Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Stochastic Optimization of Wind Turbine Power Factor Using Stochastic Model of Wind Power

This paper proposes a stochastic optimization algorithm that aims to minimize the expectation of the system power losses by controlling wind turbine (WT) power factors. This objective of the optimization is subject to the probability constraints of bus voltage and line current requirements. The optimization algorithm utilizes the stochastic models of wind power generation (WPG) and load demand to take into account their stochastic variation. The stochastic model of WPG is developed on the basis of a limited autoregressive integrated moving average (LARIMA) model by introducing a cross-correlation structure to the LARIMA model. The proposed stochastic optimization is carried out on a 69-bus distribution system. Simulation results confirm that, under various combinations of WPG and load demand, the system power losses are considerably reduced with the optimal setting of WT power factor as compared to the case with unity power factor. Furthermore, an economic evaluation is carried out to quantify the value of power loss reduction. It is demonstrated that not only network operators but also WT owners can benefit from the optimal power factor setting, as WT owners can pay a much lower energy transfer fee to the network operators.
A novel rat serotonin (5-HT6) receptor: molecular cloning, localization and stimulation of cAMP accumulation.

Using a strategy based upon nucleotide sequence homology and starting from the sequence of the rat histamine H2 receptor (Ruat et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1991, 179, 1470-1478), we have cloned a rat cDNA encoding a functional serotonin receptor (5-HT6). Its coding sequence corresponds to a glycoprotein of 436 amino acids displaying significant homology with other cloned monoaminergic receptors, e.g., various serotonin receptors. Genomic analysis of its gene indicated the presence of at least one intron. The major transcript of the 5-HT6 receptor gene has a size of approximately 4.1 kb but another minor 3.2 kb transcript was also evidenced. The highest expression, detected by Northern blot analysis as well as by in situ hybridization occurs in various serotoninergic areas of rat or guinea pig brain such as striatum, olfactory tubercle, nucleus accumbens and hippocampus, but a faint expression is also detectable in rat stomach. When transiently expressed in transfected COS-7 cells the 5-HT6 receptor appears to be positively coupled to cyclic AMP production.
Rotavirus Strain Diversity in Blantyre, Malawi, from 1997 to 1999

ABSTRACT In a 2-year study of viral gastroenteritis in children in Blantyre, Malawi, the diversity of rotavirus strains was investigated by using electropherotyping, reverse transcription-PCR amplification of the VP7 and VP4 genes (G and P genotyping), and nucleotide sequencing. Of 414 rotavirus strains characterized, the following strain types were identified: P[8], G1 (n = 111; 26.8%); P[6], G8 (n = 110; 26.6%); P[8], G3 (n = 93; 22.5%); P[4], G8 (n = 31; 7.5%); P[8], G4 (n = 21; 5.1%); P[6], G3 (n = 12; 2.9%); P[6], G1 (n = 7; 1.7%); P[6], G9 (n = 3; 0.7%); P[6], G4 (n = 3; 0.7%); P[4], G3 (n = 1; 0.2%); and mixed (n = 15; 3.6%). While all strains could be assigned a G type, seven strains (1.7%) remained P nontypeable. The majority of serotype G8 strains and all serotype G9 strains had short electropherotype profiles. All remaining typeable strains had long electropherotypes. Divergent serotype G1 rotaviruses, which contained multiple base substitutions in the 9T-1 primer binding site, were commonly identified in the second year of surveillance. Serotype G2 was not identified. Overall, G8 was the most frequently identified VP7 serotype (n = 144; 34.8%) and P[8] was the most frequently detected VP4 genotype (n = 227; 54.8%). Partial sequence analysis of the VP4 gene of genotype P[8] rotaviruses identified three distinct clusters, which predominantly (but not exclusively) comprised strains belonging to a distinct VP7 serotype (G1, G3, or G4). As a result of mutations in the 1T-1 primer binding site, strains belonging to each cluster required a separate primer for efficient typing. One cluster, represented by P[8], G4 strain OP354, was highly divergent from the established Wa and F45 VP4 P[8] lineages. As is the case for some other countries, the diversity of rotaviruses in Malawi implies that rotavirus vaccines in development will need to protect against a wider panel of serotypes than originally envisioned.
Comments on ‘Empirical vs natural weighting in random effects meta‐analysis’

Reading the article ‘Empirical vs natural weighting in random effects meta-analysis’ by Shuster [1] might lead the reader to conclude that no systematic study has been done to investigate the properties of the approach suggested in DerSimonian and Laird [2], nor to compare it with similar approaches. This is not so. There is, in fact, quite a literature (some of it published in this journal) which has pointed to problems with the D-L estimator in this setting, and many improved methods have been suggested. The D-L estimator was adapted to the comparison of two binomial proportions from a paper by Cochran, who discussed combining treatment differences over a series experiments in the context of measured responses and linear models [3]. He noted that the method would be biased if the effect sizes were correlated with the within study estimates of standard error, which they clearly are in the case of binomial proportions. A systematic evaluation of this bias was carried out by Emerson et al. [4, 5], who compared the performance of D-L with other estimators, including a modiﬁed D-L estimator, the unweighted estimator and a sample size weighted estimator which is essentially equivalent to the ratio estimator proposed by Shuster. All of the evaluations were carried out under the random effects model described in the Shuster paper. They concluded that D-L does indeed have bias, especially when within study sample sizes are small and event rates are low. They recommended the modiﬁed D-L as an unbiased competitor, which is just as easy to compute, and more efﬁcient than the unweighted or sample size weighted mean. Other papers examining bias in the D-L method have focused on problems with the conﬁdence interval when the number of studies is small [6]. The general point
Benchmarking pathway interaction network for colorectal cancer to identify dysregulated pathways

Different pathways act synergistically to participate in many biological processes. Thus, the purpose of our study was to extract dysregulated pathways to investigate the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer (CRC) based on the functional dependency among pathways. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) information and pathway data were retrieved from STRING and Reactome databases, respectively. After genes were aligned to the pathways, each pathway activity was calculated using the principal component analysis (PCA) method, and the seed pathway was discovered. Subsequently, we constructed the pathway interaction network (PIN), where each node represented a biological pathway based on gene expression profile, PPI data, as well as pathways. Dysregulated pathways were then selected from the PIN according to classification performance and seed pathway. A PIN including 11,960 interactions was constructed to identify dysregulated pathways. Interestingly, the interaction of mRNA splicing and mRNA splicing-major pathway had the highest score of 719.8167. Maximum change of the activity score between CRC and normal samples appeared in the pathway of DNA replication, which was selected as the seed pathway. Starting with this seed pathway, a pathway set containing 30 dysregulated pathways was obtained with an area under the curve score of 0.8598. The pathway of mRNA splicing, mRNA splicing-major pathway, and RNA polymerase I had the maximum genes of 107. Moreover, we found that these 30 pathways had crosstalks with each other. The results suggest that these dysregulated pathways might be used as biomarkers to diagnose CRC.
A single/double precision floating-point reciprocal unit design for multimedia applications

Modern graphic processors, multimedia processors, and general-purpose processors with multimedia extensions provide SIMD floating-point instructions. SIMD floating-point reciprocal operation is commonly used in 2D and 3D applications, which mostly use single precision floating-point operands. Consequently, efficient single precision units are crucial for high performance systems. This paper introduces a packed floating point reciprocal unit that can perform reciprocal of either a double precision or two parallel single-precision floating-point numbers using fast multipliers.
A confocal laser microscope scanner for digital recording of optical serial sections

A confocal laser microscope scanner developed at our institute is described. Since an ordinary microscope is used, it is easy to view the specimen prior to scanning. Confocal imaging is obtained by laser spot illumination, and by focusing the reflected or fluorescent light from the specimen onto a pinhole aperture in front of the detector (a photomultiplier tube). Two rotating mirrors are used to scan the laser beam in a raster pattern. The scanner is controlled by a microprocessor which coordinates scanning, data display, and data transfer to a host computer equipped with an array processor. Digital images with up to 1024 × 1024 pixels and 256 grey levels can be recorded. The optical sectioning property of confocal scanning is used to record thin (∼ 1 μm) sections of a specimen without the need for mechanical sectioning. By using computer‐control to adjust the focus of the microscope, a stack of consecutive sections can be automatically recorded. A computer is then used to display the 3‐D structure of the specimen. It is also possible to obtain quantitative information, both geometric and photometric. In addition to confocal laser scanning, it is easy to perform non‐confocal laser scanning, or to use conventional microscopic illumination techniques for (non‐confocal) scanning. The design has proved reliable and stable, requiring very few adjustments and realignments. Results obtained with this scanner are reported, and some limitations of the technique are discussed.
Development of the active neutron-based interrogation system with D-D neutron source for the detection of special nuclear materials

The detection of hidden special nuclear materials (SNMs) is important issue for nuclear security. For this purpose, we have been developing an active neutron-based interrogation system combined with a D-D fusion neutron source, which is a compact discharge-type fusion neutron source called IEC (Inertial-Electrostatic Confinement Fusion) device and provides pulsed neutrons of 2.45MeV. The neutron noise analysis method and the detection of high energy fission neutron spectrum are employed for detection of SNMs.
Accessing Maternity Care in Rural Canada: There's More to the Story Than Distance to a Doctor

Drawing upon a comparative, qualitative study of the experiences of rural women accessing maternity care in two Canadian provinces, we demonstrate that availability of services, having economic and informational resources to access the services offered, and the appropriateness of those services in terms of gender, continuity of care, confidentiality, quality of care, and cultural fit are key to an accurate understanding of health care access. We explore the implications of living rurally on each of these dimensions, thereby revealing both gaps in and solutions to rural maternity care access that narrower, proximity-based definitions miss.
Ionic Liquid as Useful Media for Dissolution, Derivatization, and Nanomaterial Processing of Chitin

This paper reviews studies on dissolution, derivatization, and nanomaterial processing of chitin using an ionic liquid as useful media. Because chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide on the earth after cellulose, there is major interest in conversion of native chitin resources into various useful materials after proper dissolution in suitable solvents. For the derivatization and nanomaterial processing of chitin, the author has been focusing on ionic liquids because which have been found to be used as good solvents for cellulose in a past decade. The author found that an ionic liquid, 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (AMIMBr), dissolved chitin in concentrations up to 4.8 wt% and mixtures of the higher amounts of chitin with AMIMBr gave ion gels. Acetylation, the simplest derivatization, of chitin using acetic anhydride was achieved in the AMIMBr solvent under mild conditions. Furthermore, the chitin nanofibers were fabricated by regeneration technique from the chitin ion gel with AMIMBr using methanol. Moreover, filtration of the chitin nanofiber dispersion with methanol was carried out to give a chitin nanofiber film. The chitin nanofiber-poly(vinyl alcohol) composite film was also prepared from the ion gel by co-regeneration method.
Common-mode voltage reduction methods for medium-voltage current source inverter-fed drives

Common-mode voltages (CMVs) can lead to premature failure of the motor insulation system in medium-voltage (MV) current source inverter (CSI)-fed drives. A series of nonzero-state modulation (NZSM) techniques are proposed for the CMV reduction. In these methods, the zero states are avoided because they generate the CMV peak values in common operating conditions of a CSI drive. The overall performance of the proposed modulation techniques with the corresponding switching patterns is investigated. The simulation results indicate that the CMV magnitude is decreased by half using NZSM. Although there are tradeoffs between the CMV reduction and increase in the device switching frequency, shrink in the modulation index range and deterioration in the waveform quality, an active-zero-state modulation (AZSM2) method is recommended for low-speed CSI-fed motor drives with the best CMV reduction effect. The near-state modulation (NSM-S1) technique can be applied to a CSI working at a modulation index higher than 0.67.
A BIC Sensor Capable of Adjusting IDDQ Limit in Tests

A built-in-current sensor (BIC sensor) is proposed whose IDDQ limit is able to be adjusted in each IC test. IDDQ tests of identical IDDQ limit can be realized with the current sensor, even if process variation occurs in the sensor. Also, an IDDQ test method is proposed for ICs, in each of which the BIC sensor is implemented. It is shown by some experiments that IDDQ limit of 10mu A will be able to be set and IDDQ test results based on the limit will be obtained by adjusting the limit for each IC if size variation of MOSs in the BIC sensor is less than 50%
New Approaches to Improve Timing Resolution in Scintillators

The future generation of radiation detectors is more and more demanding on timing performance for a wide range of applications, such as time of flight (TOF) techniques for PET cameras and particle identification in nuclear physics and high energy physics detectors, precise event time tagging in high luminosity accelerators and a number of photonic applications based on single photon detection. A detailed analysis of the factors limiting timing resolution in scintillators is presented. Several solutions are proposed to overcome these limitations assuming the photodetector and the readout electronics are not the limiting factors. On the scintillator side both the light production and the light transport are addressed. The light production timing parameters are driven by three factors: relaxation time of hot electron-hole pairs; creation of excitons and their trapping on luminescent centers; and strength of the luminescent center transition matrix element. The opportunity to make use of Cerenkov emission and to reactivate research lines on cross-luminescence and more generally on interband luminescence, as well as on populating a high carrier density donor band is discussed. A particular emphasis is put on the possibilities offered by quantum confinement. On the side of light transport a better understanding of the statistical distribution of optical photons at the photodetector is building-up progressively. Different approaches to make use of this knowledge are proposed, such as photonic crystals, single photon counting techniques and light channeling in metamaterials.
Eye regeneration in the mystery snail.

Mystery snails (Family Ampullariidae) are aquatic prosobranchs which possess structurally complex eyes at the tip of a cephalic eyestalk. No other sensory organs are found in association with this stalk. These snails possess the ability to regenerate the eye completely after amputation through the mid-eyestalk. Amputation induces gross changes in the cellular character of the entire eyestalk; in particular, an invagination of integumentary epithelium at the apex of the eyestalk stump produces a shallow cleft or "eyecup. " Differentiation of all components of the eye apparently occurs by transdetermination of these epithelial cells. Retinal differentiation and the appearance of a new lens is observed as soon as 14 days postamputation. Complete eyes (by external observation), although smaller than the originals, have regenerated by 25 days postamputation. We compare this regeneration to the reconstruction of other animal tissues, in particular the regeneration of amphibian limbs.
Performance analysis of dual-‘switch and stay’ combiner over correlated KG fading channels

Switch and Stay combiner (SSC) is a diversity combiner which can be used in practice as it offers less switching transition compared to popular selection diversity combiner. Performance of a dual Switch and Stay combining diversity receiver is analyzed in correlated generalized-K (KG) fading channels. Mathematical expressions for a number of performance measures such as the probability density function of the SSC output SNR, average output SNR, outage probability and amount of fading have been presented. Using the MGF-based approach, the expression for average bit error rate of non-coherent modulation scheme is also obtained. Effects of fading and correlation on the combiner performance is studied through numerical and simulation techniques. Numerical results are found to be closely matching with the simulation results.
Reverse Engineering of Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves by

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves have played a crucial role in the design and evaluation of radar systems for many decades. More recently, their use has spread to a variety of fields including clinical decision-making and machine learning. The common thread in all of these fields is an interest in binary hypothesis testing problems, in which the objective is to use an observation of a random variable of interest, sometimes referred to as a score variable, to infer the answer to a yes-no question. The standard progression of a binary hypothesis testing system from an observation of a score variable, to a set of parameterized decision rules with a binary outputs, to an ROC curve that characterizes the performance of those decision rules is well-understood. Thus, it comes as no surprise that an ROC curve only contains partial information about the problem for which it was designed. In this thesis, a key objective is to find ways of “reverse engineering” ROC curves in order to infer as much information as possible about the underlying binary hypothesis testing problems. We focus specifically on ROC curves that were or could have been constructed using likelihood ratio tests on an actual score variable, which we refer to as LRT-consistent ROC curves. For example, a specific LRT-consistent ROC curve does not uniquely determine the conditional distributions of the score variable used to generate it. A main result is a method for starting with an LRT-consistent ROC curve and using it to construct the conditional distributions of an unlimited number of score variables that could have been used to produce it. One interpretation of the result is as a characterization of the family of score variables that lead to the same ROC curve. This approach is extended to the similar problem of characterizing the family of score variables that lead to the same a set of LRT decision rules. Thesis Supervisor: Alan V. Oppenheim Title: Ford Professor of Engineering
Evaluation of Condition Symptoms in Diagnosing Complex Objects

A method is proposed for selecting the most informative diagnostic symptoms in lifetime consumption monitoring of complex objects. Typically in such cases many symptoms are available and their suitability cannot be evaluated even with a detailed knowledge of object layout and operation. The proposed procedure involves two stages. Preliminary symptom selection is based on the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) method. Second stage is based on the information content assessment and employs the continuous analogue of Shannon entropy. An example is presented for a steam turbine fluid-flow system.
Milk-curd bowel obstruction in the newborn infant.

IN 1969, Cook and Rickham1first reported a syndrome of neonatal intestinal obstruction due to inspissated milk curds. This new entity had not been seen before in more than 600 cases of bowel obstruction in newborn infants admitted to the Liverpool Neonatal Surgical Center and had not been previously described in the literature. They found that the obstruction occurred primarily in premature infants in whom high-caloric feedings were begun shortly after birth. In all eight cases, the babies were well at birth, passed normal meconium stools, and began receiving feedings of either reconstituted powdered milk or diluted milk-concentrate. Altered stools and then milk stools were passed until low small-bowel obstruction suddenly developed at ages 5 to 14 days. Studies indicated that milk-curd obstruction resulted from a combination of early feeding of high-caloric milk and the decreased ability of the infant to absorb proteins and amino acids. Of interest was
University of Groningen Use and functioning of the affected limb in children with unilateral congenital below-elbow deficiency during infancy and preschool

Citation for published version (APA): Hadders-Algra, M. , Reinders-Messelink, H. A. , Huizing, K. , van den Berg, R. , van der Sluis, C. K. , & Maathuis, C. G. B. (2013). Use and functioning of the affected limb in children with unilateral congenital below-elbow deficiency during infancy and preschool age: A longitudinal observational multiple case study. Early Human Development, 89(1), 49-54. DOI: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev. 2012.07. 011