Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Tilted Wave Lasers: A Way to High Brightness Sources of Light

Semiconductor laser diodes are conventionally based on a relatively thin waveguide structure grown epitaxially on a thick single crystalline substrate, wherein the latter serves as a medium for carrier flow and as mechanical support and plays no role in optics. Although earlier attempts to provide the outcoupling of light through a transparent substrate in leaky lasers realized a narrow leaky emission beam, either significant leakage losses led to the deterioration of the laser performance or/and a large fraction of the output optical power was concentrated in a co-existing angularly broad emission peak originating from the narrow active waveguide. Our solution, a tilted wave laser (TWL), includes polishing the back side of the substrate under the stripe providing mirror-like reflection for the leaky mode which can thus exhibit multiple reflection and amplification cycles before exiting the device from the substrate facet. Fulfillment of phase matching conditions allows wavelength-stabilized operation. At a wavelength of 1060 nm TWLs are shown to exhibit a very small thermal shift of the emission wavelength of 0.03 nm/K. A cw output power of 3.3 W for 2 mm long cavities with uncoated facets is obtained, wherein the entire power is concentrated in a single vertical lobe having a full width at half maximum of 0.8°. The scattering of the tilted optical wave by the back substrate surface roughness is modeled and found to be the main mechanism limiting the differential efficiency, wherein the scattering contributes up to 10 cm-1 to the losses for a present roughness of ~30 nm. The free carrier absorption in the n-doped substrate ( ~3 cm-1 for n ~1018 cm-3) dominates for a roughness <; 10 nm.
Relationship between the Porcine Stress Syndrome gene and pork quality traits of F2 pigs resulting from divergent crosses

The PSS genotypes of 596 F2 pigs produced by initial mating of Brazilian commercial sows and native boars were characterized by PCR-RFLP and the pork quality traits were evaluated. Among the 596 pigs studied, 493 (82.7%) were NN and 103 (17.3%) were Nn. There were no differences between NN and Nn pigs in the following pork qualities: pHu (5.71 ± 0.16 vs 5.70 ± 0.11), intramuscular fat (1.55 ± 0.64% vs 1.65 ± 0.67%), shear force (5552 ± 878 g/1.2 cm vs 5507 ± 826 g/1.2 cm), lightness (44.96 ± 2.05 vs 45.01 ± 1.92), redness (0.64 ± 0.60 vs 0.79 ± 0.55), yellowness (6.62 ± 0.56 vs 6.65 ± 0.48), hue (84.28 ± 5.53 vs 83.41 ± 4.85), or chroma (6.68 ± 0.52 vs 6.73 ± 0.52). However, pork from Nn pigs had a significantly (p < 0.05) lower pH45 (6.41 ± 0.27 vs 6.51 ± 0.26) and greater drip (3.92 ± 1.90% vs 3.06 ± 1.60%), cooking (33.29 ± 2.26% vs 32.50 ± 2.54%) and total (35.67 ± 2.48% vs 34.01 ± 2.58%) loss compared to that of NN pigs. These results indicate that, even in divergent crosses, PSS gene carriers produce pork of poorer quality.
Aperture coupling two-layered dual-band RFID reader antenna design

An Aperture coupling two-layered dual-band RFID reader antenna is proposed. It consists of a single patch on the top layer, which is notched on the radiating edges to obtain dual-band operation and an aperture on the ground plane of the bottom layer fed by a dual-offset microstrip line, and an air layer between them. The antenna bandwidth can be expanded by utilizing the coupling effect between the notched patch and the resonant aperture. In addition, the upper and lower resonant frequencies can be controlled by adjusting the two offset feed lines distance and the aperture length, respectively. The measured impedance bandwidth for 1:2 VSWR of the designed antenna at the UHF band reaches 16.7% (880 MHz~1.04 GHz) and 31% (1.96 GHz~2.68 GHz) at the microwave band, which agree well with the simulated results. Good broadside radiation with high gain (6~8 dBi) characteristics has also been observed.
Triple ACE-ECE-NEP Inhibition in Heart Failure: A Comparison With ACE and Dual ECE-NEP Inhibition

Mortality remains high in chronic heart failure (CHF) because under ACE inhibitor treatment other neurohumoral systems remain/become (de)activated, such as the endothelin and atrial natriuretic peptide pathways. Dual endothelin-converting enzyme-neutral endopeptidase (ECE-NEP) inhibition exerts beneficial effects in experimental CHF, but whether “triple” ACE-ECE-NEP inhibition is superior to ACE or ECE-NEP inhibition is unknown. We compared, in rats with CHF, ACE-ECE-NEP to ACE or ECE-NEP inhibition in terms of left ventricular (LV) hemodynamics and remodeling. Benazepril (2 mg/kg/d) or the ECE-NEP inhibitor CGS26303 (10 mg/kg/d) were administered alone or in combination (subcutaneously for 28 days starting 7 days after coronary ligation). ACE-ECE-NEP inhibition reduced blood pressure more markedly than ACE or ECE-NEP inhibition. All treatments increased cardiac output to the same extent, but ACE-ECE-NEP inhibition reduced LV diameter and LV end-diastolic pressure more markedly than ACE or ECE-NEP inhibition. The reduction of LV weight and collagen accumulation in the “viable” myocardium was most pronounced after ACE-ECE-NEP inhibition. These results, obtained in experimental CHF, illustrate a further improvement of LV hemodynamics and structure after ACE-ECE-NEP inhibition compared with either ACE or ECE-NEP inhibition, but whether this is associated with a further improvement of exercise tolerance and/or survival remains to be determined.
Noise exposure during alpine helicopter rescue operations.

OBJECTIVES We estimated the noise exposure of crews working in alpine helicopter rescue systems. METHODS Noise levels of the the helicopters used (Alouette III, Alouette II 'Lama', Ecureuil and BK 117) were measured with a device according to class 2 DIN IEC 651. These data were combined with the flight data of the personnel to evaluate the equivalent noise level according to DIN 45645-2. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS While the risk to patients should be limited to temporary threshold shifts the crew members are regularly exposed to equivalent noise levels of >85 dB(A) and, therefore, are at risk of permanent threshold shifts. Consequences for crew fitness to fly and for noise prevention (crew and patients) are discussed.
Multi-keyword search over P 2 P based on Counting Bloom Filter

There are two basic modes for the existing multi-keyword searching over P2P network based on bloom filter (BF), which are “and query” and “or query”. Generally, BF encoding is used to handle multikeyword searching to reduce traffic. Because of the unique characteristics of P2P network, there is a problem: in P2P networks, the joining and leaving of nodes is free, the documents stored on the nodes will be removed as the departure of nodes. However, bloom filter does not support delete operation, when documents removed from the network frequently, the system needs to re-construct bloom filter to accommodate the remove of documents constantly. It will lead an additional system overhead. To that end, a multi-keyword searching mechanism based on counting bloom filter (CBF) is proposed in this paper. This mechanism can adapt to system’s churn and reduce traffic. To evaluate the performance of this design, we performed extensive simulations on PEERSIM, simulation results show that this mechanism outperforms current multi-keyword searching mechanisms based on bloom filter in both the recall rate and the query latency, when the nodes join and leave from the P2P networks frequently, thus improves the search efficiency greatly. KeywordsP2p networks, Multi-keywords searching, DHT, Bloom Filter, Counting Bloom Filter, Inverted index
Potentiation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors via an allosteric transmembrane site

Positive allosteric modulators of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) have attracted considerable interest as potential tools for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. However, despite the potential therapeutic usefulness of these compounds, little is known about their mechanism of action. Here, we have examined two allosteric potentiators of α7 nAChRs (PNU-120596 and LY-2087101). From studies with a series of subunit chimeras, we have identified the transmembrane regions of α7 as being critical in facilitating potentiation of agonist-evoked responses. Furthermore, we have identified five transmembrane amino acids that, when mutated, significantly reduce potentiation of α7 nAChRs. The amino acids we have identified are located within the α-helical transmembrane domains TM1 (S222 and A225), TM2 (M253), and TM4 (F455 and C459). Mutation of either A225 or M253 individually have particularly profound effects, reducing potentiation of EC20 concentrations of acetylcholine to a tenth of the level seen with wild-type α7. Reference to homology models of the α7 nAChR, based on the 4Å structure of the Torpedo nAChR, indicates that the side chains of all five amino acids point toward an intrasubunit cavity located between the four α-helical transmembrane domains. Computer docking simulations predict that the allosteric compounds such as PNU-120596 and LY-2087101 may bind within this intrasubunit cavity, much as neurosteroids and volatile anesthetics are thought to interact with GABAA and glycine receptors. Our findings suggest that this is a conserved modulatory allosteric site within neurotransmitter-gated ion channels.
Decision rules for selecting effect sizes in meta-analysis: a review and reanalysis of psychotherapy outcome studies.

This study deals with some of the judgmental factors involved in selecting effect sizes from within the studies that enter a meta-analysis. Particular attention is paid to the conceptual redundancy rule that Smith, Glass, and Miller (1980) used in their study of the effectiveness of psychotherapy for deciding which effect sizes should and should not be counted in determining an overall effect size. Data from a random sample of 25 studies from Smith et al.'s (1980) population of psychotherapy outcome studies were first recoded and then reanalyzed meta-analytically. Using the conceptual redundancy rule, three coders independently coded effect sizes and identified more than twice as many of them per study as did Smith et al. Moreover, the treatment effect estimates associated with this larger sample of effects ranged between . 30 and . 50, about half the size claimed by Smith et al. Analyses of other rules for selecting effect sizes showed that average effect estimates also varied with these rules. Such results indicate that the average effect estimates derived from meta-analyses may depend heavily on judgmental factors that enter into how effect sizes are selected within each of the individual studies considered relevant to a meta-analysis.
Association of core‐binding factor β with the malignant phenotype of prostate and ovarian cancer cells

Core binding factor (CBF) is a transcription factor complex that plays roles in development, stem‐cell homeostasis, and human disease. CBF is a heterodimer composed of one of three DNA‐binding RUNX proteins plus the non‐DNA‐binding protein, CBFβ. Recent studies have showed that the RUNX factors exhibit complex expression patterns in prostate, breast, and ovarian cancers, and CBF has been implicated in the control of cancer‐related genes. However, the biologic roles of CBF in solid tumors have not been fully elucidated. To test whether CBF is required for the malignant phenotype of various epithelial cancers, we used lentiviral delivery of CBFβ‐specific shRNA to significantly decrease CBFβ expression in two prostate cancer cell lines (PPC1 and PC‐3) and the SKOV‐3 ovarian cancer cell line. We found that knockdown of CBFβ significantly inhibited anchorage independent growth of each cell line. Further, CBFβ knockdown in PPC1 cells suppressed xenograft tumor growth compared to controls. Mice injected with SKOV‐3 ovarian cancer cells knocked‐down for CBFβ exhibited a survival time similar to control mice. However, human cells recovered from the ascites fluid of these mice showed CBFβ expression levels similar to those from mice injected with control SKOV‐3 cells, suggesting that CBFβ knockdown is incompatible with tumor cell growth. Gene expression profiling of CBFβ knockdown cells revealed significant changes in expression in genes involved in various developmental and cell signaling pathways. These data collectively suggest that CBFβ is required for malignancy in some human cancers. J. Cell. Physiol. 225: 875–887, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Better memory functioning associated with higher total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in very elderly subjects without the apolipoprotein e4 allele.

OBJECTIVE To examine the association of cholesterol with cognitive functioning in oldest old community dwelling individuals with and without the apolipoprotein e4 (APOE4) allele. METHOD One hundred eighty-five nondemented, community dwelling individuals (>or=85) were assessed with a broad neuropsychological battery. Bloods were drawn to assess total, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, as well as for APOE genotyping. RESULTS In contrast to our expectations, high total cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol were associated with higher memory scores for noncarriers of the APOE4 allele. No significant associations between cognitive performance and lipid profile were found for carriers of the APOE4 allele. CONCLUSIONS In oldest old nondemented noncarriers of the APOE4 allele, high cholesterol is associated with better memory function. Further examination of the role of APOE genotype on the association between cholesterol and cognitive performance, especially in the oldest old is warranted.
TRUE MOTION ESTIMATION — THEORY, APPLICATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION

This thesis offers an integrated perspective of the theory, applications, and implementation of true motion estimation. Taking the pictures of 3D real-world scene generates sequences of video images. When an object in the three-dimensional real world moves, there are corresponding changes in the brightness—or luminance intensity—of its two-dimensional image. The physical three-dimensional motion projected onto the twodimensional image space is referred to as “true motion. ” The ability to track true motion by observing changes in luminance intensity is critical to many video applications. This thesis explores techniques that track such motion and shows how these techniques can be used in many important applications. On the theoretical side, three fundamental issues are explored: (1) the intensityconservation principle, (2) basic matchingand gradientmeasurement, and (3) four levels of constraints for motion-consistency (i.e., block-, object-, neighborhood-, temporal-). Various existing and future true-motion-estimation algorithms can be constructed from these theoretical bases. Based on the theoretical development, we have built a true motion tracker (TMT) using a neighborhood relaxation formulation. From an application perspective, the TMT successfully captured true motion vectors in our experiments for many video applications. For example, in MPEG video compression, the use of true motion vectors on individual macroblocks can optimize the bit rate for residual information and motion information. The TMT also offers significant improvement in motion-compensated spatialand temporalvideo interpolation, e.g., frame-rate up-conversion and interlaced-to-progressive scan conversion. Another piece of evidence
Ultrawide-band square planar metal-plate monopole antenna with a trident-shaped feeding strip

A square planar metal-plate monopole antenna fed by using a novel trident-shaped feeding strip is presented. With the use of the proposed feeding strip, the square planar monopole antenna studied shows a very wide impedance bandwidth of about 10 GHz (about 1.4-11.4 GHz, bandwidth ratio about 1:8.3), which is larger than three times the bandwidth obtained using a simple feeding strip (about 1.5-3.3 GHz, bandwidth ratio about 1:2.3). In addition, the proposed feeding strip can be integrated with the square planar monopole, that is, the feeding strip and the square planar monopole together can be easily fabricated using a single metal plate, making the proposed antenna easy to construct at a low cost. Details of the experimental and simulation results for the proposed planar monopole antenna are presented and analyzed.
A novel photometric motion approach

Photometric motion is a computer vision process for the estimation of shape from image sequences of dynamic scenes. It was introduced by Pentland, based on his observation that the photometric effects of motion: the intensity change of a moving point, could dominate the purely geometric ones, due to projective distortion. We present a novel formulation for the same shape estimation problem, whose distinctive feature is that of being based on the irradiance change, due to the motion, at a given point in the image plane, and not, as in the original proposal, at a fixed location on the moving surface. Thus we obtain an easily implementable procedure which yields good-quality estimates, and which can be extended to single-input shape reconstruction.
A Real Time Light Probe

We present a novel system capable of capturing high dynamic range (HDR) Light Probes at video speed. Each Light Probe frame is built from an individual full set of exposures, all of which are captured within the frame time. The exposures are processed and assembled into a mantissa-exponent representation image within the camera unit before output, and then streamed to a standard PC. As an example, the system is capable of capturing Light Probe Images with a resolution of 512x512 pixels using a set of 10 exposures covering 15 f-stops at a frame rate of up to 25 final HDR frames per second. The system is built around commercial special-purpose camera hardware with on-chip programmable image processing logic and tightly integrated frame buffer memory, and the algorithm is implemented as custom downloadable microcode software.
Developing Profiles of Malware and User Behaviors Using Graph-Mining and Machine Learning Techniques

The current fight between security experts and malware authors is an arms race. In this race, malware authors devise new attacks and exploits new vulnerabilities while the experts can only deflect the attacks and patch up the vulnerability after damage has been inflicted. Defending against miscreants is a difficult task precisely because experts do not know what attacks may come in the future. The ultimate goal of our work is to utilizing graph-mining and Machine Learning techniques to (a) develop profiles of user and malware behaviors and (b) detect anomalies and identify malicious actors. In this dissertation, we present three pieces of work that are aimed toward achieve that goal. The first is a graph-based approach designed to leverage P2P bots' behaviors to detect them when they lay dormant in the local network and wait for instructions from the botmasters. The second is a probabilistic algorithm based on the Stochastic Block Model that is designed to infer the group structure of users from their web browsing behaviors and leverage the group structure to detect when users in the network visit malicious websites. The third is an in-depth study of users' exposure to web-based malware from the point of view of the malicious websites and the users themselves, where we explore the methods with which web-based malware spread and investigate their characteristics and temporal behaviors.
CGH-Plotter: MATLAB toolbox for CGH-data analysis

CGH-Plotter is a MATLAB toolbox with a graphical user interface for the analysis of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) microarray data. CGH-Plotter provides a tool for rapid visualization of CGH-data according to the locations of the genes along the genome. In addition, the CGH-Plotter identifies regions of amplifications and deletions, using k-means clustering and dynamic programming. The application offers a convenient way to analyze CGH-data and can also be applied for the analysis of cDNA microarray expression data. CGH-Plotter toolbox is platform independent and requires MATLAB 6.1 or higher to operate.
Projection correlation based noise reduction in volume CT

De-noising algorithms for volume CT are proposed based on the correlation of the cone beam (CB) CT projections. The main idea is: when the correlated pixels among the neighboring views are added together according to this projection correlation (PC), the signal will be retained, whereas the noise variance upon them will be reduced by this averaging process, because the signal obeys this correlation but noise not. PC based filtering (PCF) method is developed. PCF is further integrated as PC based penalty weighted least square (PC-PWLS) method. Validations are performed for two volume scans: one is ideal low-dose case, and the other considers the high-frequency scatter residues after scatter correction. By using the proposed methods, significant noise suppressing is illustrated; meanwhile, the spatial resolution can be well preserved. For the low dose scan, SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) increases are around 14 dB. For the cone beam scan with high frequency scatter residues, an effect approaching to the fan-beam scan is achieved.
DEVELOPMENT OF A VARIANT OF DIRECT IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE TECHNIQUE IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF PRRS

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is an infectious disease spread in intensive growth with endemic evolution and with economic significance. In Romania the disease was for the first time diagnosed in 1998 and nowadays the disease is prevalent in many farms of pigs. For detection of viral antigens were sampled lymph nodes with pathological lesions macroscopic characteristic of the PRRS, from cadavers of piglets from farms where the disease evolves, and from pigs with clinical evolution of the disease was taken oro-nasal fluid. Viral nucleocapsid antigen was detected using kit Anti PRRSV monoclonal antibody labelled with fluorescein isothiocyanate -BIO 268. The cytoplasm of cells, infected with PRRS virus, had a brilliant greenish yellow appearance due to the presence of the viral nucleocapsid antigens coupled with monoclonal antibodies labeled with fluorescein. Epithelial cells were rare, smaller, and fluorescent appearance of the cytoplasm was very evident. In case of the oro-nasal fluid smears, in the microscopic field were highlighted cells agglomerations with highly fluorescent cytoplasm. 19/30 (63.33%) of the examined samples (lymph nodes and oro-nasal fluid) were positive, respectively, 12/30 (40%) of the lymph nodes and 7/30 (23.33%) of oro-nasal fluid. Samples of lymph nodes and oro-nasal fluid were examined also through RT-PCR in order to create a correlation between the results provided by direct immunofluorescence (DIF) and RT-PCR, regarded as the reference method. The results confirm that the DIF can be adapted but more research is required to establish the sensitivity and specificity of this method.