Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Broadband CPW-Fed Circularly-Polarized Slot Antenna With an Open Slot

A novel broadband CPW-fed circularly-polarized slot antenna with an open slot is presented. The broadband circular polarization can be achieved simply by opening the radiation slot at the lower left of slot. From the experimental results, the 3-dB axial-ratio bandwidth can reach as large as 1000 MHz (27% relative to the center frequency of 3700 MHz) which can cover the 3.3-3.8 GHz WiMAX band. In addition, the proposed design has the VSWR ≤ 2 impedance bandwidth of 5330 MHz (111% relative to the center frequency of 4795 MHz) which can cover the 2-6 GHz WiMAX band. The proposed antenna also has a peak antenna gain of about 5.3 dBic and gain variations can be less than 1 dBic for frequencies within the CP bandwidth.
A fuzzy measure for intrusion and anomaly detection

Finding intrusion and anomalies in networks is a problem of wide research interest both from academia and software industry. This work has three contributions. The first contribution is a dissimilarity measure for intrusion detection. The dissimilarity measure is also applied to achieve evolutionary clustering and dimensionality reduction of system calls. Earlier works in evolutionary clustering used basic Gaussian membership function to incrementally cluster by randomly assuming the initial deviation. This work aims at achieving evolutionary clustering by defining the expression to choose, initial deviation by eliminating the need to assume the standard deviation. Finally classification may also be performed using the proposed dissimilarity measure.
Admission with metabolic disorder is a useful predictor of the 1-year prognosis for patients with unstable angina, but not for patients with acute myocardial infarction: East-Osaka Acute Coronary Syndrome Registry

BackgroundFor patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), several studies have examined the relationship between the metabolic syndrome and prognostic outcome. However, few studies have revealed an association between the metabolic syndrome and clinical outcomes in patients with unstable angina (UA). This study compared the differences in the usefulness of recognizing metabolic disorders for the prediction of a 1-year prognosis in patients with UA and AMI. MethodsThe study cohort consisted of 1173 patients with a mean age of 67 years. The focus was on general prognostic factors and five metabolic disorders (body mass index; hypertension; blood glucose/diabetes mellitus; and, serum concentrations of triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol) at the time of admission. ResultsAccording to multivariate logistic regression analysis, metabolic scores on admission positively related to 1-year mortality or major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) for patients with UA, but not for those with AMI, with an increase in either all-causes mortality or MACE being associated with the degree of metabolic dysfunction. No other general prognostic factors were related to either 1-year mortality or MACE in patients with UA. By contrast, general prognostic factors such as age and the Killip classification had a positive effect on 1-year mortality or on MACE for the patients with AMI. ConclusionAccumulation of the effects of each metabolic disorder may affect mortality and MACE for patients with UA.
Growth Hormone Protects Against Ovariectomy-Induced Bone Loss in States of Low Circulating Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1)*

Early after estrogen loss in postmenopausal women and ovariectomy (OVX) of animals, accelerated endosteal bone resorption leads to marrow expansion of long bone shafts that reduce mechanical integrity. Both growth hormone (GH) and insulin‐like growth factor (IGF‐1) are potent regulators of bone remodeling processes. To investigate the role of the GH/IGF‐1 axis with estrogen deficiency, we used the liver IGF‐1‐deficient (LID) mouse. Contrary to deficits in controls, OVX of LID mice resulted in maintenance of cortical bone mechanical integrity primarily owing to an enhanced periosteal expansion affect on cross‐sectional structure (total area and cortical width). The serum balance in LID that favors GH over IGF‐1 diminished the effects of ablated ovarian function on numbers of osteoclast precursors in the marrow and viability of osteocytes within the cortical matrix and led to less endosteal resorption in addition to greater periosteal bone formation. Interactions between estrogen and the GH/IGF‐1 system as related to bone remodeling provide a pathway to minimize degeneration of bone tissue structure and osteoporotic fracture. © 2010 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research
String-pulling in spectacled parrotlets (Forpus conspicillatus)

[The aim of this study was to test the cognitive abilities of spectacled parrotlets ( Forpus conspicillatus ) with a means–end problem. For this purpose a group of parrotlets was presented with an experimental design, the 'string-pulling task', frequently applied to test the problem solving abilities of birds or mammals. Analysis of data collected during our tests revealed the following results: (1) The spectacled parrotlets are able to obtain food suspended on a string. (2) There was no evidence for any trial-and-error learning, because the latency of string-pulling activities did not show an experience-related modification. (3) There was also no evidence for any learning through imitation, because the performance quality did not show any improvement related to the time. (4) There was no indication that the birds' string pulling was a kind of pre-programmed behaviour, because individuals used different manoeuvres or techniques, respectively, when engaged in string-pulling activities. Thus, spectacled parrotlets are well able to understand and solve a physical problem which is the first step to a means–end comprehension shown in other bird and mamalian species. , The aim of this study was to test the cognitive abilities of spectacled parrotlets ( Forpus conspicillatus ) with a means–end problem. For this purpose a group of parrotlets was presented with an experimental design, the 'string-pulling task', frequently applied to test the problem solving abilities of birds or mammals. Analysis of data collected during our tests revealed the following results: (1) The spectacled parrotlets are able to obtain food suspended on a string. (2) There was no evidence for any trial-and-error learning, because the latency of string-pulling activities did not show an experience-related modification. (3) There was also no evidence for any learning through imitation, because the performance quality did not show any improvement related to the time. (4) There was no indication that the birds' string pulling was a kind of pre-programmed behaviour, because individuals used different manoeuvres or techniques, respectively, when engaged in string-pulling activities. Thus, spectacled parrotlets are well able to understand and solve a physical problem which is the first step to a means–end comprehension shown in other bird and mamalian species. ]
MACHINE LEARNING ON SETS OF DOCUMENTS CONNECTED IN GRAPHS

This paper deals with the problem of machine learning on sets of documents connected into graphs. Our strategy is to represent each document by a diverse set of heterogeneous attributes, including traditional binary and categorical attributes, textual attributes, and attributes derived from the graphs. We present experiments on two datasets, showing the usefulness of graph-based attributes and the importance of weighting the different attributes suitably before learning. On the download estimation task, the approach presented here achieved the best results on the KDD Cup 2003 challenge.
Police Arrests in a Time of Uncertainty

Using a novel data set created from police narratives between 2005 and 2010, this article examines whether and how police reporting varies before and after the implementation of 287(g), a local enforcement program located in Nashville’s Davidson County, a new immigrant gateway city. We examine patterns of symbolic language used by police officers related to arrests of immigrants and U.S. natives, and examine whether differences emerge before and after May 2007, when the 287(g) program began. Results show significant shifts in the reasons given for arrests before and after implementation of 287(g), and characteristics about foreignness such as country of origin, language use, and legal status that became more salient after 287(g). We argue that the 287(g) program—coupled with the political climate in which it was embedded—bestowed salience on traits that, in the past, were not relevant. That is, our findings suggest that anti-immigrant laws, such as 287(g), play an important role in the social construction of legal status among police officers.
Examining User Switch between Mobile Stores: A Push-Pull-Mooring Perspective

Retaining users and curbing their switching behavior are critical issues for mobile stores. Drawing on the push-pull-mooring (PPM) model, this research identified the factors affecting user switches between mobile stores. The push factors include dissatisfaction with system quality, information quality and service quality. The pull factor is alternative attractiveness. The mooring factors include switching costs and social influence. The results indicated that user switches receive influences from all three kinds of factors. Hence mobile stores need to be concerned with the effects of push, pull and mooring factors in order to curb users' switching behavior.
Features and classifiers for the automatic classification of musical audio signals

Several factors affecting the automatic classification of musical audio signals are examined. Classification is performed on short audio frames and results are reported as “bag of frames” accuracies, where the audio is segmented into 23ms analysis frames and a majority vote is taken to decide the final classification. The effect of different parameterisations of the audio signal is examined. The effect of the inclusion of information on the temporal variation of these features is examined and finally, the performance of several different classifiers trained on the data is compared. A new classifier is introduced, based on the unsupervised construction of decision trees and either linear discriminant analysis or a pair of single Gaussian classifiers. The classification results show that the topology of the new classifier gives it a significant advantage over other classifiers, by allowing the classifier to model much more complex distributions within the data than Gaussian schemes do.
Biomarker reproducibility in exhaled breath condensate collected with different condensers

Optimal collection and analysis of exhaled breath condensate (EBC) are prerequisites for standardisation and reproducibility of assessments. The present study aimed to assess reproducibility of EBC volume, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), 8-isoprostane and cytokine measurements using different condensers, including a newly developed glass condenser. At four points in time, 30 healthy subjects performed sequential EBC collections randomly using the following four condensers: glass, silicone, EcoScreen® (Erich Jaeger GmbH, Hoechberg, Germany) and an optimised glass condenser. In small EBC samples, H2O2 was measured by spectrophotometer, 8-isoprostane by enzyme immunoassay, and cytokines by multiplexed xMAP® technology (Luminex Corporation, Austin, TX, USA). The optimised glass condenser yielded significantly more EBC volume (median 2,025 µL, interquartile range 1,600–2,525). The reproducibility of EBC volume, yielded by the new glass condenser, was comparable with EcoScreen® (19–20 coefficients of variation (CV)%), but was significantly better compared with silicone and glass (29–37 CV%). The new condenser was associated with significantly more detections of H2O2, 8-isoprostane, interleukin-2, -4, -5 and -13, and tumour necrosis factor-α. Isoprostane concentrations were significantly higher using the new condenser, whereas H2O2 and cytokine concentrations were not. Reproducibility of biomarkers was equally variable for all condenser types. In conclusion, significantly more exhaled breath condensate volume and biomarker detections were found using the optimised glass condenser, including higher 8-isoprostane levels. However, biomarker reproducibility in exhaled breath condensate in healthy adults was not influenced by the type of condenser.
Pedagogical Practice Wisdom in Social Work Practice Teaching—A Kaleidoscopic View

Limitations of technical rationality, the dominant paradigm for making sense of human interactions in the context of social work practice, have drawn much attention. Currently, practice wisdom in social work education is at the center of a hot debate, but one confined to conceptual analysis. As of yet, there is no empirical reference for its substantive contents and operation. In the current presentation, four features of practice wisdom are developed, based upon a synthesis of the commonalities of practice wisdom as inferred from extensive scholars' views: the interplay of Moral Reasoning and Cognitive Knowledge, the Agential Nature of Knowledge, the Interactive Process of Knowledge Generation, and the Fluid Status of Knowledge. To advance the development of social work pedagogy by filling the gaps in empirical knowledge, these four features, hence, pedagogical practice wisdom, as exercised by practice teachers, are explored. Ten videotaped practice teaching scenarios and twenty co-reflection meetings were undertaken with five practice teachers and analyzed. The main finding is that practice teachers exercised nondeliberative reflection, each emphasizing different features of practice wisdom, thus shaping their teaching in ways unique to each. These results suggest a kaleidoscopic view in understanding pedagogical practice wisdom and specialized training for practice teachers.
Inhibiting calcineurin activity under physiologic tonicity elevates anabolic but suppresses catabolic chondrocyte markers.

OBJECTIVE The physiologic interstitial tonicity of healthy articular cartilage (350-480 mOsm) is lowered to 280-350 mOsm in osteoarthritis (OA). This results in loss of tissue prestress, altered compressive behavior, and, thus, inferior tissue properties. This study was undertaken to determine whether physiologic tonicity in combination with the inhibition of calcineurin (Cn) activity by FK-506 has synergistic effects on human articular chondrocytes and explants in vitro. METHODS OA chondrocytes and explants and non-OA chondrocytes were cultured in cytokine-free medium of 280 mOsm or 380 mOsm with or without Cn inhibition by FK-506. Chondrogenic, hypertrophic, and catabolic marker expression was evaluated at the messenger RNA (mRNA), protein, and activity levels. RESULTS Compared to OA chondrocytes cultured at 280 mOsm, those cultured at 380 mOsm had increased expression of mRNA for chondrogenic markers (e.g., ∼13 fold for COL2; P < 0.001), and decreased COL1 expression (∼0.5 fold, P < 0.01). Inhibiting Cn activity under physiologic tonicity further enhanced the expression of anabolic markers at the mRNA level (∼50 fold for COL2; P < 0.001, ∼2 fold for AGC1; P < 0.001, and ∼3.5 fold for SOX9; P < 0.001) and at the protein level (∼6 fold for type II collagen; P < 0.001). Cn inhibition suppressed relevant collagenases as well as hypertropic and mineralization markers at the mRNA and activity levels. Expression of aggrecanase 1 and aggrecanase 2 was not influenced by tonicity or FK-506 alone, but the combination suppressed both, by ∼50% (P < 0.05) and ∼40% (P < 0.001), respectively. Generally, similar anabolic and antihypertrophic effects were observed in ex vivo cartilage explant cultures and non-OA chondrocytes. CONCLUSION Our findings indicate that Cn at physiologic tonicity exerts a superior effect compared to physiologic tonicity or FK-506 alone, increasing anabolic markers while suppressing hypertrophic and catabolic markers. Our data may aid in the development of improved cell-based chondral repair and OA treatment strategies.
Warping the workspace geometry with electric potentials for motion optimization of manipulation tasks

In this paper we present motion optimization algorithms for computing manipulation motions in presence of obstacles. Our approach builds a geometric representation of the workspace by constructing Riemannian metrics using electric potentials emanating from the workspace obstacles. Velocity of the robot's body is measured with respect to this metric instead of traditional Cartesian velocity. Empirical results demonstrate that Riemannian metrics are better handled by optimizers that leverage objective and constraint functions' second order information. This information encodes how the Riemannian geometry of the modeled workspace pulls back into the configuration space. We also show that despite the additional computational burden of computing the electric-potential based metric, it results in faster overall convergence than reasoning on Euclidean geometry alone. Evaluation is made efficient by cashing the electric potential in voxel grids and using Tri-cubic spline interpolation to assess the potentials gradient.
Associations Between Early Family Risk, Children’s Behavioral Regulation, and Academic Achievement in Portugal

Research Findings: This study examined concurrent associations between family sociodemographic risk, self-regulation, and early literacy and mathematics in young children from Azores, Portugal (N = 186). Family sociodemographic risk was indexed by low maternal education, low family income, and low occupational status. Behavioral aspects of self-regulation were assessed using a direct measure called the Head–Toes–Knees–Shoulders task. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that family sociodemographic risk had significant negative effects on behavioral regulation and academic achievement. Behavioral regulation was positively associated with academic achievement when we adjusted for the influence of family sociodemographic risk and child verbal IQ. Furthermore, behavioral regulation mediated the association between family sociodemographic risk and mathematics achievement. Practice or Policy: The results suggest the detrimental effect of family socioeconomic risk in Portugal and the potential importance of behavioral regulation for school success for Portuguese children.
De Novo Assembly and Transcriptome Analysis of Bulb Onion (Allium cepa L.) during Cold Acclimation Using Contrasting Genotypes

Bulb onion (Allium cepa) is the second most widely cultivated and consumed vegetable crop in the world. During winter, cold injury can limit the production of bulb onion. Genomic resources available for bulb onion are still very limited. To date, no studies on heritably durable cold and freezing tolerance have been carried out in bulb onion genotypes. We applied high-throughput sequencing technology to cold (2°C), freezing (-5 and -15°C), and control (25°C)-treated samples of cold tolerant (CT) and cold susceptible (CS) genotypes of A. cepa lines. A total of 452 million paired-end reads were de novo assembled into 54,047 genes with an average length of 1,331 bp. Based on similarity searches, these genes were aligned with entries in the public non-redundant (nr) database, as well as KEGG and COG database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified using log10 values with the FPKM method. Among 5,167DEGs, 491 genes were differentially expressed at freezing temperature compared to the control temperature in both CT and CS libraries. The DEG results were validated with qRT-PCR. We performed GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses of all DEGs and iPath interactive analysis found 31 pathways including those related to metabolism of carbohydrate, nucleotide, energy, cofactors and vitamins, other amino acids and xenobiotics biodegradation. Furthermore, a large number of molecular markers were identified from the assembled genes, including simple sequence repeats (SSRs) 4,437 and SNP substitutions of transition and transversion types of CT and CS. Our study is the first to provide a transcriptome sequence resource for Allium spp. with regard to cold and freezing stress. We identified a large set of genes and determined their DEG profiles under cold and freezing conditions using two different genotypes. These data represent a valuable resource for genetic and genomic studies of Allium spp.
A Mouse Model for Cytomegalovirus Infection

This unit describes procedures for infecting newborn and adult mice with murine cytomegalovirus (mCMV). Methods are included for propagating mCMV in cell cultures and for preparing a more virulent form of mCMV from salivary glands of infected mice. A plaque‐forming cell (PFC) assay is provided for measuring mCMV titers of infected tissues or virus stocks. In addition, a method is described for preparing the murine embryonic fibroblasts used for propagating mCMV and for the PFC assay.
Polarization and transverse-mode selection in quantum-well vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers: index- and gain-guided devices

We study polarization switching and transverse-mode competition in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) in the absence of temperature effects. We use a model that incorporates the vector nature of the laser field, saturable dispersion, different carrier populations associated with different magnetic sublevels of the conduction and heavy hole valence bands in quantum-well media, spin-flip relaxation processes and cavity birefringence and dichroism. We consider both index- and gain-guided VCSELs and we find that spin-flip dynamics and the linewidth enhancement factor are crucial for the selection of the polarization state corresponding to a given injection current. For index-guided VCSELs the effect of spatial hole burning on the polarization behaviour within the fundamental mode regime is discussed. For gain-guided VCSELs, transverse-mode and polarization selection are studied within a Maxwell - Bloch approximation which includes field diffraction and carrier diffusion. Polarization switching is found in the fundamental mode regime. The first-order transverse mode starts lasing orthogonally polarized to the fundamental mode. At larger currents polarization coexistence with several active transverse modes occurs.
CSELT hybrid HMM/neural networks technology for continuous speech recognition

Neural networks have found their place among speech recognition technologies mainly with hybrid models that integrates the time warping ability of hidden Markov models (HMM) with the pattern recognition capability of neural networks (NN). Hybrid HMM-NN models have been investigated by several research teams, and constitute now a mature technology highly competitive with HMM. The authors' contribution to this research field is the introduction of a hybrid HMM-NN model whose original points are a training procedure which employs an integrated gradual movement of bootstrap speech segmentations to shorten training time, a time/feature architecture of the first hidden layer devoted to exploit a better feature selection using some a priori knowledge of speech, the use of a particular kind of acoustical modeling more suitable for a discriminative training, and a method to speed-up the execution of the neural component that makes possible develop real time applications using low cost hardware. Recently, the synergy of several input speech parameterizations has been experimented, leading to a further improvement in the recognition accuracy.
The Importance of Future Time Perspective in Theories of Work Motivation

Abstract The ability to foresee and anticipate, to make plans for and organize future possibilities, represents one of the most outstanding traits of individuals. Theories of work motivation, however, appear to have ignored the construct of future time perspective. In this article, the relationships between future time perspective, the capacity to plan activities, and proximate goals that intervene between one's present state and the desired ultimate, distant goal are explored. Several methodological concerns pertaining to the study of future time perspective are discussed.