Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stability of stochastic systems with probabilistic mode switchings and state jumps

In this paper, we discuss the stability of continuous-time stochastic systems with probabilistic mode switchings and state jumps. Occurrences of mode transitions and state jumps are modeled with independent Poisson processes. We use multiple Lyapunov functions to derive sufficient conditions for stability in probability and moment exponential stability both for linear and nonlinear stochastic switching systems. Furthermore, we provide numerical examples to demonstrate the efficacy of our results.
The Effect of Suspended Sludge on Electricity Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells

Analyzing effect of suspended sludge on power production is important to better understand how to improve microbial fuel cells (MFCs). In this paper, a comparison of two parallel single-chambered MFCs with or without suspended sludge operated in fed-batch mode was investigated to study the effect of suspended sludge on electricity generation. For the power generation from the glucose wastewater, both MFCs generated the steady voltage of 0.45~0.50 V. However compared to the MFC without suspended sludge, Coulombic efficiency of the MFC with suspended sludge was slight lower (2.3%-2.5%) than that without suspended sludge (2.9-3.1%) and the duration of stationary phase in each cycle with suspended sludge was 13.7~29.8% shorter than that of without suspended sludge. These results show that no obvious positive effect of suspended sludge on power generation was observed for MFC using glucose wastewater. When feces sewage was used, unlike the steady voltage (0.43-0.47 V) and Coulombic efficiency (3.5-3.9%) from MFC with suspended sludge, the working voltage (0.45-0.65 V) and Coulombic efficiency (1.5~4.3%) from the system without suspended sludge was fluctuant, therefore suspended sludge is necessary to obtain steady power output from more recalcitrant complex compounds.
Experimental study the electric characteristics of the deionized water and its mixture with ethylene glycol in tens microsecond regime and its application

As it is known that the breakdown electric characteristics of deionized water in the pulsed forming line (PFL) depends on the charging time of voltage. In the constructing of the high-current repetitively pulsed accelerator, the PFL usually is charged by the capacitors through the pulse transformer, in order to realize the repetition operation, the semiconductor switches such as thyristors generally be used in the primary circuit of the pulse transformer, the charging time of voltage is prolonged to tens of microsecond because of the application of thyristors, if the deionized water is used as the medium of PFL, how about the breakdown characteristic of deionized water in the PFL in the region of tens microsecond? How about the breakdown characteristic of deionized water under the repetitive operation? A testing device has been set up to investigate the electric characteristics in tens of microsecond regime, the experimental results shown that the time dependent relation of the breakdown electric of the deionized water is weakened, the exponential relation with the effective time of the charging time of voltage is near to −1/6. A high-current repetitively pulsed accelerator is built using the deionized water filled PFL and the semiconductor switches, the experimental results shown that the electric characteristic of deionized water does not to be deteriorated obviously under the 20Hz repetitive operation. The conclusions can be made that the deionized water and its mixture with the ethylene glycol is suitable to construct the compact repetitive high-current accelerator controlled by the semiconductors.
Sex‐Biased Inbreeding Effects on Reproductive Success and Home Range Size of the Critically Endangered Black Rhinoceros

A central premise of conservation biology is that small populations suffer reduced viability through loss of genetic diversity and inbreeding. However, there is little evidence that variation in inbreeding impacts individual reproductive success within remnant populations of threatened taxa, largely due to problems associated with obtaining comprehensive pedigree information to estimate inbreeding. In the critically endangered black rhinoceros, a species that experienced severe demographic reductions, we used model selection to identify factors associated with variation in reproductive success (number of offspring). Factors examined as predictors of reproductive success were age, home range size, number of nearby mates, reserve location, and multilocus heterozygosity (a proxy for inbreeding). Multilocus heterozygosity predicted male reproductive success (p< 0.001, explained deviance >58%) and correlated with male home range size (p < 0.01, r2 > 44%). Such effects were not apparent in females, where reproductive success was determined by age (p < 0.01, explained deviance 34%) as females raise calves alone and choose between, rather than compete for, mates. This first report of a 3‐way association between an individual male's heterozygosity, reproductive output, and territory size in a large vertebrate is consistent with an asymmetry in the level of intrasexual competition and highlights the relevance of sex‐biased inbreeding for the management of many conservation‐priority species. Our results contrast with the idea that wild populations of threatened taxa may possess some inherent difference from most nonthreatened populations that necessitates the use of detailed pedigrees to study inbreeding effects. Despite substantial variance in male reproductive success, the increased fitness of more heterozygous males limits the loss of heterozygosity. Understanding how individual differences in genetic diversity mediate the outcome of intrasexual competition will be essential for effective management, particularly in enclosed populations, where individuals have restricted choice about home range location and where the reproductive impact of translocated animals will depend upon the background distribution in individual heterozygosity.
A Behavior Model Based on Verilog-A for 14 Bits 200MHz Current-Steering DAC

In this paper a behavioral based on Verilog-A for segmented current-steering DAC is presented. Much attention was paid to the main circuits such as bandgap reference, current cells, switch array and other relative digital circuits. In this model, non-ideal factors including mismatch of current source transistors and switch glitch are considered, and it aims to model the DAC as accurate as possible. At last the simulation data is analyzed by 8192 points FFT.
DMFA-SR: Deeper Membership and Friendship Awareness for Social Recommendation

The existing social recommendation models mostly utilize various explicit user-generated information. Although there exist a few studies adopting the implicit relationship between users for social recommendation, however, these studies do not consider the deeper social relationship, nor simultaneously take into account two or more deeper relationships between users from different angles. To this end, we propose a new deeper membership and friendship awareness for social recommendation. Specifically, we first calculate the deeper membership similarity between users utilizing the improved Jaccard similarity coefficient and the deeper friendship similarity between users using the proposed two-hop random walk algorithm. Second, the deeper membership similarity and the deeper friendship similarity are combined in a unified way to form a comprehensive deeper social relation similarity. Third, we adopt the matrix factorization method incorporating the deeper membership and the deeper friendship between users as a regularization term for social recommendation, and the corresponding comprehensive deeper social relationship similarity is regarded as the regularization parameter. Experiments on two real-world datasets demonstrate the superiority of the proposed recommendation model.
Increased Anger is Associated With Increased Hemispheric Asymmetry: Support for Anger-Tympanic Membrane Relationships

We recently reported that increased anger/hostility is associated with an increased imbalance of hemispheric activity, regardless of which particular hemisphere is more active (as indicated by increased absolute difference in temperature between the right and left tympanic membrane (ar-lTMT; Propper et al., J Nerv Ment Dis 198:691-694, 2010). In that study, we examined baseline levels of emotion and ar-lTMT; in this study, we used sustained unilateral gaze to manipulate hemispheric activity to further investigate the nature of the relationship between anger, ar-lTMT, and hemispheric imbalance. Both rightward (significantly) and leftward (modestly) sustained unilateral gaze increased anger, providing further evidence that anger is associated with the asymmetry of hemispheric activation. We also support our previous work demonstrating a relationship between increased anger and increased ar-lTMT. This is the second study supporting the use of ar-lTMT as a simple and convenient measure of hemispheric activation and as an objective correlate of anger.
Rab13 Mediates the Continuous Endocytic Recycling of Occludin to the Cell Surface*

During epithelial morphogenesis, adherens junctions (AJs) and tight junctions (TJs) undergo dynamic reorganization, whereas epithelial polarity is transiently lost and reestablished. Although ARF6-mediated endocytic recycling of E-cadherin has been characterized and implicated in the rapid remodeling of AJs, the molecular basis for the dynamic rearrangement of TJs remains elusive. Occludin and claudins are integral membrane proteins comprising TJ strands and are thought to be responsible for establishing and maintaining epithelial polarity. Here we investigated the intracellular transport of occludin and claudins to and from the cell surface. Using cell surface biotinylation and immunofluorescence, we found that a pool of occludin was continuously endocytosed and recycled back to the cell surface in both fibroblastic baby hamster kidney cells and epithelial MTD-1A cells. Biochemical endocytosis and recycling assays revealed that a Rab13 dominant active mutant (Rab13 Q67L) inhibited the postendocytic recycling of occludin, but not that of transferrin receptor and polymeric immunoglobulin receptor in MTD-1A cells. Double immunolabelings showed that a fraction of endocytosed occludin was colocalized with Rab13 in MTD-1A cells. These results suggest that Rab13 specifically mediates the continuous endocytic recycling of occludin to the cell surface in both fibroblastic and epithelial cells.
Glycosphingolipids Regulate Ameloblastin Expression in Dental Epithelial Cells

Neurotrophin 4 (NT-4) and its receptors regulate the differentiation of ameloblasts in tooth development. Gangliosides, sialic acids that contain glycosphingolipids (GSLs), are involved in a variety of membrane-associated cell physiological functions such as ligand-receptor signal transmission. However, the expression patterns and functions of GSLs during tooth development remain unclear. In this study, we identified strong expressions of GM3 and LacCer in dental epithelium, which give rise to differentiation into enamel-secreting ameloblasts. Exogenous GM3 and LacCer in dental epithelial cells induced the expression of ameloblastin (Ambn), while it was also interesting that GM3 synergistically exerted enhancement of NT-4-mediated Ambn expression. In addition, consistently exogenous GM3 and LacCer in dental epithelial cells induced distinct activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), an event upstream of the expression of Ambn. Furthermore, depletion of GSLs from dental epithelial cells by D-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol (D-PDMP) inhibited Ambn expression as well as phosphorylation of ERK1/2. In contrast, exogenous addition of GM3 or LacCer rescued the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 repressed by pre-treatment with D-PDMP. Taken together, these results suggest that GM3 and LacCer are essential for NT-4-mediated Ambn expression, and contribute to dental epithelial cell differentiation into ameloblasts.
Financialisation of Commodity Market in India : A Closer Look at the Evidence

In recent years, it is observed that there is a huge inflow of investment towards a commodities futures market in India. At the same time, we are also facing very high price and also volatility in commodity prices in India. Therefore, this has generated a heated debate about whether financialisation distorts commodity prices in India. Though there is the lack of studies on the financialisation of commodity market in India, this paper made an attempt to empirically examine the financialisation of Commodity market in India using the time series techniques. From the unconditional correlation, it is found that commodity index price is highly correlated with the stock index price during the study period. The causality test indicates that commodity price granger causes to the stock price in India but reverse is not. Therefore, I found no strong evidence on the financialisation of commodity markets in India. This result is quite similar to the report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI, 2009-10).
Strong differences in chemical recognition cues between two closely related species of ants from the genus Lasius (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) are increasingly recognized as important to insects and are used for constructing taxonomies. However, multiple parameters affect the expression of CHCs besides a genetic component. We propose that selection may act differently on the expression of CHCs, depending on the evolutionary context. To explore the influence of selection, the CHCs of two closely related ant species, Lasius niger and Lasius platythorax, were studied in a multidisciplinary approach. We characterized (i) CHCs and (ii) niches (through baiting, activity observations and foraging analysis). The species were distinct in both measures, although to a varying degree. Although they showed moderate niche partitioning along diet and environmental preferences, chemical differences were unexpectedly pronounced. This may be explained by divergent selection on mate recognition cues or by other influences on CHCs. Such striking chemical differences among closely related species may not be the rule and suggest that taxonomies based on CHCs should be interpreted cautiously; though, they remain useful tools for differentiating among cryptic species.
Blind channel estimation in spatial multiplexing systems using nonredundant antenna precoding

Wireless systems employing multiple antennas at the transmitter and the receiver have been shown to have the potential of achieving extraordinary bit rates. We consider the problem of blind channel estimation in single-carrier broadband multi-antenna systems. Assuming a linear time-invariant matrix channel with delay spread, we propose an algorithm for the blind estimation of the matrix channel which uses second-order cyclostationary statistics. Our approach employs nonredundant precoding and yields unique estimates (up to a diagonal matrix of phase terms). Furthermore, it does not require knowledge of the channel order imposes no restrictions on the channel zeros, and exhibits low sensitivity to stationary noise. We present simulation results demonstrating the performance of the proposed method.
Hepatopulmonary Syndrome

Abstract Hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) is characterized by an oxygenation defect induced by pulmonary vascular dilatation in the setting of liver cirrhosis or portal hypertension. It is defined by an alveolar–arterial gradient > 15 mm Hg measured at sea level. This syndrome is seen in 15 to 30% of cirrhotic patients and has been associated with worse survival. Most HPS patients are either asymptomatic or develop the insidious onset of dyspnea. The key event in its pathogenesis is the development of intrapulmonary vascular dilatation (IPVD), which has been linked to increased pulmonary levels of nitric oxide. Pulse oximetry is a useful screening test for HPS, which can guide subsequent use of arterial blood gases. Contrast-enhanced transthoracic echocardiography is the most effective test to demonstrate IPVD. Another method for detecting IPVD is the radionuclide lung perfusion scanning, using technetium-labeled macroaggregated albumin particles. Liver transplantation is the only available treatment for HPS, resulting in complete resolution or significant improvement in gas exchange in over 85% of patients.
Tightness Conditions for Semidefinite Relaxations of Forms Minimization

The Gram matrix allows to compute a lower bound of the minimum of a form via an LMI (linear matrix inequality) optimization by exploiting SOS (sum of squares) relaxations. This paper introduces and characterizes the Gram-tight forms, i.e. forms whose minimum coincides with this lower bound. In particular, it is shown that one can establish that a form is Gram-tight just by checking whether the dimension of the null space of the matrix returned by the LMI solver belongs to a certain range. This fact is not only theoretically interesting but has also useful applications as shown by examples with uncertain systems and nonlinear systems.
ICL KBP Approaches to Knowledge Base Population at TAC2010

This paper reports the ICL KBP team participated in the TAC2010-Knowledge Base Popolation Track. We submitted results for Entity Linking task and Slot Filling task. For Entity Linking, we implemented a simple unsupervised method to select the candidate entities in the Wikipedia Reference Knowledge Base for the given query document which describes the query name-string. For Slot Filling, we treat it as a binary classification problem for each candidate slot value and use type constraint to filter the results. Experimental results reveals that our method reaches the median values of all participants for both tasks.
Respiratory effects of sulphur dioxide: a hierarchical multicity analysis in the APHEA 2 study

Background: Sulphur dioxide (SO2) was associated with hospital admissions for asthma in children in the original APHEA study, but not with other respiratory admissions. Aims: To assess the association between daily levels of SO2 and daily levels of respiratory admissions in a larger and more recent study. Methods: Time series of daily counts of hospital emergency admissions were constructed for asthma at ages 0–14 years and 15–64 years, COPD and asthma, and all respiratory admissions at ages 65+ years in the cities of Birmingham, London, Milan, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, and in the Netherlands for periods of varying duration between the years 1988 and 1997. A two stage hierarchical modelling approach was used. In the first stage generalised additive Poisson regression models were fitted in each city controlling for weather and season. These results were then combined across cities in a second stage ecological regression that looked at potential effect modifiers. Results: For an increase of 10 μg/m3 of SO2 the daily number of admissions for asthma in children increased 1.3% (95% CI 0.4% to 2.2%). Effect modification among cities by levels of other air pollutants or temperature was not found. The SO2 effect disappeared after controlling for PM10 or CO, but correlation among these pollutants was very high. Other respiratory admissions were not associated with SO2. Conclusion: SO2 is associated with asthma admissions in children, indicating that reduction in current air pollution levels could lead to a decrease in the number of asthma admissions in children in Europe.
Hardware implementation of the subdivision loop algorithm

The demand for higher quality in the graphical representation of 3D scenes is continuously increasing. Subdivision of triangular meshes is one of the most employed techniques for improving the quality of these rendered images. The high communication requirements between the CPU and the graphics system associated with this kind of method can be considerably reduced if the subdivision task is carried out in hardware, within a new unit placed at the entry of the standard graphics pipeline. In this paper we present a comparative analysis of two possible implementations of this hardware unit, corresponding to two different alternatives for applying loop subdivision to triangle meshes: subdivision based on forward differencing and on meshing scheme. In the first case, the amount of information sent to the graphics pipeline grows linearly with the level of subdivision; whereas, with the meshing scheme the communication requirements are lower and independent of the subdivision level.
Laser ablation patterning by interference induces directional cell growth

Laser-patterning by interference is a method to introduce micropatterns on the surface of TXL and TXB, which were shown to have an effect on the L929 growth. In this experiment, we have produced collagen-coated and laser-patterned TXL and TXB with different dimensions; the groove width of the line patterns varied approximately from 1.2 /spl mu/m to 9.7 /spl mu/m, ridge depth varied from 0.4 /spl mu/m to 1.3 /spl mu/m, and the groove depth varied between 0.4 /spl mu/m and 1.3 /spl mu/m. Therefore, a homogeneous smooth surface was achieved, and that L929 growth was only affected by the different dimensions of the line patterns. All the laser-patterned TXL and TXB have shown inducing different degrees of directional growth of L929 that the cells grew in the direction aligning the microgrooves. However, the different widths of the microgrooves were demonstrated to play an important role in determining cell morphology and growth orientation. For example, cells were elongated when they grew on the narrower widths, which were 1.26 /spl mu/m, 1.91 /spl mu/m, and 5.04 /spl mu/m while cells tended to be triangular when grew on wider width about 9.76 /spl mu/m. In addition, L929 might grow only on the top of the laser-patterns attaching the ridges when the groove widths were narrow, but might grow into the microgrooves when the width went beyond 5.04 /spl mu/m.
A Quantile Regression Approach to the Multiple Period Value at Risk Estimation

This research focuses on methods for multiple period Value at Risk (VaR) estimation by utilizing some common approaches like RiskMetrics and empirical distribution and examining quantile regression. In a simulation study we compare the least square and quantile regression percentiles with the actual percentiles for different error distributions. We also discuss the method of selecting response and explanatory variables for the quantile regression approach. In an empirical study, we apply the three VaR estimation approaches to the aggregate returns of four major market indices. The results indicate that the quantile regression approach is better than the other two approaches.
Optimal selection of location, sizing and power factor for solar PV plants using differential evolution

Environmental concern on fossil fuel power plants has been one of the drivers for the growth of renewable energy (RE) plants, particularly solar PV (SPV). Hence, it is imperative that the SPVs are connected to the power grid at suitable location to reduce technical losses and also provide peak load shaving. This would also require the determination of appropriate sizing and power factor of SPVs to ensure voltage limits are adhered to. In this paper, the integration of solar PV plants into the grid, either concurrently or sequentially, is optimized by utilizing Differential Evolution method. The optimal values for location, sizing and power factor of each of the plants are determined simultaneously, such that lowest network loss is achieved, without violating basic power system constraints. Variation of system loads and PV generation is considered, and the importance of optimizing power factor is also emphasized.