Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
PWM Based Sliding Mode Control of DC-DC converters

This paper presents a systematic approach to the design of fixed frequency Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) Based Sliding Mode(SM) Control for DC-DC converters in Continuous Conduction Mode (CCM). The mathematical models of the DC-DC converters are used to design the sliding mode controllers. The design methodology is clearly illustrated for two converters viz. Boost and Bi-Directional Buck Converters. The theoretical analysis is verified by simulations to test the designed controllers for their response to load, line and voltage regulation.
Proportion of Tubal Factor Infertility due to Chlamydia: Finite Mixture Modeling of Serum Antibody Titers

In this study, we examined whether the proportion of tubal factor infertility (TFI) that is attributable to Chlamydia trachomatis, the population excess fraction (PEF), can be estimated from serological data using finite mixture modeling. Whole-cell inclusion immunofluorescence serum antibody titers were recorded among infertile women seen at St. Michael's Hospital in Bristol, United Kingdom, during the period 1985–1995. Women were classified as TFI cases or controls based on laparoscopic examination. Finite mixture models were used to identify the number of component titer distributions and the proportion of serum samples in each, from which estimates of PEF were derived. Four titer distributions were identified. The component at the highest titer was found only in samples from women with TFI, but there was also an excess of the second-highest titer component in TFI cases. Minimum and maximum estimates of the PEF were 28.0% (95% credible interval: 6.9, 50.0) and 46.8% (95% credible interval: 23.2, 64.1). Equivalent estimates based on the standard PEF formula from case-control studies were 0% and over 65%. Finite mixture modeling can be applied to serological data to obtain estimates of the proportion of reproductive damage attributable to C. trachomatis. Further studies using modern assays in contemporary, representative populations should be undertaken.
The Crystal Structure of H-2Db Complexed with a Partial Peptide Epitope Suggests a Major Histocompatibility Complex Class I Assembly Intermediate*

In the absence of bound peptide ligands, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules are unstable. In an attempt to determine the minimum requirement for peptide-dependent MHC class I stabilization, we have used short synthetic peptides derived from the Sendai virus nucleoprotein epitope (residues 324-332, 1FAPGNYPAL9) to promote its folding in vitro of H-2Db. We found that H-2Db can be stabilized by the pentapeptide 5NYPAL9, which is equivalent to the C-terminal portion of the optimal nonapeptide and includes both the P5 and P9 anchor residues. We have crystallized the complex of the H-2Db molecule with the pentamer and determined the structure to show how a quasi-stable MHC class I molecule can be formed by occupancy of a single binding pocket in the peptide-binding groove.
Reaction and Movement Times in Men of Different Ages: A Population Study

Tests of psychomotor and motor speed at different levels of complexity were studied in random samples of men aged 31 to 35, 51 to 55, and 71 to 75 yr. The study was performed as a part of a larger research project on health and functional aging. Analyses indicated significantly slower responses among older men at all levels of test complexity (maximal knee extension velocity, tapping rate, simple and choice reaction and movement times). There were marked differences both between the youngest and the middle-aged groups and between the middle-aged and the oldest groups. Within the age groups high psychomotor and motor speed were associated with a favourable functioning of certain senses (vibration sensitivity and postural balance), with a high isometric muscular force, and with a high directly assessed aerobic capacity. The most important covariants of the speed functions within the age groups were, however, cognitive performance, length of education, and perceived health.
Pathogenic and non-pathogenic zymodemes of Entamoeba histolytica in a rural area of Mexico. Concordance with serology.

OBJECTIVES a) to describe the frequency of pathogenic and nonpathogenic zymodemes of E. histolytica in asymptomatic carriers in rural Mexico, b) to identify the isoenzymatic pattern of the zymodemes and c) to measure the concordance of pathogenic zymodemes and positive serology. DESIGN Descriptive cross-sectional survey. Reference population: rural communities of the mexican highlands. STUDY UNITS 2048 individuals from 341 families of 5 rural communities. METHODS From the local census of each community, 70 to 100 families were selected by random sampling. All members of each family were studied. After obtaining the consent the following activities were done: a) filling of a questionnaire about housing and sanitary condition and structure of the family; age, sex, literacy and digestive symptoms and illness during the previous 4 weeks, in each individual; b) a blood sample for serology (CEIP and IHA) and c) a stool sample for coproparasitoscopic analysis (CPS) and zymodemes identification, in each individual. Statistical evaluation was done by kappa index and receiving operating curves (ROC). MAIN RESULTS there were 122/1730 (7.1%) CPS studies positive to E histolytica cysts, 100/1730 (5.8%) zymodemes isolated and 137/1886 (7.3%) positive serologic studies. Of the 100 zymodemes 30 had a pathogenic pattern, three had a mixture (pathogenic/nonpathogenic) and 67 had a non-pathogenic patterns. There were two (XVII, XVIII) patterns described for the first time in Mexico. Concordance between pathogenic zymodemes and positive serology (IHA greater than 1:128) was very low, Kappa = 0.05. ROC curves for IHA in pathogenic and non-pathogenic zymodemes showed little relationship between positive serology and pathogenic pattern. CONCLUSIONS Although the frequency of positive serology, coproparasitoscopic studies and zymodemes identification was similar, the concordance between serology and the coprologic studies was very low. This disagrees with other reports, and deserves further investigation using methodologic standards in design.
Neurotrophins Redirect p75NTR from a Clathrin‐Independent to a Clathrin‐Dependent Endocytic Pathway Coupled to Axonal Transport

The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) plays multiple roles in neuronal physiology through interactions with many ligands and coreceptors. However, its intracellular neuronal trafficking prior to and after neurotrophin activation is still poorly characterized. We have previously shown that in response to nerve growth factor (NGF), p75NTR is retrogradely transported along the axons of motor neurons (MNs) in carriers shared with NGF, brain‐derived neurotrophic factor and the tyrosine kinase receptor TrkB. Here, we report that NGF does not enhance the internalization or degradation of p75NTR, which undergoes a rapid dynamin‐dependent and clathrin‐independent recycling process in MNs. Instead, incubation of cells with NGF leads to the redirection of a pool of plasma membrane p75NTR into clathrin‐coated pits. The subsequent internalization of p75NTR via clathrin‐mediated endocytosis, as well as the activity of Rab5, are essential for the sorting of the p75NTR‐containing endosomes to the axonal retrograde transport pathway and for the delivery of p75NTR to the soma. Our findings suggest that the spatial regulation of p75NTR signalling is controlled by these ligand‐driven routes of endocytosis.
Stretching and deep and superficial massage do not influence blood lactate levels after heavy-intensity cycle exercise

Abstract The study aimed to assess the role of deep and superficial massage and passive stretching recovery on blood lactate concentration ([La−]) kinetics after a fatiguing exercise compared to active and passive recovery. Nine participants (age 23 ± 1 years; stature 1.76 ± 0.02 m; body mass 74 ± 4 kg) performed on five occasions an 8-min fatiguing exercise at 90% of maximum oxygen uptake, followed by five different 10-min interventions in random order: passive and active recovery, deep and superficial massage and stretching. Interventions were followed by 1 hour of recovery. Throughout each session, maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) of the knee extensor muscles, [La−], cardiorespiratory and metabolic variables were determined. Electromyographic signal (EMG) from the quadriceps muscles was also recorded. At the end of the fatiguing exercise, [La−], MVC, EMG amplitude, and metabolic and cardiorespiratory parameters were similar among conditions. During intervention administration, [La−] was lower and metabolic and cardiorespiratory parameters were higher in active recovery compared to the other modalities (P < 0.05). Stretching and deep and superficial massage did not alter [La−] kinetics compared to passive recovery. These findings indicate that the pressure exerted during massage administration and stretching manoeuvres did not play a significant role on post-exercise blood La− levels.
The Protective Effect of Ceramide in Immature Rat Brain Hypoxia—Ischemia Involves Up-Regulation of BCL-2 and Reduction of TUNEL-Positive Cells

Preconditioning brain with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) can induce tolerance to experimental hypoxia and stroke and ceramide is a downstream messenger in the TNF-α signaling pathway. A hypoxic-ischemic (HI) insult in the immature rat injures brain primarily through apoptosis. Apoptosis is regulated by Bcl-2 family proteins. The authors explored whether ceramide protects against HI in the immature rat, and whether Bcl-2 family protein expression is involved. Hypoxia-ischemia was produced in seven-day-old rats by ligating the right carotid artery, followed by 2 hours of 8% oxygen exposure. Thirty minutes after HI, C2-ceramide (150 μg/kg) was injected intraventricularly. Infarct volume was measured 5 days later. C2-ceramide reduced HI-induced brain damage by 45% to 65% compared with HI/dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) (vehicle control) or HI only groups. In separate experiments, brains of sham-operated control and HI only animals and animals subjected to HI plus C2-ceramide or DMSO infusion were sampled 6 hours, 24 hours, and 5 days after treatments and analyzed for Bcl-2, Bcl-xl, and Bax expression (Western blotting), and apoptosis (TUNEL assay). Augmented Bcl-2 and Bcl-xl levels in the C2-ceramide treated group were associated with a significant decrease in TUNEL-positive cells. The results support a protective role for ceramide in neonatal HI.
Document summarisation using combination and reduction of extracted sentences

An ideal summariser should produce a summary which contains all the crucial information present in the original text, while conforming to the size of the summary. We propose a novel method to perform single-document summarisation of the English text. We start by combining semantically related sentences using a rule-based approach to avoid loss of important information and maintain coherence in the resulting summary. The rules for combination rely on surface indicators present in the sentence i.e., cue-phrases. Then we extract important text from the combined sentences using lexical chains. This is followed by a sentence-reduction step involving removal of superfluous phrases from the extracted sentences using a rule-based approach. The rules for sentence pruning use discourse trees generated using the intra-sentential rhetorical relations. The summaries produced by our system were agreed by human subjects to be more concise and coherent than extraction-based summaries for the same documents.
Positioning the city product as an international tourist destination: Evidence from South Africa

UDC: 338.48-44(1-21)(680) Already an enormous global industry, tourism seems to offer the quickest route to economic and social development of emerging nations. This has been no different for South Africa given the growing interest of international travellers to visit the country and its cities. Tourism is of significant importance to the South African economy as it contributes almost 7.4% to GDP and employs 6.6% of the country’s formal workforce (SA Tourism, 2004). Girish Prayag
E-portafolio como herramienta construccionista del aprendizaje activo en tecnología educativa*

Introduccion. Los E-portafolios integran la investigacion, innovacion y apropiacion social del conocimiento, donde el aprendizaje activo se enmarca desde el enfoque construccionista, estableciendo una relacion sinergica con el pentagono de competencias TIC (MEN, 2013, 9), a partir de la formulacion del Modelo Espiral de Competencias TICTACTEP (Pinto, Cortes, Diaz, Rodriguez, Atrio & Alfaro, 2014). Objetivo. Desarrollar un programa de formacion construccionista en tecnologia educativa basado en el diseno, implementacion y evaluacion de E-portafolios en docentes universitarios. Materiales y metodos. Se adelanto una investigacion evaluativa de tipo mixto (cualitativo-cuantitativo), que conto con la participacion de 30 docentes, que asistieron a un Diplomado en Tecnologia Educativa y fueron evaluados con la tecnica de rubricas de competencias. Resultados. En los principales hallazgos de orden cualitativo, se resalta que los E-portafolios evidencian una apropiacion de la tecnologia educativa aplicada al aprendizaje activo, con mayores niveles de uso de tecnologias de informacion y comunicacion (TIC) y tecnologias para el aprendizaje y el conocimiento (TAC), sin alcanzar el dominio aplicado de las tecnologias del empoderamiento y la participacion (TEC). En el orden cuantitativo, se obtuvo una calificacion general de (7.4/10) en los indicadores de evaluacion del E-portafolio, los cuales presentan correlaciones directamente proporcionales y estadisticamente significativas al 99 %, con un rango que oscila entre r: . 75 y r: . 95. Conclusiones. Los resultados permiten resaltar la importancia estrategica del E-portafolio, como puente interactivo del intercambio en redes de aprendizaje colaborativo, impactando las practicas pedagogicas en la construccion de nuevos escenarios de identidad digital e innovacion educativa.
Multiple Imputation of Missing Values: Update of Ice

Associate Editors Christopher Baum Boston College Rino Bellocco Karolinska Institutet David Clayton Cambridge Inst. for Medical Research Mario A. Cleves Univ. of Arkansas for Medical Sciences William D. Dupont Vanderbilt University Charles Franklin University of Wisconsin, Madison Joanne M. Garrett University of North Carolina Allan Gregory Queen’s University James Hardin University of South Carolina Ben Jann ETH Zurich, Switzerland Stephen Jenkins University of Essex Ulrich Kohler WZB, Berlin Jens Lauritsen Odense University Hospital Stanley Lemeshow Ohio State University J. Scott Long Indiana University Thomas Lumley University of Washington, Seattle Roger Newson King’s College, London Marcello Pagano Harvard School of Public Health Sophia Rabe-Hesketh University of California, Berkeley J. Patrick Royston MRC Clinical Trials Unit, London Philip Ryan University of Adelaide Mark E. Schaffer Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Jeroen Weesie Utrecht University Nicholas J. G. Winter Cornell University Jeffrey Wooldridge Michigan State University
Reinstatement in a cocaine versus food choice situation: reversal of preference between drug and non‐drug rewards

Recent studies show that when given a mutually exclusive choice between cocaine and food, rats almost exclusively choose food. The present experiment investigated potential shifts in preference between levers associated with either food or cocaine that might occur during extinction (food and cocaine no longer available) and during footshock‐induced, cocaine‐primed and food‐primed reinstatement. During self‐administration sessions where food and cocaine were simultaneously available, rats demonstrated a stable food preference, choosing food over cocaine on 83% of trials. During extinction when neither reinforcer was available, no preference between levers was evident and responding decreased until rats responded on the previously food‐ and cocaine‐associated levers at equally low rates. Footshock resulted in a non‐specific reinstatement of responding upon both levers, while cocaine priming resulted in a significant preference for cocaine seeking over food seeking. This suggests that the mechanism underlying footshock‐induced reinstatement is distinct from that of cocaine‐primed reinstatement. Food priming engendered a mild, non‐specific increase in responding on both levers. Although rats generally prefer food over cocaine when presented with a choice between these primary reinforcers, the present results suggest that in certain situations, cocaine‐seeking behavior prevails over food‐seeking behavior.
Retrolabyrinthine Vestibular Neurectomy

Vestibular neurectomy performed through the middle fossa or retrolabyrinthine approach is an effective method of denervating the labyrinth while preserving residual hearing. In the authors’ opinion, the retrolabyrinthine approach is easier to perform, takes less time, and places the facial nerve in less jeopardy than the middle fossa procedure. The results of 26 cases of retrolabyrinthine vestibular neurectomy followed from six to 26 months indicate an 85% (22/26) cure rate of vertigo and a 79% (21/26) rate of hearing unchanged or improved.
Stimulation of human neutrophil oxidative metabolism by nonopsonized Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Nonopsonized gonococci possessing opacity-associated (Opa; previously PII) outer membrane proteins stimulate neutrophils to undergo a vigorous oxidative response when measured by luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (LDCL). In these studies, we characterized the mechanism of this stimulation. No gonococci that we tested induced measurable release of neutrophil superoxide anion (O2-) or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as measured by reduction of cytochrome c or the oxidation of scopoletin, respectively. Neutrophils pretreated with gonococci and then exposed to phorbol myristate acetate, the chemotactic peptide formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine, or opsonized zymosan released levels of neutrophil O2- and H2O2 comparable to controls, indicating that gonococci were not preventing or inhibiting neutrophil O2- or H2O2 release. To ascertain a possible explanation for these seemingly contradictory observations (i.e., induction of LDCL, but no release of O2- or H2O2), we further characterized the ability of Opa+ gonococci to stimulate LDCL. By using 1 mM azide and 4 U of horseradish peroxidase to monitor extracellular LDCL selectively and 2,000 U of catalase to monitor intracellular LDCL selectively, we determined that greater than 80% of total gonococcus-induced neutrophil LDCL occurred intracellularly. In addition, neutrophils stimulated with Opa+ gonococci showed a marked increase in O2 uptake and hexose monophosphate shunt activity. We conclude that Neisseria gonorrhoeae induces neutrophil oxidative metabolism without causing release of detectable amounts of reactive oxygen intermediates into the surrounding milieu. The gonococcus apparently directs oxidase assembly and activity to the phagolysosomal membrane. This could be a mechanism by which extracellular gonococci persist for extended periods in vivo in the presence of high concentrations of neutrophils.
Improved Computing Method of Mutual Information in Medical Image Registration

Mutual information based medical image registration is one of the most common registration method in registration domain currently. This paper studies the mutual information of the calculation process for mutual information calculation speed is slow, low efficiency of registration, registration can not meet real-time requirements, an improved gray compression algorithm, by reducing the gray-scale of images to improve image the registration efficiency and gradient similarity combined with mutual information as a new registration measure, so that the registration in improving efficiency while meeting the requirement of registration accuracy. The comparative experiments this article made show that, under the premise of registration accuracy to ensure that the method can significantly improve the speed of image registration.
A Split MAC Approach for SDR Platforms

Implementation of carrier sensing-based medium access control (MAC) protocols on inexpensive reconfigurable radio platforms has proven challenging due to long and unpredictable delays associated with both signal processing on a general purpose processor (GPP) and the interface between the radio frequency (RF) front end and the GPP. This paper describes the development and implementation of a split-functionality architecture for a contention-based carrier sensing MAC, in which some of the functions reside on an field-programmable gate array (FPGA) and others reside in the GPP. We provide an FPGA-based implementation of a carrier sensing block and develop two versions of a carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) MAC protocol based upon this block. We experimentally test the performance of the resulting protocols in a multihop environment in terms of end-to-end throughput and required frame retransmissions. We cross-validate these results with a network simulator with modules modified to reflect the mean and variance of delays measured in components of the real software-defined radio system.
Genetic Control of Sexual Dimorphism in Tooth Size

The existence of sexual dimorphism in the size of the permanent teeth is a well-known attribute of primates, particularly so for the canine teeth, in which the magnitude of the sex difference in the mesiodistal crown diameter may equal 50 percent or even more. However, little attention has been given until recently to the extent of sexual dimorphism in the remaining teeth of various primates and to variations in the magnitude of sexual dimorphism and the patterning of sexual dimorphism in permanent tooth size in various contemporary populations.1"2 In man, one would postulate either of two conditions for tooth size dimorphism in various populations, the first being identity in patterning but differences in level or variability and the second being variability in patterning as well as variability in magnitude or level. One would also postulate relatively simple genetic control of sexual dimorphism in tooth size, such that the magnitude of difference in the size of the teeth of brothers and sisters would exhibit strong family-line resemblances. One might further postulate a relationship between the magnitude of sexual dimorphism in tooth size and of sexual dimorphism in body size, also best shown by the analysis of brother-sister pairs. Testing these various hypotheses would enable us to go beyond the simple computation of sexual dimorphism in tooth size and beyond population and species comparisons to the analysis of factors controlling the
Degree-dependent and cascading node failures in random geometric networks

We study the problem of resilience to node failures in large-scale networks modelled by random geometric graphs. Adopting a percolation-based viewpoint, we investigates the ability of the network to maintain global communication in the presence of dependent node failures. Degree-dependent site percolation processes on random geometric graphs are examined, and the first known analytical conditions are obtained for the existence and non-existence, respectively, of a large connected component of operational network nodes after degree-dependent node failures. In electrical power networks or wireless communication and computing networks, cascading failure from power blackouts or virus epidemics may result from a small number of initial node failures triggering global failure events affecting the whole network. With the use of a simple but descriptive model, it is shown that the cascading failure problem is equivalent to a degree-dependent percolation process. The first analytical conditions are obtained for the occurrence and non-occurrence of cascading failures, respectively, in large-scale networks with geometric constraints.