Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extraction of electrical properties of nanomagnetic materials through meander-shaped inductor and inverted-F antenna structures

This paper presents processing, integration and characterization of a new class of magneto-dielectrics consisting of metal nanoparticles in a polymer matrix for antenna applications. These nanomagnetic materials exhibit several attractive features for antenna applications, such as simpler thick-film processing, higher permittivity and permeability, and lower loss. Extraction of permeability and loss for such materials is usually cumbersome because both the permittivity and permeability are unknown. The meander-shaped inductor structures developed and reported here allow simpler fabrication and characterization of permeability and magnetic loss. Inverted-F antenna structures were designed, fabricated and tested to verify this method.
Incorporating spatial autocorrelation into species distribution models alters forecasts of climate‐mediated range shifts

Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to forecast changes in the spatial distributions of species and communities in response to climate change. However, spatial autocorrelation (SA) is rarely accounted for in these models, despite its ubiquity in broad‐scale ecological data. While spatial autocorrelation in model residuals is known to result in biased parameter estimates and the inflation of type I errors, the influence of unmodeled SA on species' range forecasts is poorly understood. Here we quantify how accounting for SA in SDMs influences the magnitude of range shift forecasts produced by SDMs for multiple climate change scenarios. SDMs were fitted to simulated data with a known autocorrelation structure, and to field observations of three mangrove communities from northern Australia displaying strong spatial autocorrelation. Three modeling approaches were implemented: environment‐only models (most frequently applied in species' range forecasts), and two approaches that incorporate SA; autologistic models and residuals autocovariate (RAC) models. Differences in forecasts among modeling approaches and climate scenarios were quantified. While all model predictions at the current time closely matched that of the actual current distribution of the mangrove communities, under the climate change scenarios environment‐only models forecast substantially greater range shifts than models incorporating SA. Furthermore, the magnitude of these differences intensified with increasing increments of climate change across the scenarios. When models do not account for SA, forecasts of species' range shifts indicate more extreme impacts of climate change, compared to models that explicitly account for SA. Therefore, where biological or population processes induce substantial autocorrelation in the distribution of organisms, and this is not modeled, model predictions will be inaccurate. These results have global importance for conservation efforts as inaccurate forecasts lead to ineffective prioritization of conservation activities and potentially to avoidable species extinctions.
Prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Belgrade, Yugoslavia

Objectives – To estimate the distribution of multiple sclerosis in the Belgrade population. Methods– All persons who were affected and/or died from multiple sclerosis (Poser's criteria), with residence in the Belgrade region had been collected from January 1, 1985 to December 31, 1996. Prevalence was adjusted by direct method, using world population. Results– From 1985 to 1996, 823 patients were suffering from multiple sclerosis. Sex ratio was 1:1.9. The mean age at onset was 32.2±9.8 years. A relapsing–remitting course of multiple sclerosis was reported in 50.7% patients, secondary progressive in 36.4% patients, and primary progressive in 12.9% patients. On December 31, 1996, age‐adjusted prevalence of multiple sclerosis in Belgrade was 41.5/100,000, 28.2/100,000 for males, and 54.1/100,000 for females. During the period studied, statistically highly significant increasing trend of multiple sclerosis prevalence was observed (P=0.0001). Conclusions– According to findings presented in this study, Belgrade is an area with high prevalence of multiple sclerosis.
Oxygen sensing and signal transduction in hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction

Hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV), also known as the von Euler–Liljestrand mechanism, is an essential response of the pulmonary vasculature to acute and sustained alveolar hypoxia. During local alveolar hypoxia, HPV matches perfusion to ventilation to maintain optimal arterial oxygenation. In contrast, during global alveolar hypoxia, HPV leads to pulmonary hypertension. The oxygen sensing and signal transduction machinery is located in the pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) of the pre-capillary vessels, albeit the physiological response may be modulated in vivo by the endothelium. While factors such as nitric oxide modulate HPV, reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been suggested to act as essential mediators in HPV. ROS may originate from mitochondria and/or NADPH oxidases but the exact oxygen sensing mechanisms, as well as the question of whether increased or decreased ROS cause HPV, are under debate. ROS may induce intracellular calcium increase and subsequent contraction of PASMCs via direct or indirect interactions with protein kinases, phospholipases, sarcoplasmic calcium channels, transient receptor potential channels, voltage-dependent potassium channels and L-type calcium channels, whose relevance may vary under different experimental conditions. Successful identification of factors regulating HPV may allow development of novel therapeutic approaches for conditions of disturbed HPV. ROS originating from mitochondria and/or NADPH oxidases may initiate HPV but exact signalling mechanisms are unclear http://ow.ly/SkaGC
SSVEP-based BCI control of the DASHER writing system

Steady state visual evoked potentials represent the least training-dependent brain computer interface paradigm, a condition that significantly improves the user experience with this kind of interfaces. On the other hand, the open-source DASHER writing system is an unconventional machine interface paradigm on its own, for which their developers encourage the search of new controlling mechanisms. In this paper, we report the use of a single steady-state visual stimulus approach to control the navigation vector of the DASHER writing system. Fourier-based power estimation was used to compute the power around the fundamental band of the evoked response detected in occipital electrodes, and user-dependent threshold was used as the directional control. In an online trial, a short word was successfully -albeit inefficiently- written by a naive user, which suggests the feasibility of the application of such a paradigm for performing this task.
Compliance with EU Legislation in the Pre-accession Countries of South East Europe (2005–2011): A Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis

Abstract Compliance with European Union (EU) law and the related causal factors have been theoretically argued and empirically tested in the case of EU member-states and pre-accession countries of Central Eastern Europe. The article examines several theoretical and empirical conditions under which candidate countries of South East Europe (SEE) plausibly comply with EU legislation. Based on the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, three factors were found to relate systematically with pre-accession compliance in SEE countries, namely EU membership credibility, low political constrains and government resonance. These factors are almost always necessary conditions for EU accession and jointly can sufficiently explain compliance performance.
Inhibition of matrix metalloproteinases and inducible nitric oxide synthase by andrographolide in human osteoarthritic chondrocytes

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the effects of andrographolide on matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 1, 3, and 13 and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in human articular chondrocytes from osteoarthritic cartilage.MethodsPassaged chondrocytes were pretreated with or without andrographolide for 2 h, followed by coincubation with interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) 1 ng/ml for 24 h. Expression levels of MMP-1, 3, and 13, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), and iNOS were evaluated using real-time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and Western blotting. Nitric oxide (NO) was analyzed using the Griess reaction assay. Involvement of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) was assessed by Western blotting, transient transfection, and luciferase reporter assay.ResultsAndrographolide tested in these in vitro studies was found be an effective antiarthritic agent, as evidenced by potent inhibition of MMP-1, 3, and 13 and iNOS expression, as well as upregulation of TIMP-1 in IL-1β-stimulated human articular chondrocytes (p < 0.05). The mechanism of andrographolide’s inhibitory effects was mediated by attenuating the activation of NF-κB in human chondrocytes in the presence of IL-1β. ConclusionsAndrographolide was a potent inhibitor of the production of inflammatory and catabolic mediators by chondrocytes, suggesting that this natural compound may merit consideration as a therapeutic agent for treating and preventing osteoarthritis.
A Comparison of Covariance Structure in Wild and Laboratory Muroid Crania

Mutations have the ability to produce dramatic changes to covariance structure by altering the variance of covariance-generating developmental processes. Several evolutionary mechanisms exist that may be acting interdependently to stabilize covariance structure, despite this developmental potential for variation within species. We explore covariance structure in the crania of laboratory mouse mutants exhibiting mild-to-significant developmental perturbations of the cranium, and contrast it with covariance structure in related wild muroid taxa. Phenotypic covariance structure is conserved among wild muroidea, but highly variable and mutation-dependent within the laboratory group. We show that covariance structures in natural populations of related species occupy a more restricted portion of covariance structure space than do the covariance structures resulting from single mutations of significant effect or the almost nonexistent genetic differences that separate inbred mouse strains. Our results suggest that developmental constraint is not the primary mechanism acting to stabilize covariance structure, and imply a more important role for other mechanisms.
Sensitivity Analysis Based Predictive Modeling for MPSoC Performance and Energy Estimation

Multi-processor system on chip (MPSoC) has been a de facto standard for embedded processor architectures. However, the architectural design space of MPSoC is so huge that it is time prohibitive to exhaustively simulate all design points to evaluate their design metrics (such as performance, energy, etc.). Thus, many architects have resorted to predictive modeling methods to fast estimate the design metrics of design points. An essential task in these techniques is input variable selection. Input variables of the predictive model consist of architecture parameters and their interactions, but not all input variables should be included in model. The inclusion of significant input variables in model can improve the prediction accuracy of model, but the inclusion of insignificant input variables will increase the risk of over fitting. So, how to identify and include the significant input variables while exclude the insignificant ones is a great challenge. In this paper, we propose an adaptive component selection and smoothing operator (ACOSSO) regression technique for predictive modeling of MPSoC performance and energy. The ACOSSO regression technique allows simultaneous global sensitivity analysis (which performs input variable selection) and model computing through solving an L1-norm penalized least squares fitting problem. We compare the proposed ACOSSO model with the state-of-the-art restricted cubic splines (RCS) model and two enhanced RCS models by applying them to an MPSoC performance and energy estimation problem. One enhanced RCS model performs input variable selection by use of ACOSSO regression based sensitivity analysis technique and the other by a stepwise regression modeling technique. Experimental results show that the ACOSSO regression model has better prediction accuracy than the other models, and the results of ACOSSO regression based sensitivity analysis are also useful for RCS modeling.
Impaired Replication of Hepatitis C Virus Containing Mutations in a Conserved NS5B Retinoblastoma Protein-Binding Motif

ABSTRACT Hepatitis C virus (HCV) downregulates the retinoblastoma tumor suppressor protein (Rb), a central cell cycle regulator which is also targeted by oncoproteins expressed by DNA tumor viruses. HCV genome replication is also enhanced in proliferating cells. Thus, it is possible that HCV interactions with host cell cycle regulators, such as Rb, have evolved to modify the intracellular environment to promote viral replication. To test this hypothesis and to determine the impact of viral regulation of Rb on HCV replication, we constructed infectious viral genomes containing mutations in the Rb-binding motif of NS5B which ablate the ability of HCV to regulate Rb. These genomes underwent replication in transfected cells but produced variably reduced virus yields. One mutant, L314A, was severely compromised for replication and rapidly mutated to L314V, thereby restoring both Rb regulation and replication competence. Another mutant, C316A, also failed to downregulate Rb abundance and produced virus yields that were about one-third that of virus with the wild-type (wt) NS5B sequence. Despite this loss of replication competence, purified NS5B-C316A protein was two- to threefold more active than wt NS5B in cell-free polymerase and replicase assays. Although small interfering RNA knockdown of Rb did not rescue the replication fitness of these mutants, we conclude that the defect in replication fitness is not due to defective polymerase or replicase function and is more likely to result from the inability of the mutated NS5B to optimally regulate Rb abundance and thereby modulate host gene expression.
On the Network Power Effectiveness of Data Center Architectures

Cloud computing not only requires high-capacity data center networks to accelerate bandwidth-hungry computations, but also causes considerable power expenses to cloud providers. In recent years many advanced data center network architectures have been proposed to increase the network throughput, such as Fat-Tree [1] and BCube [2], but little attention has been paid to the power efficiency of these network architectures. This paper makes the first comprehensive comparison study for typical data center networks with regard to their Network Power Effectiveness(NPE), which indicates the end-to-end bps per watt in data transmission and reflects the tradeoff between power consumption and network throughput. We take switches, server NICs and server CPU cores into account when evaluating the network power consumption. We measure NPE under both regular routing and power-aware routing, and investigate the impacts of topology size, traffic load, throughput threshold in power-aware routing, network power parameter as well as traffic pattern. The results show that in most cases Flattened Butterfly possesses the highest NPE among the architectures under study, and server-centric architectures usually have higher NPEs than Fat-Tree and VL2 architectures. In addition, the sleep-on-idle technique and power-aware routing can significantly improve the NPEs for all the data center architectures, especially when the traffic load is low. We believe that the results are useful for cloud providers, when they design/upgrade data center networks or employ network power management.
Fuzzy fault detection and diagnosis under severely noisy conditions using feature-based approaches

This paper introduces an approach to fault detection and diagnosis scheme which uses fuzzy reference models to describe the symptoms of both faulty and fault-free plant operation. Recently, some approaches have been combined with fuzzy logic to enhance its performance in particular applications such as fault detection and diagnosis. The reference models are generated from training data which are produced by computer simulation of typical plant. A fuzzy matching scheme compares the parameters of a fuzzy partial model, identified using on-line data collected from the real plant, with the parameters of the reference models. The reference models are also compared to each other to take account of the ambiguity which arises at some operating points when the symptoms of correct and faulty operations are similar. Independent components analysis (ICA) is used to extract the exact data from variables under severe noisy conditions. A fuzzy self organizing feature map is applied to the data obtained from ICA for obtaining more accurate and precise features representing different conditions of the system. The results are then applied to the model-based fuzzy procedure for diagnosis goals. Results are presented which demonstrate the applicability of the scheme.
Femto-farad capacitive sensor for MEMS thermal actuators

The objective of this paper is to develop a sensor to measure femto-Farad range capacitance observed in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The sensor consists of a capacitance-to-voltage transducer and an ADALINE artificial neural network. The transducer is designed to produce an output highly sensitive to changes of the MEMS capacitance. The gain and phase of the output voltage is identified while training the neural network online.
Immunotoxicity and genotoxicity testing of PLGA-PEO nanoparticles in human blood cell model

Abstract A human blood cell model for immunotoxicity and genotoxicity testing was used to measure the response to polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA-PEO) nanoparticle (NP) (0.12, 3, 15 and 75 μg/cm2 exposure in fresh peripheral whole blood cultures/isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures from human volunteers (n = 9–13). PLGA-PEO NPs were not toxic up to dose 3 μg/cm2; dose of 75 μg/cm2 displays significant decrease in [3H]-thymidine incorporation into DNA of proliferating cells after 4 h (70% of control) and 48 h (84%) exposure to NPs. In non-cytotoxic concentrations, in vitro assessment of the immunotoxic effects displayed moderate but significant suppression of proliferative activity of T-lymphocytes and T-dependent B-cell response in cultures stimulated with PWM > CON A, and no changes in PHA cultures. Decrease in proliferative function was the most significant in T-cells stimulated with CD3 antigen (up to 84%). Cytotoxicity of natural killer cells was suppressed moderately (92%) but significantly in middle-dosed cultures (4 h exposure). On the other hand, in low PLGA-PEO NPs dosed cultures, significant stimulation of phagocytic activity of granulocytes (119%) > monocytes (117%) and respiratory burst of phagocytes (122%) was recorded. Genotoxicity assessment revealed no increase in the number of micronucleated binucleated cells and no induction of SBs or oxidised DNA bases in PLGA-PEO-treated cells. To conclude on immuno- and genotoxicity of PLGA-PEO NPs, more experiments with various particle size, charge and composition need to be done.
Experimental investigation of thermal crosstalk in a distributed feedback laser array

Thermal crosstalk between lasers in a distributed feedback laser array has been investigated by measuring the oscillating-wavelength shift. Between closely situated lasers, thermal crosstalk due to lateral heat spreading decreases proportionally to the inverse of the laser distance. Thermal crosstalk due to heating in the heat sink and stem becomes dominant between relatively distant ( approximately 300 mu m) lasers. A diamond heat sink reduces thermal crosstalk to about 1/3 compared to a silicon heat sink. <<ETX>>
Serum from young, sedentary adults who underwent passive heat therapy improves endothelial cell angiogenesis via improved nitric oxide bioavailability

ABSTRACT Rationale: Passive heat therapy improves vascular endothelial function, likely via enhanced nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability, although the mechanistic stimuli driving these changes are unknown. Objective: To determine the isolated effects of circulating (serum) factors on endothelial cell function, particularly angiogenesis, and NO bioavailability. Methods and Results: Cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were exposed to serum collected from 20 healthy young (22 ± 1 years) adults before (0 wk), after one session of water immersion (Acute HT), and after 8 wk of either heat therapy (N = 10; 36 sessions of hot water immersion; session 1 peak rectal temperature: 39.0 ± 0.03°C) or sham (N = 10; 36 sessions of thermoneutral water immersion). Serum collected following acute heat exposure and heat therapy improved endothelial cell angiogenesis (Matrigel bioassay total tubule length per frame, 0 wk: 69.3 ± 1.9 mm vs. Acute HT: 72.8 ± 1.4 mm, p = 0.04; vs. 8 wk: 73.0 ± 1.4 mm, p = 0.03), with no effects of sham serum. Enhanced angiogenesis was NO-mediated, as addition of the NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor L-NNA to the culture media abolished differences in tubule formation across conditions (0 wk: 71.3 ± 1.8 mm, Acute HT: 71.6 ± 1.9 mm, 8 wk: 70.5 ± 1.6 mm, p = 0.69). In separate experiments, we found that abundance of endothelial NOS (eNOS) was unaffected by Acute HT serum (p = 0.71), but increased by 8 wk heat therapy serum (1.4 ± 0.1-fold from 0 wk, p < 0.01). Furthermore, increases in eNOS were related to improvements in endothelial tubule formation (r2 = 0.61, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Passive heat therapy beneficially alters circulating factors that promote NO-mediated angiogenesis in endothelial cells and increase eNOS abundance. These changes may contribute to improvements in vascular function with heat therapy observed in vivo. Abbreviations: Ang-1: angiopoietin-1; ANOVA: analysis of variance; bFGF: basic fibroblast growth factor; CV: cardiovascular; CVD: cardiovascular diseases; eNOS: endothelial nitric oxide synthase; HSPs: heat shock proteins; HT: heat therapy; HUVECs: human umbilical endothelial cells; L-NNA: Nω-nitro-L-arginine; MnSOD: manganese superoxide dismutase; NO: nitric oxide; NOS: nitric oxide synthase; PBMCs: peripheral blood mononuclear cells; RM: repeated measures; sFlt-1: soluble VEGF receptor; SOD: superoxide dismutase; TGF-β: transforming growth factor- β; VEGF: vascular endothelial growth factor
Do Size And Sector Classification Matter ForLong–short Strategies?

We propose a framework of a long–short trading system based on cointegration analysis, and define two trading strategies, a contrarian type and a momentum type strategy. We consider some restrictions on investment choices by sector and by firm size. The aim of this article is to investigate how such restrictions affect the risk–return properties of the hypothetical long–short funds.
Comparison between external fixation and elastic stable intramedullary nailing for the treatment of femoral shaft fractures in children younger than 8 years of age

The main objective of this study was to compare external fixation (EF) with elastic stable intramedullary nailing (ESIN) for the treatment of femoral shaft fractures in children aged 8 or younger. Fifteen children with femoral shaft fractures treated by EF and 23 children with femoral shaft fractures treated by ESIN were retrospectively reviewed. All patients were pain free at the last follow-up, with good ranges of motion in the hip and knee. Partial and full weight bearing occurred sooner in patients treated with EF than with ESIN, although more polytrauma patients were present in the ESIN group. In conclusion, EF and ESIN can be considered as safe and effective methods for femoral shaft fracture treatment in children younger than 8 years of age.