in predicting the likelihood of coronary heart disease may need to be reviewed.
Lrrk2 R1441C parkinsonism is clinically similar to sporadic Parkinson diseaseSYMBOL

Objective:Leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) mutations are the most common cause of Parkinson disease (PD). Several dominantly inherited pathogenic substitutions have been identified in different domains of the Lrrk2 protein. Herein, we characterize the clinical and genetic features associated with Lrrk2 p.R1441C. Methods:We identified 33 affected and 15 unaffected LRRK2 c.4321C>T (p.R1441C) mutation carriers through an international consortium originating from three continents. The age-specific cumulative incidence of PD was calculated by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results:The clinical presentation of Lrrk2 p.R1441C carriers was similar to sporadic PD and Lrrk2 p.G2019S parkinsonism. The mean age at onset for parkinsonism was 60 years, range 30–79 years; fewer than 20% of the patients had symptoms before the age 50 years, while by 75 years >90% of them had developed symptoms. Haplotype analysis suggests four independent founders for the p.R1441C mutation. Conclusions:The distribution in age at onset and clinical features in Lrrk2 p.R1441C patients are similar to idiopathic and Lrrk2 p.G2019S parkinsonism. Several independent founders of the p.R1441C substitution suggest this site is prone to recurrent mutagenesis. GLOSSARYCOR = C-terminal of Roc; GTPase = guanosine triphosphatase; LBD = Lewy body disease; PD = Parkinson disease; SNPs = single nucleotide polymorphisms.
Economic growth, politics and institutions

After the introductory chapter, this thesis comprises three further chapters that aim to shed light on issues that are relevant to economic growth, politics and institutions. Chapter 2 studies transitions in individual preference for political parties, using a Markov chain. The partisanship preference is referred to as party identification (PID). This study proposes a novel method for estimating the individual-level Markov dynamics from aggregate-level data. This method is particularly useful when panel data that directly convey individual-level PID transitions cannot be accessed. It allows the identification of the most likely underlying dynamics from a set of potential Markov processes. It also enables the researcher to impose extra information or a hypothesis on the Markov chain and test for it. In this study, the proposed method is illustrated with U.S. cross-section data, estimating transitional matrices of PID Markov chains for African Americans and Caucasian Americans. The results have captured distinct dynamics between the two races. The transitional matrices are also estimated, imposing Mebane and Wand's [1997] "gradual transition hypothesis", which asserts that the PID of American people gradually transitions through "Independent status" rather than jumps from one extreme status to another (e.g., from Democrat to Republican and vice versa). Compared to the results gained without the gradual transition hypothesis, it is found that the individual-level persistence of some partisanship is enhanced for both African Americans and Caucasian Americans. Chapter 3 presents a political-economy model of endogenous growth intended to account for regional differences in growth. The model is described by parameters representing three local channels: a market, a political institution and inherent potential. These local channels serve to shape the balanced growth path of an economy via democratic elections. Electoral competition is modelled as probabilistic voting, in which conflicts of interests over allocation policies for a productive public good and a lump-sum transfer arise among heterogeneous agents. The Nash equilibrium is characterised by the joint distribution of agent types and ideology. The agent types are endogenously determined through an ex ante choice process. The voters' ideology is assumed to change over time according to Markov chains. This study has shown that the economy converges to the balanced growth path as the ideological Markov chains approach the steady state. Chapter 4 proposes this research's original growth accounting, using the political-
Characterization of the Structure and Function of a Novel MAP Kinase Kinase (MKK6) (*)

Mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinases require dual phosphorylation on threonine and tyrosine residues in order to gain enzymatic activity. This activation is carried out by a family of enzymes known as MAP kinase kinases (MKKs or MEKs). It appears that there are at least four subgroups in this family; MEK1/MEK2 subgroup that activates ERK1/ERK2, MEK5 that activates ERK5/BMK1, MKK3 that activates p38, and MKK4 that activates p38 and Jun kinase. Here we describe the characteristics of a new MKK termed MKK6. The clones we isolated encode two splice isoforms of human MKK6 comprised of 278 and 334 amino acids, respectively, and one murine MKK6 with 237 amino acids. Sequence information derived from cDNA cloning indicated that MKK6 is most closely related to MKK3. The functional data revealed from co-transfection assays suggests that MKK6, like MKK3, selectively phosphorylates p38. Unlike the previously described MKKs (or MEKs), MKK6 exists in a variety of alternatively spliced isoforms with distinct patterns of tissue expression. This suggests novel mechanisms regulating activation and/or function of various forms of MKK6.
Cloning, sequencing, and recombinant expression of the porcine inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase: a novel member of the transferrin family.

The plasma from many vertebrates contains a component that specifically binds and inhibits carbonic anhydrase II with nanomolar affinity. Amino-terminal sequencing of pICA, the previously identified 79-kDa carbonic anhydrase inhibitor isolated from porcine plasma [Roush, E. D. , & Fierke, C. A. (1992) Biochemistry 31, 12536-12542], and sequencing of four proteolytic fragments of pICA revealed that each of the partial sequences has 40-80% sequence identity with members of the transferrin protein family. We describe here the isolation of a full-length cDNA clone of pICA from a lambda gt11 porcine liver cDNA library. Heterologous expression of this cDNA clone in a Pichia pastoris expression system led to the secretion into the medium of 5 mg/L of a 79-kDa protein that specifically reacts with anti-pICA antibodies and binds tightly to a carbonic anhydrase-Sepharose affinity column. Pairwise sequential alignment of pICA with various transferrins reveals an amino acid identity as high as 64% and predicts that 16 transferrin disulfide bonds are conserved. However, despite these structural similarities, the properties of pICA are distinct from the properties of transferrin. pICA exhibits a significantly decreased affinity for iron that can be attributed to the loss of one of the eight amino acids that coordinate iron in the transferrins as well as both of the arginine residues responsible for anion binding. In addition, the antigenic determinants of pICA and the transferrins are not identical. These data imply that pICA, along with saxiphilin, is a member of a diverse superfamily of transferrin-like proteins with functions other than iron binding.
An Analysis of Competitiveness and Complementarity between China and Guinea Trade under the qThe Belt and Roadq Initiative

With the continuous advancement of the “The Belt and Road” initiative and the continuous development of China-Africa trade cooperation, bilateral trade development between China and Guinea has also ushered in new opportunities. At present, China has become one of the largest trading partners and largest investors of Guinea. By measuring the Export Similarity Index (ESI), Trade Intensity Index (TII), Intra-industry Trade Index (G-L Index)and Revealed Comparative Advantage Index ( RCA ) , this paper analyzes the competitiveness and complementarity of bilateral trade between China and Guinea. The results show that China and Guinea have weaker trade competitiveness but strong complementarities, and huge potential for trade cooperation. It puts forward proposals for improving China and Guinea to jointly discuss and build a sharing mechanism, promote the construction of the “The Belt and Road” infrastructure, and build a China-Guinea economic and trade cooperation industrial park.
ALTERED DEFAULT MODE NETWORK (DMN) RESTING STATE FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY FOLLOWING A MINDFULNESS‐BASED EXPOSURE THERAPY FOR POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) IN COMBAT VETERANS OF AFGHANISTAN AND IRAQ

Recent studies suggest that mindfulness may be an effective component for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatment. Mindfulness involves practice in volitional shifting of attention from “mind wandering” to present‐moment attention to sensations, and cultivating acceptance. We examined potential neural correlates of mindfulness training using a novel group therapy (mindfulness‐based exposure therapy (MBET)) in combat veterans with PTSD deployed to Afghanistan (OEF) and/or Iraq (OIF).
Does team midwife care increase satisfaction with antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care? A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND Although policymakers have suggested that improving continuity of midwifery can increase women's satisfaction with care in childbirth, evidence based on randomized controlled trials is lacking. New models of care, such as birth centers and team midwife care, try to increase the continuity of care and caregiver. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a new team midwife care program in the standard clinic and hospital environment on satisfaction with antenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care in low-risk women in early pregnancy. METHODS Women at Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, were randomly allocated to team midwife care (n = 495) or standard care (n = 505) at booking in early pregnancy. Doctors attended most women in standard care, and continuity of the caregiver was lacking. Satisfaction was measured by means of a postal questionnaire 2 months after the birth. RESULTS Team midwife care was associated with increased satisfaction, and the differences between the groups were most noticeable for antenatal care, less noticeable for intrapartum care, and least noticeable for postpartum care. The study found no differences between team midwife care and standard care in medical interventions or in women's emotional well-being 2 months after the birth. CONCLUSION Conclusions about which components of team midwife care were most important to increased satisfaction with antenatal care were difficult to draw, but data suggest that satisfaction with intrapartum care was related to continuity of the caregiver.
Industrial Development of High-Throughput Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

Considering measurement throughput is important for developing practical devices for nondestructive examinations that use terahertz waves. In the optical communications field, optical sampling technology is used to measure optical time division multiplexing, high-speed sweeping technology in terahertz wave spectroscopic devices, high throughput measurement, and other ultra-high-speed optical signals. In this study, we introduce terahertz wave analysis systems that utilize the terahertz optical sampling method. Furthermore, we provide measurement examples and describe industrial applications for terahertz waves.