Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging of Molecular Rotors in Living Cells

Diffusion is often an important rate-determining step in chemical reactions or biological processes and plays a role in a wide range of intracellular events. Viscosity is one of the key parameters affecting the diffusion of molecules and proteins, and changes in viscosity have been linked to disease and malfunction at the cellular level.1-3 While methods to measure the bulk viscosity are well developed, imaging microviscosity remains a challenge. Viscosity maps of microscopic objects, such as single cells, have until recently been hard to obtain. Mapping viscosity with fluorescence techniques is advantageous because, similar to other optical techniques, it is minimally invasive, non-destructive and can be applied to living cells and tissues. Fluorescent molecular rotors exhibit fluorescence lifetimes and quantum yields which are a function of the viscosity of their microenvironment.4,5 Intramolecular twisting or rotation leads to non-radiative decay from the excited state back to the ground state. A viscous environment slows this rotation or twisting, restricting access to this non-radiative decay pathway. This leads to an increase in the fluorescence quantum yield and the fluorescence lifetime. Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging (FLIM) of modified hydrophobic BODIPY dyes that act as fluorescent molecular rotors show that the fluorescence lifetime of these probes is a function of the microviscosity of their environment.6-8 A logarithmic plot of the fluorescence lifetime versus the solvent viscosity yields a straight line that obeys the Förster Hoffman equation.9 This plot also serves as a calibration graph to convert fluorescence lifetime into viscosity. Following incubation of living cells with the modified BODIPY fluorescent molecular rotor, a punctate dye distribution is observed in the fluorescence images. The viscosity value obtained in the puncta in live cells is around 100 times higher than that of water and of cellular cytoplasm.6,7 Time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy measurements yield rotational correlation times in agreement with these large microviscosity values. Mapping the fluorescence lifetime is independent of the fluorescence intensity, and thus allows the separation of probe concentration and viscosity effects. In summary, we have developed a practical and versatile approach to map the microviscosity in cells based on FLIM of fluorescent molecular rotors.
Characterization and Modeling of Ceramic Capacitor Losses in High Density Power Converters

Characterization and Modeling of Ceramic Capacitor Losses in High Density Power Converters by Samantha Nicole Coday Master of Science in Engineering Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences University of California, Berkeley Prof. Robert Pilawa-Podgurski, Chair Ceramic capacitors offer reliable and dense energy storage in power conversion applications. However, to effectively incorporate these devices in a design, it is important to have an accurate model of losses for the conditions under which the devices will be used. Small signal loss parameters at low bias voltage are frequently provided by the manufacturer, but the correlation between these data and losses exhibited under realistic large signal excitation has not been explored in detail. This work aims to provide a method for measuring capacitor losses under realistic operating conditions, using a calorimetric approach to provide an accurate measurement of losses under large signal excitation. Specifically this work will investigate the effect of high voltage bias and varying AC excitation on losses. This work concludes with a proposed loss model which encompasses operation of large signal excitation over varying frequencies and DC biases.
Automatic Vehicle Speed Estimation Method for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Images

This paper presents a solution to solve the detection and estimating the speed problem for road vehicles in images acquired by means of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). UAV photographing which can conveniently take vehicles picture and save time for setting up ﬁxed cameras have become an important part of the intelligent transportation system (ITS). UAV images are characterized by a very high spatial resolution (order of a few centimeters), and consequently by an extremely high level of details which call for appropriate automatic analysis methods. The proposed method starts with the hue, saturation, and value (HSV) color space transformation in order to reduce the inﬂuence of light change, and uses the saturation features to remove shadows in the aerial images. Then, it performs a temporal diﬀerence process to separate moving objects (vehicles) and backgrounds. The last step of our method is focused on ﬁnding out the centroid of vehicles and the moving distance expressed in pixels, and in the end the road lane is used as a scale to estimate the speed of vehicles. The experimental results show that this method performs well in 20 meters to 40 meters in height, and the vehicle speed calculation error is less than 3.47%.
Fundamental Frequency Analysis on a Harmonic Power Signal Using Fourier Series and Zero Crossing Algorithms

This paper aims to propose a simple and fast approach to detect the frequency of electrical signals based on zero-crossing point algorithms. First, we will use the Fourier algorithm as a digital ﬁlter to fetch the fundamental signal of the acquired signals, and then usea zero crossing algorithm technoogy which is then applied to the sine or cosine signal of the fundamental signal to calculate the frequency of the fundamental signal. It is intended to apply this theoretical development in personal computers to analyze the operation of the extracted signal with DAQ (Data Acquisition Card) device. This system was developed by using a SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)- based software, LabVIEW, to simulate a signal source with high-order harmonic and noise signals combined together, and the program can be used to estimate the frequency of fundamental sinusoidal signals. Experiment result has shown that the zero-crossing point algorithm is an eﬀective method of measuring the frequency.
Fabrication and Performance Evaluation of MR-16 Lamp Series with Narrow Angular Distribution of Luminous Intensity Using an Aspherical Planar-convex 2×2 Fly-eye Lens Type

This paper reports the optical design of the MR-16 lamp series with a LED second lens and an aspherical plano-convex lens suitable for a simple and rapid injection molding fabrication method. The fabrication and performance evaluation of the MR-16 lamp series, which was designed with a narrow angular distribution of luminous intensity, were conducted to replace halogen lamps with LED lamps. Four types of LED lamps were fabricated, which have angular distributions of luminous intensity of 22.4°, 31.1°, 37.3°, and 59.9° and luminous efficiencies of 76.5 lm/W, 75.2 lm/W, 72.0 lm/W, and 77.8 lm/W, respectively, while their spreading angles with an illuminance uniformity of 81% were 3°, 15°, 22°, and 49°, respectively. After eliminating a yellow tail of the LED lamps using a diffusion sheet, the angular distributions of the luminous intensity were measured to be 20.8°, 31.5°, 37.8°, and 68.7°. 요 약 본 연구에서는 간편하고 빠른 사출성형을 위하여 한쪽이 평면인 비구면 형상을 갖는 단일 fly-eye 렌즈형태의 2차 렌즈를 사용하는 MR-16 램프 시리즈의 설계를 보고하고자 한다. 인테리어 조명용 할로겐 램프를 대체하기 위해 효율이 높고 좁은 배광각을 갖도록 MR-16 램프용 광학계를 설계하여 이를 제작하고 성능을 확인하였다. 광학설계용 소프트웨어는 ORA사 의 CODE V와 LightTools를 사용하였다. 그 결과, 제작된 MR-16 램프의 배광각은 22.4°, 31.1°, 37.3°, 59.9°였으며, 광효율은 각각 76.5 lm/W, 75.2 lm/W, 72.0 lm/W, 77.8 lm/W 이고, 복사 균제도 81%에서 발산각은 3°, 15°, 22°, 49°이다. 그리고 제작된 MR-16 램프에 확산시트를 2차 렌즈와 LED사이에 확산 시트를 적용하여 황색 띠를 제거한 후의 배광각은 각각 20.8°, 31.5°, 37.8°, 68.7°로 측정되었다. 실험적으로 2차 렌즈를 같은 렌즈 4개를 붙이는 형식으로 fly-eye 형태로 함으로써 설계 및 제작이 용이하며 배광각과 균일한 조도 분포를 갖는데 있어서 문제가 없다는 것을 알 수 있었다.
Researches on Threshold Selection Rules of Wavelet Denoising

A comparative analysis is made on four common threshold selection methods of wavelet denoising in this paper. First, analyze the theoretical definitions of the four typical threshold selection rules. Next, design corresponding MATLAB simulation experiments [1] to verify. Finally, we can safely draw the conclusion that for one dimensional voltage signal, adaptive threshold has the best effect in reducing the noise caused by large Gaussian noise, while fixed threshold plays an important role in weak noise. As for the picture, adaptive threshold and mixed threshold denoising reduced the noise obviously.
Proteolysis-inducing factor is expressed in tumours of patients with gastrointestinal cancers and correlates with weight loss

Proteolysis-inducing factor (PIF), a novel cachectic factor, is detectable in the urine of cancer patients experiencing weight loss. We report the expression of PIF in gastrointestinal cancers, and a correlation between PIF expression in tumours, its detection in urine and weight-loss. These data provide the first direct evidence that tumours are the source of PIF in humans. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer. com
Hippocampal MicroRNA-124 Enhances Chronic Stress Resilience in Mice

Chronic stress-induced aberrant gene expression in the brain and subsequent dysfunctional neuronal plasticity have been implicated in the etiology and pathophysiology of mood disorders. In this study, we examined whether altered expression of small, regulatory, noncoding microRNAs (miRNAs) contributes to the depression-like behaviors and aberrant neuronal plasticity associated with chronic stress. Mice exposed to chronic ultra-mild stress (CUMS) exhibited increased depression-like behaviors and reduced hippocampal expression of the brain-enriched miRNA-124 (miR-124). Aberrant behaviors and dysregulated miR-124 expression were blocked by chronic treatment with an antidepressant drug. The depression-like behaviors are likely not conferred directly by miR-124 downregulation because neither viral-mediated hippocampal overexpression nor intrahippocampal infusion of an miR-124 inhibitor affected depression-like behaviors in nonstressed mice. However, viral-mediated miR-124 overexpression in hippocampal neurons conferred behavioral resilience to CUMS, whereas inhibition of miR-124 led to greater behavioral susceptibility to a milder stress paradigm. Moreover, we identified histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4), HDAC5, and glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) as targets for miR-124 and found that intrahippocampal infusion of a selective HDAC4/5 inhibitor or GSK3 inhibitor had antidepressant-like actions on behavior. We propose that miR-124-mediated posttranscriptional controls of HDAC4/5 and GSK3β expressions in the hippocampus have pivotal roles in susceptibility/resilience to chronic stress. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Depressive disorders are a major public health concern worldwide. Although a clear understanding of the etiology of depression is still lacking, chronic stress-elicited aberrant neuronal plasticity has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. We show that the hippocampal expression of microRNA-124 (miR-124), an endogenous small, noncoding RNA that represses gene expression posttranscriptionally, controls resilience/susceptibility to chronic stress-induced depression-like behaviors. These effects on depression-like behaviors may be mediated through regulation of the mRNA or protein expression levels of histone deacetylases HDAC4/5 and glycogen synthase kinase 3β, all highly conserved miR-124 targets. Moreover, miR-124 contributes to stress-induced dendritic hypotrophy and reduced spine density of dentate gyrus granule neurons. Modulation of hippocampal miR-124 pathways may have potential antidepressant effects.
Bottom-up or top-down? Evolutionary change management in NPD processes

This paper presents theoretical evolutionary change management principles and a simulation game based business process development method, built upon these principles. The authors applied the method in two NPD process development projects in Finland. Results from the case projects and conclusions to the management of change are presented. The projects differed markedly in their initial change approach. The bottom-up initiated change project of the pharmaceutical company and the top-down initiated project of the telecommunication company, however, both achieved good results in process development. Drawing from the theory of evolution management, we can hypothesise that this success can be credited in both cases to the dialogue between strategy and operation, which was created during the change projects. This dialogue was achieved through the method that was applied, i.e. successive simulation games. The cases also suggest that the management of process development greatly benefits from a project portfolio and systematic project management, which help to implement the dynamic and learning umbrella strategy.
ON FINITE DIMENSIONAL APPROXIMATION IN NONPARAMETRIC REGRESSION

For the function from a real separable Banach space into a real separable Banach space, i.e., a possibly nonlinear operator, in nonparametric regression, theoretical results are established for the estimator based on finite dimensional approximation. A new concept “approximatability” is presented and the operators of interest are proved to be approximatable under different situations. The results concerning both consistency and weak convergence of the estimator are obtained. Statistical applications of these theoretical results are given.
Preoperative anemia as a prognostic factor in patients with lung cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological studies

The evidence of current epidemiological studies investigating the relationship between preoperative anemia and progression of lung cancer (LC) patients remains controversial. The PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases were comprehensively searched by two independent authors to identify related epidemiological studies from inception through January 31, 2019. Similarly, two researchers separately extracted data and any differences were resolved by discussion. Summarized hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were summarized with inverse variance weighted random effects meta-analysis. Heterogeneity among studies was assessed with the I² statistic. Twenty-two studies were included in this meta-analysis. As compared with LC patients without anemia, those with pre-operative anemia were at a 1.6-fold greater risk of death (summarized HR = 1.58; 95% CI = 1.44-1.75), with moderate heterogeneity (I2 = 53.1%). Funnel plot and statistical analyses showed no evidence of publication bias. Associations between pre-operative anemia and OS were broadly consistent across numerous subgroups analyses stratified by the study design, geographic location, number of cases, tumor, node, and metastasis (TNM) stage, histology, quality, and adjustment for potential confounders (age, sex, body mass index, TNM stage, histology, performance status, surgery, blood transfusion, and systemic inflammatory response markers). Similar patterns were observed in the sensitivity analyses. The results of meta-regression analysis suggested no evidence of significant heterogeneity between subgroups. In conclusion, pre-operative anemia was associated with poorer overall survival among LC patients.
Rejoinder Utilizing Indicator-BasedMethods : ‘ Measuring the Impact of a Science Center on itsCommunity ’

We have been generously provided an opportunity to write a rejoinder to Jensen and Lister’s “Comments andCriticism” piece published in this issue. From the outset, wewant tomake it clear that we consider such dialogue healthy and constructive for the field. We appreciate the opportunity to clarify the points made by Jensen and Lister and thank this journal’s editors for the opportunity to do so. Jensen and Lister admirably summarized our original article (Falk & Needham, 2011). According to Jensen and Lister, the main issue at hand was our use of a conceptual marker as an “indicator” of science learning as a way to “circumvent the need to rely exclusively on self-report data” (Jensen & Lister, this issue). To clarify, we did not utilize this marker approach merely to circumvent self-report data. As stated in our article (Falk & Needham, 2011), our primary motivation for using this approach was because of challenges related to attribution, which selfreport does not adequately address. Given the cumulative nature of learning, it is difficult for anyone to accurately determine exactly where or when they actually learned anything. As a result, we selected a single concept, homeostasis, that could be used as the learning equivalent of a radioactive tracer; “something that in and of itself may or may not be highly important, but which could be considered an indicator of something greater that was meaningful” (Falk & Needham, 2011, p. 3). Jensen and Lister raised three basic concerns with our approach: (a) the validity of our baseline dataset, (b) the reliability of our procedures for coding this marker across the three samples, and (c) that results do not support our conclusions. We address each of these concerns in this rejoinder. Jensen and Lister questioned the validity of our use of 7% as a baseline estimate of the Los Angeles (L.A.) public’s knowledge of homeostasis in 1998. As Jensen and Lister themselves summarized in their commentary and we also acknowledged in our own article, this figure was derived using a different methodology than was utilized in the subsequent two samples; 2000 and 2009 datawere derived from random telephone surveys of the L.A. population, whereas 1998 data were from a random sampling of the first month’s visitors to the newly re-opened California
Entrepreneurship education and the development of Young people life competencies and skills.

Actually several studies and authors underline the importance of (early) entrepreneurship education to the creation of an entrepreneurial and innovative culture of social and economic change. This requires models of education more focused on preparing people for tomorrow’s labour markets and for a more unpredictable and complex society, as well as new policies especially target for this area. Assuming that entrepreneurship skills can be taught and that they should be considered as a general attitude, useful in all work activities and everyday life, the discussion about teaching goals and methodologies is very relevant. Thus, in our paper, we will reflect about the questions associated to this subject and illustrate our assumptions by presenting the main conclusions of a study developed in Europe in 2010. This research was about the contribution of entrepreneurship education in the development of life skills in young people from disadvantaged communities. Our aim was to study, in a comparative and qualitative approach, the goals, processes, recognised importance and teaching methodologies developed in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) in Belgium and Ireland (an international project born in the United States in the eighties).
Analyzing autophagy in Magnaporthe oryzae

Magnaporthe oryzae is an important plant pathogenic fungus that greatly threatens the world’s food security. Both genome-wide and individual gene studies have shown that the pathogenicity of the fungus is severely dependent on the intracellular autophagy process during appressoria development. This protocol discusses a systematic methodology to discover and monitor autophagy-related (ATG) genes in M. oryzae.
A College Favorite: Students' Perceptions of Traditions and Culture in Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of a college tradition on a university’s culture. Through a hermeneutical phenomenological design, this study explored two college traditions at two separate campuses: Taylor University’s Airband and Westmont College’s Spring Sing. The research was guided by the following questions: 1. What are students’ perceptions of the impact a college tradition has on a university culture? 2. Is there mutual shaping—does a tradition shape institutional culture as much as institutional culture shapes a tradition? Three findings emerged from this study. The first finding demonstrated the importance of traditions in building community, as it was the largest impact of both traditions. Second, both traditions had similar characteristics, but each revealed the respective institution’s cultural values. Third, the traditions shared similar environmental characteristics that led to their level of importance amid the community. Recommendations for practice include strategically thinking about how traditions are developing university communities and cultures; recognizing college traditions as a method for conveying, changing, and influencing an institution’s culture; and campus traditions necessarily reflecting their respective environments.
SEISMIC PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF UNDERGROUND RAMP TUNNEL STRUCTURE USING 3-D MASSIVE NUMERICAL COMPUTATION

There is increasing concern about the three-dimensional finite element analysis of large underground tunnels due to the threat of a nearby earthquake generating large strong motion on the tunnel with spatial variation. Using a new numerical analysis method based on massive numerical computation, we carried out a 3-D seismic response analysis of an underground ramp tunnel structure. Based on the finite element method, this method can analyze a large-scale computer model consisting of a nearby ground structure as well as the entire tunnel structure to be studied. As expected, the 3-D seismic response of the tunnel is complicated due to the complex configuration of the tunnel structure. While the intensity of response is smaller than the design criterion, the calculations show large deformation and stress for the part where the ramp tunnel passes through the interface between soft and hard ground layers, with stress and section force varied on the connection with the ramp tunnel. These results suggest that 3-D seismic response analyses should be performed for underground tunnels with complicated configuration which could be subjected to a nearby earthquake. Hiroshi Dobashi, Yoshihiro Terashima, Muneo Hori, Tsuyoshi Ichimura, Naoto Ohbo, Takemine Yamada and Takashi Obara