Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Review of analytical methods to extract magnetic parameters of an inductively coupled circuit

This paper presents a review of important analytical tools to obtain magnetic parameters of loosely coupled magnetic circuits. Circuit theory - Electric and Magnetic, present a simple picture to engineers to formulate and solve magnetic circuit problems. The traditional reluctance based magnetic circuit models have a number of limitations that need to be addressed to solve the magnetic problem. This has been highlighted in this paper. The magnetic parameters can be analyzed using circuit theory after computation using analytical techniques. Analytical techniques including Neumann's integral and conformal mapping (Schwarz-Christoffel Transformation) can be applied to compute the magnetic parameters. Applications particularly in the area of wireless inductive power transfer (IPT) has been considered.
Induction of a Sodium Ion Influx by Progesterone in Human Spermatozoa1

Abstract In human spermatozoa, progesterone (P4) induces a depolarization of the plasma membrane, a rapid calcium (Ca2+) influx, and a chloride efflux. The sodium ion (Na+) was partly responsible for the P4-induced depolarizing effect but was not required for calcium influx. We used fluorescent probes for spectrofluorometry to investigate whether P4 induced a Na+ influx and whether voltage-operated channels were involved in Na+ and/or Ca2+ entries. We found that 10 μM P4 significantly increased intracellular Na+ concentration from 17.8 ± 2.0 mM to 27.2 ± 1.6 mM (P < 0.001). Prior incubation of spermatozoa with 10 μM flunarizine, a Na+ and Ca2+ voltage-dependent channel blocker, inhibited the sodium influx induced by 10 μM P4 by 84.6 ± 15.4%. The Ca2+ influx induced by 10 μM P4 was also significantly inhibited in a Na+-containing medium by 10 μM flunarizine or 10 μM pimozide (P < 0.01). In contrast, flunarizine had no inhibitory effect on the Ca2+ influx induced by 10 μM P4 in spermatozoa incubated in Na+-depleted medium. The P4-promoted acrosome reaction (AR) was significantly higher when spermatozoa were incubated in Na+-containing medium as compared to Na+-depleted medium. These data demonstrate that P4 stimulates a Na+ influx that could be involved in the AR completion. They also suggest that voltage-dependent Na+ and Ca2+ channels are implicated in P4-mediated signaling pathway in human spermatozoa.
Matrilineal Kinship and Spousal Cooperation: Evidence from the Matrilineal Belt

I examine how matrilineal relative to patrilineal kinship systems affect spousal cooperation. In matrilineal kinship systems, lineage and inheritance are traced through women. The structure of matrilineal kinship systems implies that, relative to patrilineal kinship systems, women have greater support from their own kin groups, and husbands have less authority over their wives. I use experimental and physiological measures and a geographic regression discontinuity design along the matrilineal belt in Africa to test how kinship systems affect spousal cooperation. Men and women from matrilineal ethnic groups cooperate less with their spouses in a lab experiment. This is not the case when paired with a stranger of the opposite sex. I examine the implications of matrilineal kinship for the well-being of women and children. Children of matrilineal women are healthier and better educated, and matrilineal women experience less domestic violence. The results highlight how household outcomes are tied to broader social structures.
The novel globin protein fungoglobin is involved in low oxygen adaptation of Aspergillus fumigatus

The human pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus normally lives as a soil saprophyte. Its environment includes poorly oxygenated substrates that also occur during tissue invasive growth of the fungus in the human host. Up to now, few cellular factors have been identified that allow the fungus to efficiently adapt its energy metabolism to hypoxia. Here, we cultivated A. fumigatus in an O2‐controlled fermenter and analysed its responses to O2 limitation on a minute timescale. Transcriptome sequencing revealed several genes displaying a rapid and highly dynamic regulation. One of these genes was analysed in detail and found to encode fungoglobin, a previously uncharacterized member of the sensor globin protein family widely conserved in filamentous fungi. Besides low O2, iron limitation also induced transcription, but regulation was not entirely dependent on the two major transcription factors involved in adaptation to iron starvation and hypoxia, HapX and SrbA respectively. The protein was identified as a functional haemoglobin, as binding of this cofactor was detected for the recombinant protein. Gene deletion in A. fumigatus confirmed that haem‐binding fungoglobins are important for growth in microaerobic environments with O2 levels far lower than in hypoxic human tissue.
HBT small signal T and /spl pi/ model extraction using a simple, robust and fully analytical procedure

A simple and fully analytical procedure is proposed in this paper for the direct extraction of the HBT small signal equivalent circuit model, whether it be the T- or hybrid /spl pi/-topology, from DC and single-frequency s-parameter measurements. DC data is required since it is possible to show that direct extraction from single frequency s-parameters is not possible, without prior knowledge of one parameter. The extraction procedure developed is based on the prior knowledge of dc current gain, /spl beta//sub 0/. Excellent results have been obtained when applied to InGaP/GaAs and InP based HBTs.
Prognosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment in General Practice: Results of the German AgeCoDe Study

PURPOSE The concept of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has recently been introduced into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) as mild neurocognitive disorder, making it a formal diagnosis. We investigated the prognostic value of such a diagnosis and analyzed the determinants of the future course of MCI in the AgeCoDe study (German Study on Ageing, Cognition, and Dementia in Primary Care Patients). METHODS We recruited 357 patients with MCI aged 75 years or older from primary care practices and conducted follow-up with interviews for 3 years. Depending on the course of impairment over time, the patients were retrospectively split into 4 groups representing remittent, fluctuating, stable, and progressive courses of MCI. We performed ordinal logistic regression analysis and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis. RESULTS Overall, 41.5% of the patients had remission of symptoms with normal cognitive function 1.5 and 3 years later, 21.3% showed a fluctuating course, 14.8% had stable symptoms, and 22.4% had progression to dementia. Patients were at higher risk for advancing from one course to the next along this spectrum if they had symptoms of depression, impairment in more than 1 cognitive domain, or more severe cognitive impairment, or were older. The result on a test of the ability to learn and reproduce new material 10 minutes later was the best indicator at baseline for differentiating between remittent and progressive MCI. Symptoms of depression modified the prognosis. CONCLUSIONS In primary care, about one-quarter of patients with MCI have progression to dementia within the next 3 years. Assessments of memory function and depressive symptoms are helpful in predicting a progressive vs a remittent course. When transferring the concept of MCI into clinical diagnostic algorithms (eg, DSM-5), however, we should not forget that three-quarters of patients with MCI stayed cognitively stable or even improved within 3 years. They should not be alarmed unnecessarily by receiving such a diagnosis.
Randomized phase II/III trial assessing gemcitabine/carboplatin and methotrexate/carboplatin/vinblastine in patients with advanced urothelial cancer who are unfit for cisplatin-based chemotherapy: EORTC study 30986.

PURPOSE This is the first randomized phase II/III trial comparing two carboplatin-based chemotherapy regimens in patients with urothelial cancer who are ineligible ("unfit") for cisplatin chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS The primary objective of the phase III part of this study was to compare the overall survival (OS) of chemotherapy-naive patients with measurable disease and an impaired renal function (glomerular filtration rate < 60 but > 30 mL/min) and/or performance score of 2 who were randomly assigned to receive either gemcitabine/carboplatin (GC) or methotrexate/carboplatin/vinblastine (M-CAVI). To detect an increase of 50% in median survival with GC compared with M-CAVI (13.5 v 9 months) based on a two-sided log-rank test at error rates α = . 05 and β = . 20, 225 patients were required. Secondary end points were overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), toxicity, and quality of life. RESULTS In all, 238 patients were randomly assigned by 29 institutions over a period of 7 years. The median follow-up was 4.5 years. Best ORRs were 41.2% (36.1% confirmed response) for patients receiving GC versus 30.3% (21.0% confirmed response) for patients receiving M-CAVI (P = .08). Median OS was 9.3 months in the GC arm and 8.1 months in the M-CAVI arm (P = .64). There was no difference in PFS (P = .78) between the two arms. Severe acute toxicity (death, grade 4 thrombocytopenia with bleeding, grade 3 or 4 renal toxicity, neutropenic fever, or mucositis) was observed in 9.3% of patients receiving GC and 21.2% of patients receiving M-CAVI. CONCLUSION There were no significant differences in efficacy between the two treatment groups. The incidence of severe acute toxicities was higher for those receiving M-CAVI.
The use of the effective dose equivalent, HE, as a risk parameter in computed tomography.

Conventional approaches to computed tomography (CT) dosimetry include the specification of the absorbed dose at given locations in the radiation field (Shope et al, 1982), the use of dose descriptors such as the Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDI) (Shope et al, 1981), estimates of the total energy imparted in the CT examination (Huda, 1984) and an explicit evaluation of the somatic and genetic stochastic radiation risks associated with a given CT examination (Huda & Sandison, 1985). A problem with all these approaches is the difficulty of comparing the radiation risks associated with the CT procedure with the comparable risks associated with other diagnostic procedures that use ionising radiation. It is also difficult to compare the non-uniform radiation doses encountered in CT examinations with the whole-body dose-equivalent* limits imposed for non-medical exposures for members of the public (5 mSv/year) and for radiation workers (50 mSv/year), or with the risks from more familiar everyday activities s.
Imaging the crystal structure of few-layer two-dimensional crystals by optical nonlinearity

We report the observation of second harmonic generation (SHG) from odd-layer MoS2 atomic crystal. In contrast, no SHG is observed for samples with even layer numbers due to the restoration of perfect inversion symmetry. Moreover, the SHG intensity is found to directly reflect the underlying 3-fold rotation symmetry of the crystal, which provides a powerful method for optical imaging of the material crystal structure with sub-micron resolution.
A log likelihood based method for recovery of localized defects in PET attenuation-correction images

In PET/CT, CT data is used to produce a PET attenuation correction. Contrast administered to enhance CT images can confound algorithms that scale CT data to a 511 keV attenuation image. The result may contain localized regions of artifactually high values. We present a method to identify artifacts by using the PET emission data. To start, suspect regions of an attenuation map are defined. Such a region might be, for example, all pixels with high attenuation values under the assumption that such values are either correct or the result of improper contrast scaling. We assume that incorrectly assigned attenuation should have a known alternate value, for example, that of blood. The algorithm visits each pixel in the defined region and provisionally assigns it one of the two possible attenuation values. It adjusts the activity value of that pixel to maximize the emission log likelihood. This is repeated for the alternate attenuation value. The pixel is assigned the pair of activity and emission values that maximizes the log likelihood. After all pixels have been visited an emission update of the full image is performed. These steps can be iterated. In a digital anthropomorphic phantom study the suspect region comprised 26 artifactuality high valued attenuation pixels (contrast) and 603 truly high pixels (bone) in a slice at chest level. The algorithm was tested in the presence of statistical noise spanning the range from 1000 to 10,000,000 nominal sinogram counts with eight statistical variates at each count level. Results show that the algorithm works well. Remaining or induced attenuation artifacts, when carried over to the reconstructed emission image, were generally found to be insignificant compared to image noise
Dichte Objektsegmentierung in Stereobildfolgen

Die in dieser Arbeit vorgestellte Szenensegmentierung zerlegt eine Stereobildsequenz in eine Menge von Bildbereichen, die vom Menschen eindeutig als unabhangig bewegte Verkehrsobjekte interpretierbar sind. Eine Besonderheit des Verfahrens ist die Tatsache, dass die einzelnen Teilaufgaben der dreidimensionalen Rekonstruktion, Bewegungsschatzung und Segmentierung dabei in einem gemeinsamen Modell beschrieben und in verzahnter Reihenfolge gelost werden.
Impact of high-rise living on children's development and health : a critical review of literature

Objectives: This study reviews the impact of living in a high-rise building or in a fl at on an upper storey on the development and health of children. Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify original English (from PubMed, dated 1960–2008) and Japanese (from ‘Ichushi-Web’, dated 1983–2008) studies that have investigated the relationship between high-rise living and children’s development and health. Results: Ten original articles were identifi ed. Eight of the papers suggested that living in a high-rise building or on in a fl at on an upper storey might impair children’s health, development or play habits, whereas two of them rejected the relationship. All the studies employed a cross-sectional design, but only one study adjusted for socioeconomic status of the surveyed families. Conclusions: There is insufficient evidence showing the impact of high-rise living on children’s development and health.
Instruction of Translating Ribosome by Nascent Peptide

Expression of the tryptophanase operon ofEscherichia coli is regulated by catabolite repression and tryptophan-induced transcription antitermination. An induction site activated by l-tryptophan is created in the translating ribosome during synthesis of TnaC, the 24-residue leader peptide. Replacing the tnaC stop codon with a tryptophan codon allows tryptophan-charged tryptophan transfer RNA to substitute for tryptophan as inducer. This suggests that the ribosomal A site occupied by the tryptophanyl moiety of the charged transfer RNA is the site of induction. The location of tryptophan-12 of nascent TnaC in the peptide exit tunnel was crucial for induction. These results show that a nascent peptide sequence can influence translation continuation and termination within a translating ribosome.
Malaria and HIV infection in pregnancy are associated with reduced transfer of 1 antimalarial antibodies to the newborn 2 Running title : Malaria , HIV and transplacental antibodies 3

Laura Moro, Azucena Bardají, Tacilta Nhampossa, Inacio Mandomando, Elisa Serra-Casas, 4 Betuel Sigaúque, Pau Cisteró, Virander S. Chauhan, Chetan E. Chitnis, Jaume Ordi, 5 Carlota Dobaño, Pedro L. Alonso, Clara Menéndez, and Alfredo Mayor 6 7 1 Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), Hospital ClínicUniversitat de 8 Barcelona, Spain; 2 Centro de Investigaçao em Saúde da Manhiça (CISM), Manhiça, 9 Mozambique; 3 Instituto Nacional de Saúde, Ministry of Health, Maputo, Mozambique; 4 10 International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, India; and 11 5 Department of Pathology, Hospital ClínicUniversitat de Barcelona, Spain. 12
Modeling of micromagnetic Barkhausen activity using a stochastic process extension to the theory of hysteresis

Recent work by Bertotti [IEEE Trans. Magn. MAG‐24, 621 (1988)] and others has shown that it is possible to model the micromagnetic Barkhausen discontinuities at the coercive point using a two‐parameter stochastic model. However, the present formulation of the model is restricted to limited regions of the hysteresis curve over which dM/dH is approximately constant and when dH/dt is held at a constant rate. A natural extension of this model is to take the basic result, in which the level of Barkhausen activity in one time period is related to the activity in the previous time period, and increment it by a small amount which is dependent on the differential permeability. The extension of the model proposed here uses the theory of ferromagnetic hysteresis to determine the differential permeability at any point of the hysteresis loop. The Barkhausen activity is then assumed to vary in proportion to the differential permeability. The resulting model allows the Barkhausen sum of discontinuous changes in magnetiz.
Tepper School of Business 4-2009 Testing Cut Generators for Mixed-Integer Linear Programming

In this paper, a methodology for testing the accuracy and strength of cut generators for mixed-integer linear programming is presented. The procedure amounts to random diving towards a feasible solution, recording several kinds of failures. This allows for a ranking of the accuracy of the generators. Then, for generators deemed to have similar accuracy, statistical tests are performed to compare their relative strength. An application on eight Gomory cut generators and six Reduce-and-Split cut generators is given. The problem of constructing benchmark instances for which feasible solutions can be obtained is also addressed.
An improved G-music algorithm for non-Gaussian noise condition direction-of-arrival estimation

Direction of arrival (DOA) estimation is one of the most important and widely used discussions within communication and radar systems. This paper aims to improve the DOA estimation using G-MUSIC (Multiple Signal Classification based on G-estimation) algorithm under noise types with heavy-tailed distributions such as impulsive noise conditions. Subspace-based DOA estimation methods, usually employ the maximum likelihood estimation of the covariance matrix and its eigenvalues and eigenvectors. However, the performance of this estimation and resulting the direction-of-arrival estimation degrade in non-Gaussian noise. In this paper we use the convex optimization methods to improve the DOA estimation algorithm, G-MUSIC, by modifying the eigenvector and eigenvalue estimation of the sample covariance matrix under non-Gaussian noise conditions. Simulation results confirm this performance improvement.
The Genetic Variability and Relationships of Japanese and Foreign Chickens Assessed by Microsatellite DNA Profiling

This is the first study in which genetic variability and relationships of a large number of Japanese chicken breeds were revealed along with those of several foreign breeds by using microsatellite DNA polymorphisms. Twenty-eight breeds (34 populations) of native Japanese chickens and seven foreign breeds or varieties were analyzed. The mean number of alleles per locus, the proportion of the polymorphic loci, and the expected average heterozygosity ranged from 1.75 to 4.70, from 0.55 to 1.00, and from 0.21 to 0.67, respectively. Microsatellite alleles being unique to a particular population were detected in some populations. The D A genetic distance between populations was obtained from allele frequency for every pair of the populations to construct a neighbor-joining tree. According to the phylogenetic tree, excluding a few exceptions, native Japanese chicken breeds and foreign breeds were clearly separated from each other. Furthermore, the tree topology divided native Japanese chickens into four main classes, which was almost in accordance with the classification based on body morphology; that is, (1) Cochin type, (2) Malay type, (3) layer type, and (4) intermediate type between Malay and layer types. This is the first finding for native Japanese chickens.
Correlation between spectral and temporal mechanomyography features during functional electrical stimulation

Introduction: Signal analysis involves time and/or frequency domains, and correlations are described in the literature for voluntary contractions. However, there are few studies about those correlations using mechanomyography (MMG) response during functional electrical stimulation (FES) elicited contractions in spinal cord injured subjects. This study aimed to determine the correlation between spectral and temporal MMG features during FES application to healthy (HV) and spinal cord injured volunteers (SCIV). Methods: Twenty volunteers participated in the research divided in two groups: HV (N=10) and SCIV (N=10). The protocol consisted of four FES profiles transcutaneously applied to quadriceps femoris muscle via femoral nerve. Each application produced a sustained knee extension greater than 65o up to 2 min without adjusting FES intensity. The investigation involved the correlation between MMG signal root mean square (RMS) and mean frequency (MF). Results: HV and SCIV indicated that MMGRMS and MMGMF variations were inversely related with -0.12 ≥ r ≥ -0.82. The dispersion between MMGMF and MMGRMS reached 0.50 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.64. Conclusion The increase in MMGRMS and the decrease in MMGMF may be explained by the motor units coherence during fatigue state or by motor neuron adaptation (habituation) along FES application (without modification on parameters).
Relationship between MCP-1 promoter -2518 A/G gene polymorphism (rs1024611) and systemic lupus erythematosus/lupus nephritis

Abstract Results from the published studies on the association between monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) promoter -2518 A/G (rs1024611) gene polymorphism and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)/lupus nephritis (LN) are still conflicting. This meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between MCP-1 A/G gene polymorphism and SLE/LN and to explore whether MCP-1 A allele, AA genotype or GG genotype could become a predictive marker for SLE/LN risk. Association studies were identified from the databases of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and CBM-disc (China Biological Medicine Database) as of 1 January 2014, and eligible investigations were synthesized using meta-analysis method. Results were expressed with odds ratios (OR) for dichotomous data, and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were also calculated. Sixteen investigations were identified for the analysis of association between MCP-1 A/G gene polymorphism and SLE, consisting of 2425 patients with SLE and 2567 controls. In the overall populations, Asians, Caucasian population, the association between MCP-1 A/G gene polymorphism and SLE susceptibility was not found. Interestingly, a trend toward an association between A allele/AA genotype and LN risk was observed in overall populations, although there was no statistical difference. However, this meta-analysis indicated that AA genotype was associated with LN risk in Caucasians (OR = 0.71; 95% CI: 0.54–0.93; p = 0.01). In conclusion, our results indicate that AA homozygous might be a significant genetic molecular marker to predict the SLE patients developing into LN in Caucasians. However, more investigations are required to further clarify this association.