Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Midlatitude cloud shifts, their primary link to the Hadley cell, and their diverse radiative effects

We investigate the interannual relationship among clouds, their radiative effects, and two key indices of the atmospheric circulation: the latitudinal positions of the Hadley cell edge and the midlatitude jet. From reanalysis data and satellite observations, we find a clear and consistent relationship between the width of the Hadley cell and the high cloud field, statistically significant in nearly all regions and seasons. In contrast, shifts of the midlatitude jet correlate significantly with high cloud shifts only in the North Atlantic region during the winter season. While in that region and season poleward high cloud shifts are associated with shortwave radiative warming, over the Southern Oceans during all seasons they are associated with shortwave radiative cooling. Finally, a trend analysis reveals that poleward high cloud shifts observed over the 1983–2009 period are more likely related to Hadley cell expansion, rather than poleward shifts of the midlatitude jets.
Multi-user Detection using a Combination of Linear Sequence Estimation and Successive Interference Cancellation

We propose a Multi-user Detection (MUD) receiver that combines Linear Sequence Estimation (LSE) and Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC). It is based on the symbol-response model commonly employed in the context of Joint Detectors (JD). It mitigates Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) by LSE and Multiple Access Interference (MAI) via SIC. We provide numerical results that compare its performance to JD and RAKE receivers in frequency-selective fading channels. It exhibits better performance and lower complexity than existing RAKE based SIC receivers, especially in channels with large delay spreads and a large number of non-zero taps. It has a substantially lower complexity as compared to JD receivers with comparable performance under many channel conditions of interest. Key applications include burst mode WCDMA systems such as the 3GPP TDD system.
Analysis and subgrid modeling of shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction

This paper considers two dierent issues that arise in LES of supersonic wall bounded flows. First, an ap riorianalysis of subgrid-scale models in a highly compressible environment is conducted. DNS data from a Mach 3 compression-corner are used for this purpose. Models of the scale-similarity type correlate best with ltered DNS data. Lower correlations are obtained with the dynamic mixed model, the dynamic Smagorinsky model, and the xed-coecient Smagorinsky model. Second, the possibility of treating the shock as a subgrid scale is investigated. It is found that a straightforward application of dynamic eddy-viscosity models is unsuccessful. A direct deconvolution is found to give a proper agreement between a 6th order spectral-like nite-dierence scheme and a 5th order ENO shock-capturing scheme for the simple case of a 1D convected M =3 shock.
Timing synchronization for MIMO-OFDM using orthogonal sequences in Rayleigh fading channel

MIMO-OFDM systems have the ability to maintain high performance even in sophisticated channel conditions. But to ensure that the system remains robust to multipath channel conditions proper timing and frequency synchronization is essential. The multipath fading channels and noise in the signal makes timing synchronization difficult to implement. In this paper, a timing synchronization technique using orthogonal sequences namely CAZAC sequence and Hadamard sequence is proposed. The timing ambiguity caused by the plateau problem owing to the repeated structure of short training sequence is removed by the use of a sliding window differentiator. The pseudo multipath problem caused by the cyclic delay diversity (CDD) scheme is also eliminated. The performances of both the sequences and the proposed design using CAZAC sequence are evaluated at different SNR values. The simulation results show that the newly designed CAZAC sequence has better performance.
Video to CT Registration for Image Overlay on Solid Organs

This paper describes a general-purpose system for computing registered stereoscopic video overlays of pre-operative imagery during minimally invasive surgery. There are three key elements to our approach. The first element is a real-time computer vision system that operates on stereoscopic video acquired during minimally invasive surgery to extract geometric information. We present two variations on this system: a dense stereo algorithm and a sparse point-based method. The second element is an efficient deformable surface-to-surface ICP registration. The final element is a novel display system that has been customized to operate well with stereo vision. By combining these elements, we show that we are able to perform video to volume registration and display in real time. This in turn facilitates rendering of annotations and visualization of sub-surface information on structures within the surgical field. Experimental results are shown on video sequences recorded during animal and human surgeries.
Do as I say and do as I do? The mediating role of psychological contract fulfillment in the relationship between ethical leadership and employee extra-role performance

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of ethical leadership on two important employee extra-role behaviors; organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) and creative performance (CP). Drawing on social exchange and organizational support theories, psychological contract fulfillment (PCF) was proposed as the mediating mechanism explaining this relationship. ,Data were collected via questionnaire from 248 employee-supervisor/colleague dyads employed in a large fast-moving consumer goods multinational company in Pakistan. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. ,Supervisors’ ethical leadership style (ELS) was positively related to employees’ OCBs and CP. The predicted mediating role of PCF in the relationship between ELS and extra-role behaviors was also supported. ,While it benefitted from dyadic data, a significant limitation of this study is the cross-sectional nature of the data. A noteworthy implication of the findings is the important role that supervisors’ ELS plays in employees’ behaviors within the organization. Furthermore, it appears that ethical leadership is a significant factor in employees’ evaluations of PCF and their ensuing behavioral responses. ,This study contributes to addressing the inconsistent findings in prior research on ethical leadership. An additional novel contribution is that it identifies PCF as an underlying mechanism linking ethical leadership and employees’ extra-role behaviors.
Constitutive activation of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) nuclear antigen 1 gene transcription by IRF1 and IRF2 during restricted EBV latency

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) EBNA1 gene promoter active in the type I program of restricted viral latency was recently identified and shown to reside in the viral BamHI Q fragment. This promoter, Qp, is active in a wide variety of cell lines and has an architecture reminiscent of eukaryotic housekeeping gene promoters (B. C. Schaefer, J. L. Strominger, and S. H. Speck, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:10565-10569, 1995; B. C. Schaefer, J. L. Strominger, and S. H. Speck, Mol. Cell. Biol. 17:364-377, 1997). Here we demonstrate by deletion analysis that the important cis-acting elements regulating Qp are clustered in a relatively small region (ca. 80 bp) surrounding the site of transcription initiation. Immediately upstream of the site of initiation is a region which is protected from DNase I digestion by crude nuclear extracts. Electrophoretic mobility shift analyses (EMSA) employing probes spanning this region demonstrated the presence of two major protein complexes. Deletion analysis of Qp demonstrated that at least one of these complexes plays an important role in Qp activity. Evidence that interferon response factor 2 (IRF2) is a major constituent of the most prominent EMSA complex and that IRF1 may be a minor component of this complex is presented. Transfections into IRF1-/-, IRF2-/-, and IRF1,2-/- fibroblasts demonstrated that absence of both IRF1 and IRF2 reduced Qp activity to approximately the same extent as mutation of the IRF-binding site in Qp, strongly implicating IRF2, and perhaps IRF1, in the regulation of Qp activity. Notably, transcription from Qp was not inducible by either alpha or gamma interferon in EBV-negative B cells but rather was shown to be constitutively activated by IRF1 and IRF2. This observation suggests that IRF1 and IRF2 have a previously unrecognized role as constitutive activators of specific genes. Additionally, data presented indicate that a protein complex containing the nonhistone architectural protein HMG-I(Y) binds to the region identified as the major transcription initiation site for Qp. This observation raises the possibility that HMG-I(Y)-induced DNA bending plays a role in the initiation of transcription from Qp.
Inconsistent reporting of surrogate outcomes in randomised clinical trials: cohort study

Objective To assess if authors of randomised clinical trials convey the fact that they have used surrogate outcomes and discussed their validity. Design Cohort study. Setting Six major general medical journals. Participants Randomised clinical trials published in 2005 and 2006 that used a surrogate as a primary outcome. Results Of 626 published randomised clinical trials, 109 (17%) used a surrogate as a primary outcome. Of these trials, 62 (57%, 95% confidence interval 47% to 67%) clearly reported that the primary outcome was a surrogate. Only 38 (35%, 26% to 45%) also discussed the validity of the surrogate. Conclusion Only about one third of authors of randomised clinical trials that used a surrogate as a primary outcome reported adequately on the surrogate. Better reporting is needed.
Extending the STTS for the annotation of spoken language

This paper presents an extension to the Stuttgart-T¨ ubingen TagSet, the standard part-of-speech tag set for German, for the annotation of spoken language. The additional tags deal with hesitations, backchannel signals, interruptions, onomatopoeia and uninterpretable material. They allow one to capture phenomena specific to spoken language while, at the same time, preserving inter-operability with already existing corpora of written language.
ComFiM: A Cooperative Serious Game to Encourage the Development of Communicative Skills between Children with Autism

About 50% of people with autism have problems in developing any kind of functional language. Working with the concept of serious games and with the impairments that children with autism often have in the communication field, this paper presents the development of a game called ComFiM. ComFiM aims to encourage communication between people with autism as an interactive and dynamic process, first building player knowledge while interacting with a virtual character, and later encouraging communication with another human player in a muti-player segment, using the knowledge gained in the single player segment. Results show that aesthetic experiences addressed in ComFiM aligned to a multi-player environment and that the proposed game architecture has been able to create situations of communication between the players.
Economic Inefficiencies and Cross-Subsidies in an Auction-Based Electricity Pool

This paper compares two contrasting yet often used electricity market-clearing procedures: an auction-based algorithm including congestion management and transmission loss cost allocation and an optimal power flow. The suction procedure produces a single-period unit commitment and, hence, can be compared directly to an optimal power flow solution. These algorithms are compared in terms of the economic efficiency of the solution attained, and in terms of cross-subsidies among generators and demands. The purpose of this comparison is to quantify the actual cost to market participants of using a simple, seemingly transparent procedure, such as an auction-based algorithm, versus an integrated but computationally intensive one, such as an optimal power flow.
Apolipoprotein E genotyping using PCR-GoldMag lateral flow assay and its clinical applications

A polymerase chain reaction-gold magnetic nanoparticles lateral flow assay (PCR-GoldMag LFA) has been developed via integrating multiplex amplification refractory mutation system PCR (multi-ARMS-PCR) with GoldMag-based LFA for the visual detection of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This assay was applied to genotype Apolipoprotein E (ApoE). ApoE genotyping is important due to the predictive value for the development of coronary artery disease and Alzheimer's disease. The method requires two steps: i) Simultaneous amplifications of the two polymorphic codons (ApoE 158 and 112), performed in separated reactions using multi-ARMS-PCR; and ii) detection of the wild-type and mutant PCR products via dual immunoreactions, which can be performed in ~5 min. Within two LFAs, anti-digoxin antibody-conjugated GoldMag probes bind digoxin-labeled wild-type PCR products, and anti-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) antibody-conjugated GoldMag probes bind FITC-labeled mutant PCR products. All PCR products are biotin labeled and are detected by streptavidin-coated regions on the LFA strip, resulting in a red color. The current approach is capable of detecting the SNPs of ApoE in ~1.5 h, with a broad detection range from 10–1,000 ng of genomic DNA. Thus, the present protocol may facilitate simple, fast and cost-effective screening for important SNPs, as demonstrated by the evaluation of the prevalence of ApoE variants in a Han Chinese cohort.
Text segmentation in mixed-mode images using classification trees and transform tree-structured vector quantization

Multimedia applications such as educational videos and color facsimile contain images that are rich in both textual and continuous tone data. Because these two types of data have different properties, segmentation of the images into text and continuous tone data can improve compression by allowing different compression parameters or even algorithms to be employed on the different types. We propose and compare algorithms that use classification trees (CLTR) or tree-structured vector quantization (TSVQ) for block-based classification in mixed-mode images. We also examine different types of features that can be used in these classifiers. The results show that using linear transform features with either the CLTR or TSVQ can be effective for accurate text classification. In addition, the results indicate that combining these classifiers with another TSVQ that is designed simultaneously to minimize both compression and classification error can provide better classification than does either system alone.
METHODS FOR SEGMENTATION OF IVUS ATHEROSCLEROSIS IMAGES

Segmentation is an important aspec t of medical image processing. Segmentation of coronary arteries of atherosclerosis is one important process prior to m any analyses and visualization tasks for intravascu lar ultrasound (IVUS) images. It is also helpful in the finding of the di sease and its progressive treatment. Different meth ods are used for medical image segmentation such as Clustering methods, Thresholding method, Classifier, Region Growing, Deformable Model, Markov Random Model etc. The main purpose of this survey is to provide a comprehensive reference sourc e for the researchers involved in Expectation-Maximization based medical image processing. There are different t ypes of Expectation-Maximization algorithms for medical image. Their advantages and disadvantages are discussed.
Differential Processing for Actively Ignored Pictures and Words

Previous work suggests that, when attended, pictures may be processed more readily than words. The current study extends this research to assess potential differences in processing between these stimulus types when they are actively ignored. In a dual-task paradigm, facilitated recognition for previously ignored words was found provided that they appeared frequently with an attended target. When adapting the same paradigm here, previously unattended pictures were recognized at high rates regardless of how they were paired with items during the primary task, whereas unattended words were later recognized at higher rates only if they had previously been aligned with primary task targets. Implicit learning effects obtained by aligning unattended items with attended task-targets may apply only to conceptually abstract stimulus types, such as words. Pictures, on the other hand, may maintain direct access to semantic information, and are therefore processed more readily than words, even when being actively ignored.
Arabidopsis Type II Phosphatidylinositol 4-Kinase PI4Kγ5 Regulates Auxin Biosynthesis and Leaf Margin Development through Interacting with Membrane-Bound Transcription Factor ANAC078

Normal leaf margin development is important for leaf morphogenesis and contributes to diverse leaf shapes in higher plants. We here show the crucial roles of an atypical type II phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase, PI4Kγ5, in Arabidopsis leaf margin development. PI4Kγ5 presents a dynamics expression pattern along with leaf development and a T-DNA mutant lacking PI4Kγ5, pi4kγ5–1, presents serrated leaves, which is resulted from the accelerated cell division and increased auxin concentration at serration tips. Studies revealed that PI4Kγ5 interacts with and phosphorylates a membrane-bound NAC transcription factor, ANAC078. Previous studies demonstrated that membrane-bound transcription factors regulate gene transcription by undergoing proteolytic process to translocate into nucleus, and ANAC078 undergoes proteolysis by cleaving off the transmembrane region and carboxyl terminal. Western blot analysis indeed showed that ANAC078 deleting of carboxyl terminal is significantly reduced in pi4kγ5–1, indicating that PI4Kγ5 is important for the cleavage of ANAC078. This is consistent with the subcellular localization observation showing that fluorescence by GFP-ANAC078 is detected at plasma membrane but not nucleus in pi4kγ5–1 mutant and that expression of ANAC078 deleting of carboxyl terminal, driven by PI4Kγ5 promoter, could rescue the leaf serration defects of pi4kγ5–1. Further analysis showed that ANAC078 suppresses the auxin synthesis by directly binding and regulating the expression of auxin synthesis-related genes. These results indicate that PI4Kγ5 interacts with ANAC078 to negatively regulate auxin synthesis and hence influences cell proliferation and leaf development, providing informative clues for the regulation of in situ auxin synthesis and cell division, as well as the cleavage and functional mechanism of membrane-bound transcription factors.
Determinants of conservation agriculture in the Indo-Gangetic Plains

This paper assesses the major determinants of conservation agriculture (CA) in the IndoGangetic Plains (IGP), using data from Nepal, India and Bangladesh. In order to analyze this, combinations of parametric and non-parametric methods are used. The analysis shows that households that operate large farms are more likely to adopt CA, implying that resource endowment matters for technology adoption. Likewise, farmers are more likely to adopt CA in irrigated land, indicating land quality as a major determinant to CA adoption. This might have implication in cost reduction or profit maximization with CA adoption. Results indicate that households in which women make decision regarding the adoption of farm technologies, often prefer CA as compared to their male counterparts. We also found significant differences between the countries in the IGP with regard to the adoption of CA.
A multimodal labeling interface for wearable computing

Under wearable environments, it is not convenient to label an object with portable keyboards and mice. This paper presents a multimodal labeling interface to solve this problem with natural and efficient operations. Visual and audio modalities cooperate with each other: an object is encircled by visual tracking of a pointing gesture, and meanwhile its name is obtained by speech recognition. In this paper, we propose a concept of virtual touchpad based on stereo vision techniques. With the touchpad, the object encircling task is achieved by drawing a closed curve on a transparent blackboard. The touch events and movements of a pointing gesture are robustly detected for natural gesture interactions. The experimental results demonstrate the efficiency and usability of our multimodal interface.
Ucuùba (Virola surinamensis) Fat-Based Nanostructured Lipid Carriers for Nail Drug Delivery of Ketoconazole: Development and Optimization Using Box-Behnken Design

Ucuùba fat is fat obtained from a plant found in South America, mainly in Amazonian Brazil. Due to its biocompatibility and bioactivity, Ucuùba fat was used for the production of ketoconazole-loaded nanostructured lipid carriers (NLC) in view of an application for the treatment of onychomycosis and other persistent fungal infections. The development and optimization of Ucuùba fat-based NLC were performed using a Box-Behnken design of experiments. The independent variables were surfactant concentration (% w/v), liquid lipids concentration (% w/v), solid lipids concentration (% w/v), while the outputs of interest were particle size, polydispersity index (PDI) and drug encapsulation efficiency (EE). Ucuùba fat-based NLC were produced and the process was optimized by the development of a predictive mathematical model. Applying the model, two formulations with pre-determined particle size, i.e., 30 and 85 nm, were produced for further evaluation. The optimized formulations were characterized and showed particle size in agreement to the predicted value, i.e., 33.6 nm and 74.6 nm, respectively. The optimized formulations were also characterized using multiple techniques in order to investigate the solid state of drug and excipients (DSC and XRD), particle morphology (TEM), drug release and interactions between the formulation components (FTIR). Furthermore, particle size, surface charge and drug loading efficiency of the formulations were studied during a one-month stability study and did not show evidence of significant modification.
An overview on impacts of electric vehicles integration into distribution network

Due to the increasing concerns about the energy crisis and the environmental problems, electric vehicles (EVs) have been regarded as the future trend. Market penetration of EV has been increasing drastically in the recent years. Large-scale EVs charging has become a practical problem in the grid operation and planning of the distribution network. It might have great impacts on the system performance, such as overloading, reducing efficiency, deteriorating power quality and increasing power system losses. This paper briefly discusses the impact of the charging on the distribution system, the factors of causing the influence and the charging control methods that reduce the impacts on the distribution network.
SimShift: Identifying structural similarities from NMR chemical shifts

MOTIVATION An important quantity that arises in NMR spectroscopy experiments is the chemical shift. The interpretation of these data is mostly done by human experts; to our knowledge there are no algorithms that predict protein structure from chemical shift sequences alone. One approach to facilitate this process could be to compare two such sequences, where the structure of one protein has already been resolved. Our claim is that similarity of chemical shifts thereby found implies structural similarity of the respective proteins. RESULTS We present an algorithm to identify structural similarities of proteins by aligning their associated chemical shift sequences. To evaluate the correctness of our predictions, we propose a benchmark set of protein pairs that have high structural similarity, but low sequence similarity (because with high sequence similarity the structural similarities could easily be detected by a sequence alignment algorithm). We compare our results with those of HHsearch and SSEA and show that our method outperforms both in >50% of all cases.