Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Plant-model mismatch evaluation for unconstrained MPC with state estimation

In this paper, we develop an autocovariance-based method for estimating plant-model mismatch in unconstrained linear model predictive control systems that use a Kalman filter state estimator. Assuming knowledge of the noise structure, we derive an expression for the autocovariance of the process outputs as a function of (an additive) plant-model mismatch. We then formulate the mismatch estimation problem as an optimization problem aiming to minimize the discrepancy between the theoretical autocovariance and the sample estimator of the autocovariance, obtained from closed-loop operating data collected during steady-state operation. Case studies are provided to demonstrate the performance of the approach.
Immunity proteins from mosquito cell lines include three defensin A isoforms from Aedesaegypti and a defensin D from Aedesalbopictus

An Aedes aegypti mosquito cell line, Aag‐2, exhibits a response to immune stimulation that is qualitatively similar to that of C7–10 cultured cells from the related mosquito, Aedes albopictus. Using SDS polyacrylamide gels, we found that a small peptide was preferentially induced by the treatment of growing cells with heat‐killed, Gram‐positive bacteria. By an analogy with other studies, this small peptide was postulated to be a member of the defensin family of insect immunity peptides. A differential display was used to obtain partial polymerase chain reaction products corresponding to mRNAs that were preferentially expressed in induced cells. One of these products, which contained the partial sequence of a defensin gene, was used to screen cDNA libraries from Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus cells. From Ae. aegypti cells, we found two previously described isoforms (A1 and A4) of mosquito defensin A, as well as a new isoform which we defined as A5. From Ae. albopictus cells, we found a new mature mosquito defensin, named D, which contains proline and isoleucine as the final amino acids. In both Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus cell lines, the expression of defensin mRNA was visible on Northern blots as early as 3 h after exposure to heat‐killed bacteria, and defensin mRNA abundance was maximal at 12–36 h after induction.
Developing and Testing an Integrative Framework for Open Government Adoption in Local Governments

Open government is an important innovation to foster trustworthy and inclusive governments. The authors develop and test an integrative theoretical framework drawing from theories on policy diffusion and innovation adoption. Based on this, they investigate how structural, cultural, and environmental variables explain three dimensions of open government: accessibility, transparency, and participation. The framework is tested by combining 2014 survey data and observational data from 500 local U.S. government websites. Organizational structure, including technological and organizational capacity, is a determinant shared by all dimensions of open government. Furthermore, accessibility is affected by a mixture of an innovative and participative culture and external pressures. A flexible and innovative culture positively relates to higher levels of transparency, whereas capacity is a strong predictor of adopting participatory features. The main conclusion is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to fostering the three dimensions of open government, as each dimension is subject to a unique combination of determinants.
Towards wireless neural electrodes: System-integration for stimulating and recording of nerve signals

In this paper we present the developed components and the electronic packaging design for a miniaturized, wireless neural electrode. Particularly, the whole system consists of a hook-up electrode for contacting the nerve and an electronic part that generates and sends stimulating signals to the nerve and records the neural signals. The hook-up electrode has been designed in a way that enhances the easy of positioning during the medical procedure and consists of biocompatible materials in order to avoid toxic tissue reactions. The most important component of the electronic part is a developed ASIC, which receives power and data from a coil and generates the stimulating signals and records signals coming from the nerve. The telemetric power and data transmission is based on a transponder principle. A separate sending and reading unit laid under the patient is providing energy and data transmission to the wireless system for stimulation and recording. The assembly of all components is ensured by a system-integration approach that maintains functioning of the whole wireless system properly and reliably. In this regard, the proposed wireless neural electrode offers a promising alternative for applications in neural electrical stimulation and recording.
Assessment of up and down spinning reserve considering transmission constraints

In this paper a new model is proposed to schedule the capacity of both up and down spinning reserve (SR) considering transmission constraints. Up SR is seen as the most important resource to cope with many contingencies and it is well studied, while the down SR is ignored by many papers especially when network constraints are considered. Ignoring the down SR would cause sub-optimal or even unfeasible solution. In this paper an iterative process is proposed to schedule up and down SR and the importance of down SR will be analyzed and illustrated. At each iteration of the process, the up SR cost is firstly minimized with respect to reserve constraints and reliability constraints and then the sum of expected interruption cost and down SR cost is minimized with respect to various post- contingency constraints under each contingency event to alleviate transmission congestion. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by the Roy Billinton Test System (RBTS) and the results are analyzed to illustrate the significance of down SR in the market-clearing model with transmission constraints.
Random GFP::cDNA fusions enable visualization of subcellular structures in cells of Arabidopsis at a high frequency.

We describe a general approach for identifying components of subcellular structures in a multicellular organism by exploiting the ability to generate thousands of independent transformants in Arabidopsis thaliana. A library of Arabidopsis cDNAs was constructed so that the cDNAs were inserted at the 3' end of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) coding sequence. The library was introduced en masse into Arabidopsis by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Fluorescence imaging of 5,700 transgenic plants indicated that approximately 2% of lines expressed a fusion protein with a different subcellular distribution than that of soluble GFP. About half of the markers identified were targeted to peroxisomes or other subcellular destinations by non-native coding sequence (i.e., out-of-frame cDNAs). This observation suggests that some targeting signals are of sufficiently low information content that they can be generated frequently by chance. The potential of the approach for identifying markers with unique dynamic processes is demonstrated by the identification of a GFP fusion protein that displays a cell-cycle regulated change in subcellular distribution. Our results indicate that screening GFP-fusion protein libraries is a useful approach for identifying and visualizing components of subcellular structures and their associated dynamics in higher plant cells.
How Have Restaurant Firms Responded to Food Safety Crises? Evidence From Media Coverage

ABSTRACT Media communication has become a crucial part of crisis communications due to the rapid dissemination of information along with its immense impact on consumers and other stakeholders. Based on a structured content analysis of electronic media reports on restaurant-associated food safety crises from 1993 to 2015, this study examined media reporting patterns focusing on three elements: instructing information, crisis response strategies, and stakeholders. This study also identified the effect of situational factors (severity of risk and crisis type) on the media reporting patterns using Chi-square tests. The results indicated that restaurant firms were more likely to use proactive than passive response strategies, and identified primary stakeholders during a food safety crisis such as regulatory agencies, victims, and customers. Finally, two situational factors were found to influence the pattern of media reporting. The media reporting patterns were found to vary by risk severity and crisis type.
Helpers' Self-Assessment Biases Before and after Helping Skills Training

Several studies have shown that therapists are generally biased concerning their performed helping skills, as compared to judges' ratings. As clients' ratings of therapists' performance are better predictors of psychotherapy effectiveness than judges' ratings, this study examined the validity and effectiveness of a helping skills training program at reducing novice helpers' self-enhancement biases concerning their helping skills, in comparison to their clients' ratings. Helping skills were assessed by three objective measures (a knowledge multiple choice test, a video test and a role play), as well as by a self- and peer-reported questionnaire. In addition, some performed helping skills' correlates (relationship quality, session quality, and helpers' therapeutic attitudes) were assessed both by helpers and their simulated helpees. Seventy-two sophomores in psychology participated to this study, 37 being assigned to a 12-h helping skills training program, and 35 to a control group. Helpers were expected to assess the aforementioned performed helping skills and correlates as being better than their helpees' assessments at pretest, thus revealing a self-enhancement bias. At posttest, we expected that trained helpers would objectively exhibit better helping skills than untrained helpers while beginning to underestimate their performance, thus indexing a self-diminishment bias. In contrast, we hypothesized that untrained helpers would continue to overestimate their performance. Our hypotheses were only partly confirmed but results reflected a skilled-unaware pattern among trainees. Trained helpers went either from a pretest overestimation to a posttest equivalence (performed helping skills and performed therapeutic attitudes), or from a pretest equivalence to a posttest underestimation (performed session quality and performed therapeutic relationship), as compared to helpees' ratings. Results showed that trained helpers improved on all helping skills objective measures and that helpees' perceptions of their performance had increased at posttest. In conclusion, helping skills training leads helpers not only to improve their helping skills but also to have more doubts about their skills, two variables associated with psychotherapy outcome.
Asymmetric Hardware Distortions in Receive Diversity Systems: Outage Performance Analysis

This paper studies the impact of asymmetric hardware distortion (HWD) on the performance of receive diversity systems using linear and Selection combining receivers. The asymmetric attribute of the proposed model motivates the employment of improper Gaussian signaling (IGS) scheme rather than the traditional proper Gaussian signaling (PGS) scheme. The achievable rate performance is analyzed for the ideal and non-ideal hardware scenarios using PGS and IGS transmission schemes for different combining receivers. In addition, the IGS statistical characteristics are optimized to maximize the achievable rate performance. Moreover, the outage probability performance of the receive diversity systems is analyzed yielding closed form expressions for both PGS- and IGS-based transmission schemes. HWD systems that employ IGS are proven to efficiently combat the self-interference caused by the HWD. Furthermore, the obtained analytic expressions are validated through Monte Carlo simulations. Eventually, non-ideal hardware transceivers degradation and IGS scheme acquired compensation are quantified through suitable numerical results.
Modeling and characterization of an aircraft electric power system with a fuel cell-equipped APU connected at HVDC bus

A hybrid power source consisting from a fuel cell and a battery is proposed as an auxiliary power unit (APU) for the more electric aircraft (MEA) applications. The output of the fuel cell is controlled using a DC/DC boost converter to provide the voltage of the aircraft 270-VDC bus. The fuel cell and the battery are controlled by using DC/DC converters to provide 270-VDC at their outputs. The output of both fuel cell and battery are connected in parallel at the 270-VDC bus of the aircraft system. Connection at the 270-VDC bus provides several merits for the MEA system; it is simple, feeding DC loads and AC loads through the generator channel 12-pulse inverter, light weight and more economical. The fuel cell/battery hybrid system rating is chosen to be 60-kW to provide power for the aircraft loads in case of the main generator failure or maintenance. To comply with the aircraft standard of MIL-STD-704F and the IEEE Std. 519–1992, an active power filter (APF) is connected at the synchronous generator terminals to reduce or eliminate the harmonics generated from the power converters. The studied aircraft electric power system with the proposed fuel cell/battery hybrid system is simulated without and with the presence of the APF and it is found that the APF reduced the voltage and frequency transients of the system and improves the aircraft electric system performance.
A Longitudinal Investigation of Perceived Control and Cognitive Performance in Young, Midlife and Older Adults

ABSTRACT Longitudinal associations between generalized control beliefs (one's perceived capacity to influence events) and cognitive test performance were examined in a population-based sample of young, midlife and older adults. Participants provided measures of perceived control, self-assessed health, education and depression and anxiety symptoms, and completed cognitive tests at two assessments, 4 years apart. For each age group, baseline (between-person) control was positively related to performance on tests of memory (immediate recall and digits backwards), speed (Symbol Digit Modalities Test and choice reaction time) and verbal intelligence (Spot-the-Word). Interaction effects indicated stronger associations of between-person control beliefs with indices of speed for the older age group relative to the younger groups. Within-person changes in control were not significantly associated with changes in cognitive test performance over the study interval. Implications of the findings for self-efficacy based interventions designed to promote cognitive functioning are discussed.
Development of compact bandpass filters with SIW triangular cavities

Using substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) triangle cavity as basic element, a new class of SIW cavity compact bandpass filters are designed, fabricated and measured at X-band. With their fabrication on standard printed circuit boards (PCB), such filters present the advantages of high Q-factor, high power capacity and small size. Simulated and measured results are presented and discussed to show promising performances of the proposed filters.
Changes in Cortical Activation during Retrieval of Clock Time Representations in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment and Early Alzheimer’s Disease

Objective: We investigated healthy controls (HCs), and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to identify neuronal correlates of clock time representation and changes resulting from neurodegenerative processes using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Methods: Two clock-specific tasks demanding conceptual knowledge of clock hands, i.e. a minute hand and an hour hand task, were compared with a semantic control task. Results: We observed that the minute hand task provoked a stronger activation of areas in the parietal lobes known to be involved in spatial mental imagery, while the semantic task primarily activated regions of the superior temporal lobes associated with verbal conceptual knowledge. The performance of the MCI group did not differ from that of the HC group, but additional activation was found in several brain regions. Decreased activation was detected during the minute hand task in the right middle temporal gyrus. Patients with early AD showed deteriorated performance in both clock tasks along with reduced activation in the occipital lobes and the left fusiform gyrus. Additional activation was detected in the precuneus. Conclusions: The fusiform gyrus might be crucial for the visual-semantic retrieval of clock time representation. In patients with early AD, access to this visual-semantic knowledge appears to be reduced.
FCam: an architecture and API for computational cameras

This course is designed to demonstrate the use of the FCam, an Application Programming Interface (API) which allows for easy and precise control of camera systems. It lets programmers implement advanced computational photography applications. Such applications even allow the modification of basic camera routines such as metering, which are hidden inside black boxes in most camera systems. FCam is also an excellent tool for teaching and research on interactive mobile computational photography. The API has been open-sourced, and is currently implemented for Nokia N900 and an experimental Frankencamera (the F2). The Frankencamera architecture for computational cameras was presented at SIGGRAPH 2010. By end-2011, the FCam will hopefully be available on Nokia™ Linux phones, NVIDIA™ Tegra 3 development boards, and F3, the next version of the Stanford experimental camera. The F3 will be distributed to research universities within the US along with courseware in a National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored project. NVIDIA Tegras and Nokia™ Linux phones are available globally.
Glypican-3 induces oncogenicity by preventing IGF-1R degradation, a process that can be blocked by Grb10

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy and is a major cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Previously, we demonstrated that glypican-3 (GPC3) is highly expressed in HCC, and that GPC3 induces oncogenicity and promotes the growth of cancer cells through IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R). In the present study, we investigated the mechanisms of GPC3-mediated enhancement of IGF-1R signaling. We demonstrated that GPC3 decreased IGF-1-induced IGF-1R ubiquitination and degradation and increased c-Myc protein levels. GPC3 bound to Grb10, a mediator of ligand-induced receptor ubiquitination, and the overexpression of Grb10 blocked GPC3-enhanced IGF-1-induced ERK phosphorylation. GPC3 promoted the growth of NIH3T3 and PLC-PRF-5 cells in serum-free medium but did not promote the growth of IGF-1R negative R- cells. Grb10 overexpression decreased GPC3-promoted cell growth. Therefore, the present study elucidates the mechanisms of GPC3-induced oncogenicity, which may highlight new strategies for the treatment of HCC.
Ameliorating Patient Stigma Amongst Staff Working With Personality Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial of Self-Management Versus Skills Training

Background: Patients diagnosed with a personality disorder (PD) are often stigmatized by the healthcare staff who treat them. Aims: This study aimed to compare the impact on front-line staff of a self-management Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based training intervention (ACTr) with a knowledge- and skills-based Dialectical Behaviour Training intervention (DBTr). Method: A service-based randomized controlled trial was conducted comparing the effects of 2-day ACTr (N = 53) and DBTr (N = 47) staff workshops over 6 months. Primary outcome measures were staff attitudes towards patients and staff-patient relationships. Results: For both interventions, staff attitudes, therapeutic relationship, and social distancing all improved pre- to postintervention, and these changes were maintained at 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: Although offering different resources to staff, both ACTr and DBTr were associated with an improved disposition towards PD patients. Future research could evaluate a combined approach, both for staff working with PD patients and those working with other stigmatized groups.
Quinolones Inhibit DNA Religation Mediated by Staphylococcus aureus Topoisomerase IV

Quinolones are the most active oral antibacterials in clinical use and act by increasing DNA cleavage mediated by prokaryotic type II topoisomerases. Although topoisomerase IV appears to be the primary cytotoxic target for most quinolones in Gram-positive bacteria, interactions between the enzyme and these drugs are poorly understood. Therefore, the effects of ciprofloxacin on the DNA cleavage and religation reactions of Staphylococcus aureus topoisomerase IV were characterized. Ciprofloxacin doubled DNA scission at 150 nm drug and increased cleavage ∼9-fold at 5 μm. Furthermore, it dramatically inhibited rates of DNA religation mediated by S. aureus topoisomerase IV. This inhibition of religation is in marked contrast to the effects of antineoplastic quinolones on eukaryotic topoisomerase II, and suggests that the mechanistic basis for quinolone action against type II topoisomerases has not been maintained across evolutionary boundaries. The apparent change in quinolone mechanism was not caused by an overt difference in the drug interaction domain on topoisomerase IV. Therefore, we propose that the mechanistic basis for quinolone action is regulated by subtle changes in drug orientation within the enzyme·drug·DNA ternary complex rather than gross differences in the site of drug binding.
Midwife or doctor local opinion leader to implement a national guideline in babies on postnatal wards (DesIGN): protocol of a cluster-randomised, blinded, controlled trial

Introduction Neonatal hypoglycaemia is a common condition that can cause developmental delay. Treatment of neonatal hypoglycaemia with oral dextrose gel has been shown to reverse hypoglycaemia and reduce admissions to neonatal intensive care for hypoglycaemia. An evidence-based clinical practice guideline was written to guide the use of dextrose gel to treat neonatal hypoglycaemia in New Zealand. However, it is unclear what clinical discipline might most effectively lead the implementation of the guideline recommendations. Objective To determine if midwife or doctor local opinion leaders are more effective in implementing a clinical practice guideline for use of oral dextrose gel to treat hypoglycaemia in babies on postnatal wards. Methods and analysis A cluster-randomised, blinded, controlled trial. New Zealand maternity hospitals that care for babies born at risk of neonatal hypoglycaemia will be randomised to having either a local midwife or doctor lead the guideline implementation at that hospital. The primary outcome will be the change in the proportion of hypoglycaemic babies treated with dextrose gel from before implementation of the guideline to 3 months after implementation. Ethics and dissemination Approved by Health and Disability Ethics Committee: 15/NTA/31. Findings will be disseminated to peer-reviewed journals, guideline developers and the public. Trial registration number ISRCTN61154098.