Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Lobesia mating disruption by pheromone mesofiber dispensers

Lobesia botrana (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is a permanently established viticultural insect pest in all vinegrowing countries. According to recent findings, sex pheromones dispensed from electrospun mesofibers serve as environmentally compatible, biodegradable mating disruptants of an innovative type. Their disruptive effects in vineyards last for a minimum of 7 weeks per application, equivalent to one Lobesia flight period. Instead of manual application, mesofiber dispensers offer the advantages of (1) mechanical deployability, (2) hydrolytical and/or enzymatic self-degradability, (3) unnoticeable ecotoxicological impact on nontarget organisms, (4) added savings by reduced handling costs, and (5) a fully "green" approach along the entire process chain from synthesis of the ingredients to biodegradation in the vineyard. Keywords: Lobesia botrana , mating disruption, mesofiber dispensers, sex pheromone, Vitis vinifera
The rotating field method applied to damper loss calculation in large hydrogenerators

In this paper, we discuss key aspects of analytical rotating field models that can be used to estimate the damper losses in large hydrogenerators during steady load conditions. Model features of particular importance, like the saturation permeance and the structure of the damper circuit are described in greater detail. Damper currents extracted from the analytic model are found to be in good agreement with currents obtained from coupled field-circuit 2-D finite element calculations. The applicability of the model for damper current prediction during steady unbalanced load conditions is also demonstrated.
100-gb/s error-free wavelength conversion with a monolithic optical gate integrating a photodiode and electroabsorption modulator

One-hundred-gigabit-per-second wavelength conversions have been demonstrated using a PD-EAM optical gate that monolithically integrates a photodiode and an electroabsorption modulator. Error-free operation within the wavelength range of 25 nm (1545-1570 nm) for input data signals and 20 nm (1545-1565 nm) for output data signals has been achieved. Power penalties of less than 2.1 dB with wavelength dependence below 0.6 dB have also been achieved.
MIGRATION AND GENETIC DRIFT IN HUMAN POPULATIONS

In humans and many other species, mortality is concentrated early in the life cycle, and is low during the ages of dispersal and reproduction. Yet precisely the opposite is assumed by classical population‐genetics models of migration and genetic drift. We introduce a model in which population regulation occurs before migration. In contrast to the conventional model, our model implies that geographic variation in the allele frequencies of newborns should exceed that of adults. Thus, it is important to distinguish genetic variation of adults from that of newborns in species with human‐like life cycles.
Approximation of the Maximal α − Consensus Local Community detection problem in Complex Networks

The problem of community detection has received great attention by the complex networks researchers in the last decades. Although the notion of community does not actually have a unanimous accepted definition, it is generally admitted that it consists in a set of densely connected nodes. Moreover, density measures the strength of the relationships in the community. The need of these well connected and dense communities has led to the notion of α−consensus community. An α−consensus community, is a group of nodes where each member is connected to more than a proportion α of the other nodes. An α−consensus community is maximal if and only if adding a new node to the set breaks the rule. Consequently, an α−consensus community has a density greater than α. Existing methods for mining α−consensus communities generally assume that the network is entirely known and they try to detect all such consensus communities. In some cases, the network can be so large that each node can only have local information or one can be only interested in the α−consensus set of a particular node in the network. In this paper, we propose an efficient algorithm based on local optimizations to approximate the maximal α−consensus local community of a given node. The proposed method is evaluated experimentally on real and artificial complex networks in terms of quality, execution time and stability. It provides better results than the existing methods.
Passive bistatic ISAR based on geostationary satellites for coastal surveillance

The paper proposes a new passive bistatic ISAR mode for coastal surveillance based on the exploitation of the signals transmitted by telecommunication geostationary satellites. Specifically it is demonstrated that ISAR images with acceptable quality of ship targets could be obtained by using telecommunication geostationary satellites as opportunity transmitters and stationary passive devices, located near the coast, as receivers. The geostationary satellites assure a continuous and complete coverage of wide areas: moreover satellites available in the near future should also provide a bandwidth suitable for the achievement of medium slant range resolutions. Since in ISAR the target motion is exploited to obtain cross-range resolution, a network of stationary low cost receiving only devices could be therefore properly located on the coast to obtain ISAR images of ship targets of interest for the surveillance and monitoring of the maritime traffic.
Rationale for Earlier Treatment in COPD: A Systematic Review of Published Literature in Mild-to-Moderate COPD

Abstract COPD is progressive and typically begins many years before a definite diagnosis is made. As the rate of decline in lung function may be faster in the initial stages of the disease, early intervention could be beneficial to control symptoms and affect disease progression and outcomes. A systematic review of published literature relating to mild-to-moderate COPD (patients with FEV1 ≥50% predicted) was performed to evaluate the level of impairment and natural history or disease progression over time, and impact of interventions on the outcomes of patients with early-stage disease. Of the 79 published articles included in this analysis, 31 reported randomized controlled trials; the remaining 48 articles reported studies of non-randomized and/or observational design. Nine of the randomized controlled trials were ≥6 months’ duration, enabling assessment of outcomes over time. Most of the randomized controlled trials were in patients with moderate COPD (GOLD stage II); few included patients with the mildest stages of the disease (i.e., stage I). The results show that even patients with milder or moderate COPD can have substantial limitations and physical impairment, which worsen over time. Encouragement of smoking cessation, in conjunction with management of symptoms and treating activity limitation and exacerbations by appropriate non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic management at the earliest possible stage, could positively affect the impact and progression of the disease.
Mendelian randomization: nature's randomized trial in the post-genome era.

Despite several observational studies showing that lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), is associated with myocardial infarction (MI)1, 2, only circumstantial evidence exists regarding the causal nature of this association. Observational epidemiological studies, even with a sound prospective design, can provide hints to disease pathogenesis when the effect size is modest but cannot provide definitive evidence for causal relationships. Much of the current understanding of the causal factors in cardiovascular disease, such as the role of LDL, has been confirmed by randomized clinical trials (RCT)3, 4. However, RCTs are not always feasible. In the case of Lp(a), the modest effect size and the lack of specific Lp(a) lowering therapy are major obstacles to obtaining causal evidence for its role in cardiovascular disease. In this issue of JAMA, Kamstrup and colleagues 5 provide insights using a “Mendelian randomization” approach and provide evidence for the causal role of Lp(a) in MI. This study elegantly demonstrates how Mendelian randomization can be used to improve the evidence for causality from observational studies and highlights the advantages and limitations of such an approach.
Assessing early communicative ability: a cross-reporter cumulative score for the MacArthur CDI

Thirty middle- to upper middle-class monolingual Dutch speaking families consisting of at least a mother and a father completed the Infant Form ‘Words and Gestures’ of the Dutch adaptation of the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory for the same child at 1;1. Considerable inter- and intrafamily variation emerged in how two (or three) different reporters who are all presumably close to the child assess a particular child's communicative abilities. The greater the child's communicative ability, as rated by any one reporter, the more differences tended to emerge between reporters. In order to take into account multiple reporters' assessments of the same child, we propose the use of a Cumulative CDI Score that credits the child with the best score for any item on the CDI as checked by any single reporter. We conclude that single reporter CDI reports may underestimate the child's communicative knowledge.
Separation of time scales and convergence to the coalescent in structured populations ∗

Many biological phenomena can be thought of and modeled in terms of generalized population structure, with individuals having a number of different possible states. Certain groups of states in such models are often connected by “migration” that occurs on a time scale that is much faster than the coalescent time scale. We show that, when viewed on the coalescent time scale, the structure associated with such groups of states collapses, and is replaced by a kind of averaging over the states. When the entire structure collapses, the standard coalescent is retrieved. The effect of the population structure on the coalescent is then captured by a simple scaling factor that is related to various notions of “effective population size. ” It is also possible for parts of the structure to collapse, leading to a reduced structured coalescent.
The Relationships between Common Measures of Glucose Meter Performance

Background: Glucose meter performance is commonly measured in several different ways, including the relative bias and coefficient of variation (CV), the total error, the mean absolute relative deviation (MARD), and the size of the interval around the reference value that would be necessary to contain a meter measurement at a specified probability. This fourth measure is commonly expressed as a proportion of the reference value and will be referred to as the necessary relative deviation. A deeper understanding of the relationships between these measures may aid health care providers, patients, and regulators in comparing meter performances when different measures are used. Methods: The relationships between common measures of glucose meter performance were derived mathematically. Results: Equations are presented for calculating the total error, MARD, and necessary relative deviation using the reference value, relative bias, and CV when glucose meter measurements are normally distributed. When measurements are also unbiased, the CV, total error, MARD, and necessary relative deviation are linearly related and are therefore equivalent measures of meter performance. Conclusions: The relative bias and CV provide more information about meter performance than the other measures considered but may be difficult for some audiences to interpret. Reporting meter performance in multiple ways may facilitate the informed selection of blood glucose meters.
The Present State Examination used by interviewers from a Survey Agency: report from the MRC Camberwell Community Survey

SYNOPSIS A random sample of 800 men and women between the ages of 18 and 64 living in Camberwell, south-east London, were interviewed using a short form of the Present State Examination (PSE). The interviewers were from a professional Agency and had received a shortened version of the usual PSE training course. A further interview was sought one month later with all subjects who were above the threshold on the Index of Definition, and a sample of those below the threshold. At this interview the full PSE was administered by members of the MRC Social Psychiatry Unit. Forty-nine audiotapes of Agency interviews were available for the members of the MRC team to rate. This paper reports the reliability between interviewers. Techniques of comparison were chosen which enabled interviewer reliability to be assessed, without making the assumption that individual subjects would display the same symptom levels over a period of one month. There is strong evidence that at least 2 of the 8 Agency interviewers had thresholds that were lower than those of the MRC team for rating many of the common minor symptoms such as irritability, also the key symptom of depressed mood. At least 4 of the Agency interviewers, however, were rating in a similar manner to the MRC team. There was no marked tendency for thresholds to change over the 6-month period of interviewing.
Large‐scale profiling of metabolic dysregulation in ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death in gynecologic malignancies. Profiling of endogenous metabolites has potential to identify changes caused by cancer and provide inspiring insights into cancer metabolism. To systematically investigate ovarian cancer metabolism, we performed metabolic profiling of 448 plasma samples related to epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) based on ultra‐performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry in both positive and negative modes. These unbiased metabolomic profiles could well distinguish EOC from benign ovarian tumor (BOT) and uterine fibroid (UF). Fifty‐three metabolites were identified as specific biomarkers for EOC, and this is the first report of piperine, 3‐indolepropionic acid, 5‐hydroxyindoleacetaldehyde and hydroxyphenyllactate as metabolic biomarkers of EOC. The AUC values of these metabolites for discriminating EOC from BOT/UF and early‐stage EOC from BOT/UF were 0.9100/0.9428 and 0.8385/0.8624, respectively. Meanwhile, our metabolites were able to distinguish early‐stage EOC from late‐stage EOC with an AUC of 0.8801. Importantly, analysis of dysregulated metabolic pathways extends our current understanding of EOC metabolism. Metabolic pathways in EOC patients are mainly characterized by abnormal phospholipid metabolism, altered l‐tryptophan catabolism, aggressive fatty acid β‐oxidation and aberrant metabolism of piperidine derivatives. Together, these metabolic pathways provide a foundation to support cancer development and progression. In conclusion, our large‐scale plasma metabolomics study yielded fundamental insights into dysregulated metabolism in ovarian cancer, which could facilitate clinical diagnosis, therapy, prognosis and shed new lights on ovarian cancer pathogenesis.
Glycine receptors in the striatum, globus pallidus, and substantia nigra of the human brain: An immunohistochemical study

Glycine receptors (GlyRs) are heteropentameric chloride ion channels that facilitate fast‐response, inhibitory neurotransmission in the mammalian spinal cord and brain. GlyRs have four functional subunits, α1–3 and β, which likely exist in heteromeric αβ combinations. Mutations in GlyR α1 and β subunits are well known for their involvement in hyperekplexia, a paroxysmal motor disorder. In this study we present the first detailed immunohistochemical investigation at the regional, cellular, and subcellular levels of GlyRs in the human basal ganglia. The results show that GlyRs are present at the regional level in low concentrations in the striatum and globus pallidus and are present in the highest concentrations in the substantia nigra. At the cellular level, GlyRs are present only in discrete populations of neurons immunoreactive for choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), parvalbumin, and calretinin in the human striatum, on a subpopulation of parvalbumin‐ and calretinin‐positive neurons in the globus pallidus, and in the substantia nigra GlyRs are present on approximately three‐fourths of all pars compacta and one‐third of all pars reticulata neurons. They also form a distinct band of immunoreactive neurons in the intermedullary layers of the globus pallidus. At the subcellular level in the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr), GlyRs show a localized distribution on the soma and dendrites that partially complements but does not overlap with the distribution of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptors. Our results demonstrate the precise cellular and subcellular localization of GlyRs in the human basal ganglia and suggest that glycinergic receptors may play an important complementary role to other inhibitory receptors in modulating cholinergic, dopaminergic, and GABAergic neuronal pathways in the basal ganglia. J. Comp. Neurol. 502:1012–1029, 2007. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Coordinated expression of myosin heavy chains, metabolic enzymes, and morphological features of porcine skeletal muscle fiber types

Combined methodologies of electrophoresis, immunoblots, immunohistochemistry, histochemistry, and photometric image analysis were applied to characterize porcine skeletal muscle fibers according to their myosin heavy chain (MyHC) composition, and to determine on a fiber‐to‐fiber basis the correlation between contractile [MyHC (s), myofibrillar ATPase (mATPase), and sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+‐ATPase (SERCA) isoforms], metabolic [succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), and glycerol‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activities, glycogen, and phospholamban (PLB) contents], and morphological [cross‐sectional area (CSA), capillary, and nuclear densities] features of individual myofibers. An accurate delineation of MyHC‐based fiber types was obtained with the immunohistochemical method developed. This protocol showed a high sensitivity and objectivity to delineate hybrid fibers with overwhelming dominance of one MyHC isoform. The phenotypic differences in contractile, metabolic, and morphological properties seen between fiber types were related with MyHC content. Slow fibers had the lowest mATPase activity (related to shortening velocity), the highest SDH activity (oxidative capacity), the lowest GPDH activity (glycolytic metabolism), and glycogen content, the smallest CSA, the greatest capillary, and nuclear densities, and expressed slow SERCA isoform and PLB, but not the fast SERCA isoform. The reverse pattern was true for pure IIB fibers, whereas type IIA and IIX fibers had intermediate properties. Hybrid fibers had mean values intermediate in‐between their respective pure phenotypes. Discrimination of myofibers according to their MyHC content was possible on the basis of their contractile and non‐contractile profiles. These intrafiber interrelationships suggest that myofibers of control pigs exhibit a high degree of co‐ordination in their physiological, biochemical, and anatomical features. This study may well be a useful baseline for future work on the pig meat industry and also offers new prospects for muscle fiber typing in porcine experimental studies. Microsc. Res. Tech. 65:43–61, 2004. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Effect of design-based learning on improving computational thinking

ABSTRACT The results of this study indicated that design-based learning (DBL) improves computational thinking (CT) in a sample of elementary school students. The experiment consisted of participants using the Scratch Program and Creative Computing Guidebook, both developed by the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) media laboratory, for a total of 15 hours. An experimental group and a control group were formed and consisted of fourth to sixth graders. DBL was applied to the experimental group, while a traditional, direct method of teaching was applied to the control group. The experiment was designed to examine several aspects of learning: self-efficacy, self-interest, and self-CT. Moreover, we compared changes in students’ perceptions of computers and analysed differences in students’ responses between the two groups according to each of the steps of DBL. Then, we verified the effects of DBL by examining the progress of each group and the differences between the two groups. At the end of the experiment, we found that both groups showed enhanced self-efficacy, self-interest, and self-CT. However, the experimental group had a greater number of significant positive changes than the control group did in all areas (p < .01). In conclusion, the findings presented herein demonstrated that applying DBL is more effective for improving CT than traditional methodologies are.
Sustained response to long-term biologics and switching in psoriatic arthritis: results from real life experience

Objective: To investigate the response to biologic drugs in psoriatic arthritis and to quantify non-response and outcome from switching agents. Methods: 60 patients (33 men and 27 women, mean age 46 years, median disease duration 16 years) prescribed biologic drugs for psoriatic arthritis between 2001 and 2006 were studied. Response was evaluated using joint counts, C-reactive protein levels and disease activity scores (using 28 joints; DAS28). Results: The mean percentage improvements seen were 56% in tender joint count, 70% in swollen joint count, 64% in C-reactive protein level and 36% in the overall disease activity score. Improvements were sustained beyond 24 months with no loss of effect. Side-effects leading to cessation or switching of first-line therapy were only seen in 5% of patients and non-response occurred in 20% long term. Overall, 90% of patients achieved a significant response, using switching in 20% of cases. Outcomes were similar regardless of drug used, duration of disease and subtype of arthritis. Conclusions: Treatment of active psoriatic arthritis with anti-tumour necrosis factor agents leads to a sustained response over 3 years with most patients tolerating these drugs well. The rate of non-response is low with the majority of patients responding to second- and third-line therapies.
An optimum modulation strategy for a novel notch commutated 3- phi PWM inverter

A DC-side commutated zero voltage switching (ZVS) PWM 3- Phi VSI topology is discussed. This topology consists of a typical six-switch bridge with the addition of a simple DC bus commutating subcircuit which can provide, on demand, the necessary for soft switching zero-volt interval across the inverter DC bus. The objective of this work is to identify a specific PWM technique which, in combination with the proposed ZVS scheme, can provide optimum overall converter switching performance. Moreover, the combination of the inverter topology and the modulation strategy proposed yields a soft switching environment at the lowest possible switching frequency. <<ETX>>
Studying the Effect of Market Competition on the Auditing Fees and the Operational Costs Efficiency as the Agency Costs Indexes

In the study the effect of market competition on the agency costs was examined in the companies listed in Tehran stock exchange; hence, 56 companies were examined in 2005–2010. The selected approach benefits from Panel Data to test the hypotheses and the natural logarithm of auditing fees and operational costs ratio were considered to calculate the agency costs. The findings indicate that there is significant relation between the competition effect in the product market and agency costs when the confidence rate is 95 percent; also the findings indicate that the debt rate has no significant effect on the agency costs.