Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Leveraging Unlabeled Data to Scale Blocking for Record Linkage

Record linkage is the process of matching records between two (or multiple) data sets that represent the same real-world entity. An exhaustive record linkage process involves computing the similarities between all pairs of records, which can be very expensive for large data sets. Blocking techniques alleviate this problem by dividing the records into blocks and only comparing records within the same block. To be adaptive from domain to domain, one category of blocking technique formalizes 'construction of blocking scheme' as a machine learning problem. In the process of learning the best blocking scheme, previous learning-based techniques utilize only a set of labeled data. However, since the set of labeled data is usually not large enough to well characterize the unseen (unlabeled) data, the resultant blocking scheme may poorly perform on the unseen data by generating too many candidate matches. To address that, in this paper, we propose to utilize unlabeled data (in addition to labeled data) for learning blocking schemes. Our experimental results show that using unlabeled data in learning can remarkably reduce the number of candidate matches while keeping the same level of coverage for true matches.
A new 185,000-dalton skeletal muscle protein detected by monoclonal antibodies

The M line, which transverses the center of the thick filament region of skeletal muscle sarcomeres, appears to be a complex array of multiple structural elements. To date, two proteins have definitely been shown to be associated with the M line. They are MM-CK, localized in the M 4,4' substriations, and a 165,000-dalton (164 kd) protein, referred to as both M-protein and myomesin. Here we report the positive identification of a third M-line protein of 185 kd. In the course of making monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against a 165-kd fraction, we also obtained mAbs that bound to the M line of isolated myofibrils as detected by indirect immunofluorescence, but recognized a protein band of 185 kd in immunoblotting experiments with either the original immunogen or low ionic strength myofibril extracts as antigenic targets. The evidence that the 185- and 165-kd proteins are distinct protein species is based on the separation of the two proteins into discrete peaks by ion exchange chromatography, the distinctive patterns of their degradation products, and non-cross-reactivity of any of seven mAbs. These mAbs recognize three unique antigenic determinants on the 185-kd molecule and at least two and probably four sites on the 165-kd molecule as determined from competitive binding and immunofluorescence experiments. To resolve the problem of multiple nomenclature for the 165-kd protein, the 185-kd protein will be referred to as myomesin and the 165-kd protein as M-protein.
Application of conformal FIT for eddy current calculation in coils of a superconducting magnet system

The stellarator Wendelstein 7-X is a steady-state fusion experiment being built at the Greifswald Branch Institute of the Max-Planck Institut fu/spl uml/r Plasmaphysik (IPP). During an emergency discharge of the superconducting magnet system, eddy currents are generated in the steel case of the coils. Knowledge of the eddy currents distribution is important for a reliable operation of the system. We apply a method of calculating the eddy currents based on the finite-integration technique with the perfect boundary approximation technique. A description of the magnet system, principles of the applied method, the model, and sample results are presented in this paper.
Genomic Structure and Diversity of the Chicken Mx Gene 1

The Mx protein, which confers resistance to orthomyxovirus, has been detected in several organisms, and one nonsynonymous substitution (S631N) of the chicken Mx protein has been shown to affect resistant activities to the avian influenza virus in vitro. In the current study, the genomic sequence and polymorphism of the chicken Mx gene are reported. The full length of the chicken Mx gene spans about 21 kb, with 13 exons on chromosome 1 of the chicken genome. A total of 237 single nucleotide polymorphisms were found in the chicken Mx
HEMORHEOLOGY INDEX CHANGES IN A RAT ACUTE BLOOD STASIS MODEL: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Background: Blood stasis has received increasing attention in research related to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and integrative Chinese and Western medicine. More than 90% of research studies use hemorheology indexes to evaluate the establishment of animal blood stasis models rather than pathological methods, as hemorheology index evaluations of blood stasis were short of the consolidated standard. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of hemorheology indexes in rat models of acute blood stasis (ABS) based on studies in which the ABS model had been confirmed by pathological methods. Materials and Methods: We searched the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure database (CNKI), Chinese Medical Journal Database (CMJD), Chinese Biology Medicine disc (CBM), Wanfang database, and PubMed for studies of rat blood stasis models; the search identified 18 studies of rat ABS models induced by subcutaneous injection of epinephrine combined with an ice bath. Each included study received a modified Collaborative Approach to Meta-Analysis and Review of Animal Data from Experimental Studies (CAMARADES) score list and methodological quality assessment, then data related to whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, platelet aggregation rate, erythrocyte aggregation index, and fibrinogen concentration were extracted. Extracted data were analyzed using Revman 5.3; heterogeneity was tested using Egger’s test. Results: A total of 343 studies of rat blood stasis were reviewed. Eighteen studies were included in this meta-analysis; the mean CAMARADES score was 3.5. The rat ABS model revealed a significant increase in whole blood viscosity (medium shear rate), whole blood viscosity (high shear rate), plasma viscosity, platelet aggregation rate, erythrocyte aggregation index, and fibrinogen concentration compared to controls, with weighted mean differences (WMD) of 2.42 mPa/s (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.73 - 3.10); 1.76 mPa/s (95% CI = 1.28 - 2.24); 0.39 mPa/s (95% CI = 0.24 - 0.55); 13.66% (95% CI = 9.78 - 17.55); 0.84 (95% CI = 0.53 - 1.16); and 1.22 g/L (95% CI = 0.76 - 1.67), respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, and the platelet aggregation rate test methods were more sensitive when measured at 0-24 h than at 24-72 h after induction of blood stasis. Conclusions: Rat blood stasis studies have incomplete experimental design and quality controls, and thus need an integrated improvement. Meta-analysis of included studies indicated that the unified hemorheology index of whole blood viscosity (medium and high shear rate), platelet aggregation rate, erythrocyte aggregation rate, and fibrinogen concentration might be used for assessment of rat ABS models independent of pathology methods.
A cancer-targeted gold nanoparticle-based MRI contrast agent.

v LIST OF FIGURES . viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION . 1 CHAPTER 2: MARTIALS AND METHODS . 9 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION . 22 CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION . 43 REFERENCES . 46 CURRICULUM VITAE . 49
Quantification of area at risk during coronary occlusion and degree of myocardial salvage after reperfusion with technetium-99m methoxyisobutyl isonitrile.

Serial myocardial imaging with technetium-99m methoxyisobutyl isonitrile (99mTc-MIBI) has been proposed for evaluating myocardial salvage after reperfusion. To define 99mTc-MIBI uptake before and after reperfusion, 17 open-chest dogs underwent 3 hours of left anterior descending artery occlusion and 3 hours of reperfusion. 99mTc-MIBI was injected during occlusion (group 1) or after 90 minutes of reperfusion (group 2). Myocardial 99mTc-MIBI activity was correlated with microsphere flow during occlusion and reperfusion. Anatomic risk area and infarct area were defined by postmortem vital staining and correlated with the perfusion defects defined by analysis of 99mTc-MIBI macroautoradiographs and gamma camera images of myocardial slices. The left ventricle was divided into 96 segments for gamma well counting. Flow and 99mTc-MIBI activity were normalized to nonischemic values. Myocardial segments were grouped, based on occlusion flow, into zones: severely ischemic (less than or equal to 30% nonischemic), moderately ischemic (greater than 30%, less than or equal to 60% nonischemic), mildly ischemic (greater than 60%, less than or equal to 90% nonischemic), and nonischemic (greater than 90%, less than or equal to 120% nonischemic). Among dogs injected with 99mTc-MIBI during coronary occlusion (group 1), myocardial 99mTc-MIBI activity correlated linearly with occlusion flow for both endocardial (r = 0.91) and transmural (r = 0.91) segments. The risk area defined by 99mTc-MIBI autoradiography (group 1) correlated with the postmortem risk area (rho = 0.94) but was 29% smaller than the anatomic risk area (p = 0.03), reflecting the contribution of collateral flow. Among dogs injected with 99mTc-MIBI after reperfusion (group 2), myocardial 99mTc-MIBI did not correlate with reperfusion flow in either endocardial or transmural segments. Among group 2 dogs, myocardial 99mTc-MIBI activity was significantly less than reperfusion flow at the time of injection in the severely ischemic (25 +/- 5% versus 74 +/- 24% nonischemic, p = 0.002), moderately ischemic (54 +/- 12% versus 96 +/- 15% nonischemic, p = 0.001), and mildly ischemic (84 +/- 6% versus 93 +/- 3% nonischemic, p = 0.002) zones. The defect area defined by 99mTc-MIBI autoradiography (group 2) correlated very closely with the postmortem infarct area (rho = 0.98). Thus, the myocardial uptake of 99mTc-MIBI during coronary occlusion correlates with occlusion flow and reflects the "area at risk. " When 99mTc-MIBI was given after 90 minutes of reperfusion following 3 hours of coronary occlusion, the myocardial activity was significantly reduced compared with reperfusion flow in both necrotic and perinecrotic regions, reflecting myocardial viability more than the degree of reperfusion.
Accelerating Cities in an Unsustainable Landscape: Urban Expansion and Cropland Occupation in China, 1990–2030

It is crucial to assess the effects of urban expansion on croplands to allow sustainable urbanization and cropland supply. However, owing to the complexity of land conversion and various land policies in China, it is difficult to quantify the cropland dynamics and implications of urban expansion throughout the whole accelerated stage of urbanization. This study was based on land use data from 1990 to 2015 and urban expansion data from 2000 to 2030, analyzing urban expansion and predicting its impact on croplands. We found that urban area would continue to increase and croplands would contribute more than 70% of the urban expansion area. The urban area in China will likely reach 71.6–87.0 thousand km2 or more by 2030. Although the overall area of croplands may remain at a similar magnitude in future decades, our findings imply that croplands will tend to shift northward, resulting in some potential challenges owing to resource limitations in northern regions. Our study provides a new perspective in terms of assessing future cropland dynamics and the effects of urban expansion and highlights the significance of ensuring a realistic land policy in the future.
Impact of GND-PTH stitches in DDR3/GDDR3/GDDR5 Memory controller packages

DDR3 and GDDR3/5 memory technology running in the Giga-bit range require 3D EM accurate modeling of RF phenomena such as the impact of G ND-PTH stitches (G round Plated Through Hole) used to connect reference ground-planes in the Memory controller packages (MCH-PKG). Cost-reduction requires minimizing the number of layers and vias on MCH-PKG (micro-vias and PTH). Layout-Designers usually revert to reduce the GND-PTH without studying the impact on the performance. In this paper, Method of Moments (MoM) is used to study the impact of GND-PTH on data eye-opening as well as on Radiated-Emission of a DDR3 two-SODIMMs/channel running at 1.33GB/s.
I Support Sustainability But Only When Doing So Reflects Fabulously on Me

Sustainability research has coalesced around the notion that many environmental problems can be framed as social dilemmas in which conflicts often arise between consumers’ pursuit of individual, short-term and self-directed goals and their support for collective, long-term and socially-oriented interests. The need to address this challenge is simultaneously becoming more important and challenging for macromarketers and policy makers as the incidence of individualistic consumer traits (e.g., narcissism and self-esteem), already high in general population, continues to grow throughout Western societies. This article examines why and how such individualistic tendencies (here, narcissistic exhibitionism) may impact consumers’ pro-environmental behavior. This research identifies an underlying mechanism (i.e., altruism) for the proposed effect. The potential effects of manageable boundary conditions for this relationship are also proposed and tested across four studies.
Analysis error of machining radial Fresnel lens on roller mold

Roll-to-Roll imprint process is considered to be the most promising technology for manufacturing large-area micro-structured surface. However, the traditional turning technique was considered to be incapable of machining radial Fresnel lenses on roller mold. This study deals with the problem of machining the radial Fresnel lens on a roller mold, which is achieved by using the diamond cutting tools mounted on a multiple axis control ultra-precision machining center. In addition, this study simulates the effect of the deviation of the tool tip position from the rotation center of the platform and the deviation from the vertical plane of the roller axis on the machining results.
Assessment of Glutathione peroxidase and its correlation with the components of Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a cluster of cardio metabolic risk factors such as obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and hypertension and insulin resistance. However, the role of oxidative stress in developing components of MS needs further investigations. The objective of present study was to study the levels of antioxidant enzyme Glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) and correlate them with components of MS. 300 participants were enrolled, which were divided into MS positive (n=150) and MS negative (n=150) groups as per NCEP ATP III criteria. Components of MS were assessed using standard methods and data from patients and controls were compared by using Student’s t-test. Correlation of GSHPx with the components of MS was carried out using Pearson correlation coefficient. Erythrocyte GSHPx activity was decreased significantly in patient group subjects. In addition, GSHPx activity was negatively correlated with the components of MS. Oxidative stress is significantly associated with MS and its components. Furthermore, components of MS should be monitored regularly with advancing of age in order to overcome the burden of cardiovascular disease risk.
Tree-structured vector quantization with significance map for wavelet image coding

Variable-rate tree-structured VQ is applied to the coefficients obtained from an orthogonal wavelet decomposition. After encoding a vector, we examine the spatially corresponding vectors in the higher subbands to see whether or not they are "significant", that is, above some threshold. One bit of side information is sent to the decoder to inform it of the result. When the higher bands are encoded, those vectors which were earlier marked as insignificant are not coded. An improved version of the algorithm makes the decision not to code vectors from the higher bands based on a distortion/rate tradeoff rather than a strict thresholding criterion. Results of this method on the test image "Lena" yielded a PSNR of 30.15 dB at 0.174 bits per pixel.
Local field potentials reflect multiple spatial scales in V4

Local field potentials (LFP) reflect the properties of neuronal circuits or columns recorded in a volume around a microelectrode (Buzsáki et al., 2012). The extent of this integration volume has been a subject of some debate, with estimates ranging from a few hundred microns (Katzner et al., 2009; Xing et al., 2009) to several millimeters (Kreiman et al., 2006). We estimated receptive fields (RFs) of multi-unit activity (MUA) and LFPs at an intermediate level of visual processing, in area V4 of two macaques. The spatial structure of LFP receptive fields varied greatly as a function of time lag following stimulus onset, with the retinotopy of LFPs matching that of MUAs at a restricted set of time lags. A model-based analysis of the LFPs allowed us to recover two distinct stimulus-triggered components: an MUA-like retinotopic component that originated in a small volume around the microelectrodes (~350 μm), and a second component that was shared across the entire V4 region; this second component had tuning properties unrelated to those of the MUAs. Our results suggest that the LFP reflects neural activity across multiple spatial scales, which both complicates its interpretation and offers new opportunities for investigating the large-scale structure of network processing.
Memory Capacities for Synaptic and Structural Plasticity

Neural associative networks with plastic synapses have been proposed as computational models of brain functions and also for applications such as pattern recognition and information retrieval. To guide biological models and optimize technical applications, several definitions of memory capacity have been used to measure the efficiency of associative memory. Here we explain why the currently used performance measures bias the comparison between models and cannot serve as a theoretical benchmark. We introduce fair measures for information-theoretic capacity in associative memory that also provide a theoretical benchmark. In neural networks, two types of manipulating synapses can be discerned: synaptic plasticity, the change in strength of existing synapses, and structural plasticity, the creation and pruning of synapses. One of the new types of memory capacity we introduce permits quantifying how structural plasticity can increase the network efficiency by compressing the network structure, for example, by pruning unused synapses. Specifically, we analyze operating regimes in the Willshaw model in which structural plasticity can compress the network structure and push performance to the theoretical benchmark. The amount C of information stored in each synapse can scale with the logarithm of the network size rather than being constant, as in classical Willshaw and Hopfield nets ( ln 2 0.7). Further, the review contains novel technical material: a capacity analysis of the Willshaw model that rigorously controls for the level of retrieval quality, an analysis for memories with a nonconstant number of active units (where C 1eln 2 0.53), and the analysis of the computational complexity of associative memories with and without network compression.
A matrix big bang

The light-like linear dilaton background represents a particularly simple time-dependent 1/2 BPS solution of critical type-IIA superstring theory in ten dimensions. Its lift to M-theory, as well as its Einstein frame metric, are singular in the sense that the geometry is geodesically incomplete and the Riemann tensor diverges along a light-like subspace of codimension one. We study this background as a model for a big bang type singularity in string theory/M-theory. We construct the dual Matrix theory description in terms of a (1+1)-d supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on a time-dependent world-sheet given by the Milne orbifold of (1+1)-d Minkowski space. Our model provides a framework in which the physics of the singularity appears to be under control.
Demineralization of cocoons of Antheraea assamensis Helfer (muga) for effective reeling

Abstract Muga cocoons are evidenced of possessing heavy deposition of minerals (such as calcium oxalate) on its surface. This mineral deposition restricts reeling of muga fiber in comparison to the cocoons of mulberry silkworm. In this study, we have attempted to wash out the mineral layer using various chemical and natural agents like ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), potassium carbonate, citric acid, extract of Musa balbisiana (‘kolakhar’), and Citrus limon (lemon), respectively. It is observed that both the natural and chemical agents carefully removes the mineral deposition, leaving the gummy sericin substantially intact, preventing entanglement of fibroin brins, and permitting wet reeling with very minimum number of fiber breaks compared to commercial degumming. The removal of granular minerals was evidenced by surface morphology and FTIR spectroscopy of demineralized cocoon fiber. Further, the tensile strength of demineralized fiber showed superiority in contrast to sodium carbonate degummed fiber. Under the implemented experimental conditions ‘kolakhar’ functioned as the most efficient demineralizing agent amongst all. Therefore, the present study demonstrates an improved method for softening wild silk cocoons in contrast to harsh degumming for obtaining long continuous reeled fiber threads with very less number of fiber breaks and enhanced mechanical strength.
Optimal buffer partitioning on a multiuser wireless link

We consider a finite buffer shared by multiple packet queues. Throughput can be considerably improved by partitioning the buffer space among the queues judiciously, especially under a high load regime. We formulate optimal buffer partitioning as a resource allocation problem, the solution of which is found through a greedy incremental algorithm in polynomial time. The rest of the work is devoted to applying the optimal buffer allocation strategy in different scenarios modeling a wireless downlink. First, the strategy is applied in a general parallel M/M/1/mi system and a numerical study verifies that the strategy may boost the throughput considerably. Then, a multichannel extension of this system is considered when the users have different arrival rates and channels have different outage probabilities. Jointly optimal buffer space allocation and channel assignment problems in this scenario are shown to be separable. Lastly, buffer allocation is considered in a system where users need to be multiplexed and scheduled based on channel state. It is shown that this system can be modeled as a set of parallel M/G/1/mi queues to which the optimum buffer allocation strategy is again applicable. The improvement brought by optimal buffer allocation to scheduling based solely on channel-state is explored. It is observed that buffer optimization can result in remarkable throughput increase on top of channel-based user selection.