Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Forward backward splitting for regularized stochastic optimization problems

Stochastic optimization is playing an increasingly important in machine learning in the big data era. In this paper, we use forward-backward splitting for the stochastic optimization problems, where the objective is the sum of two functions: one is the expected risk function, another is a regularized term. At each iteration of this method, we just use a single sample to adjust the variables. We prove that the expected value of the objective function at the iterative points converges to the optimal value. In addition, we derive the convergence rates in expectation based on the regret bound. We use the FOBOS method for ℓ1-regularized logistic regression. The experimental results show the performance of the proposed approach.
Visual urban scene analysis by moving platforms

In recent years, interest in mobile robots and intelligent vehicles that are able to act autonomously in scenarios of daily human living has been increasing constantly. This trend has been further fostered by advances in input sensor technology such as cameras or lasers, as well as in the corresponding algorithms for data interpretation. Due to their relatively low price and similarity to human vision, cameras are an especially intriguing sensor for such tasks. This dissertation presents a purely vision-based system for the tasks of self-localization, scene analysis, and object tracking in semi-crowded urban environments, with a mobile platform as observer. Starting from a set of off-the-shelf components for object detection and stereo depth estimation, we first propose a probabilistic combination of these independent cues to simultaneously validate object hypotheses and estimate a common ground plane where these objects reside. Based on the the improved detections and self-localization from visual odometry, we then introduce a multi-object tracking system that recovers the objects’ trajectories while explicitly reasoning about physical space requirements between each other. The different algorithms are closely coupled by a set of feedback channels, with failure detection mechanisms in each component to ensure robust operation in crowded scenarios. The resulting, integrated mobile vision system is then applied to the task of pedestrian and car tracking in urban environments, where we demonstrate robust and computationally efficient tracking over prolonged time spans. Taking this system as a basic component, we then explore its use for creating dynamic occupancy maps that could serve as input to a path planning module. For pedestrians, we moreover show that the system can be used as a building block for articulated multi-body tracking; and that the motion model for pedestrians can be improved when
Novel Small Molecule Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Stimulates Insulin Secretion in Rodents and from Human Islets Running Title : Novel GLP-1 Receptor Small Molecule Agonist

This is an uncopyedited electronic version of an article accepted for publication in Diabetes. The American Diabetes Association, publisher of Diabetes, is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it by third parties. The definitive publisher-authenticated version will be available in a future issue of Diabetes in print and online at http://diabetes.diabetesjournals. org. Diabetes Publish Ahead of Print, published online September 7, 2010
Multiple band notch filter using contiguous split ring resonators (SRR)

A novel, compact, multiple band notch filter (MBNF) is presented. Contiguous and concentric split ring resonators (SRRs) and ring resonator are used to achieve desired multiple narrow band notches. These band notches have been designed to avoid the undesired interference between co-existing wireless channels. Proposed filter is implemented on RT/Duroid 5880 (εr=2.2) substrate of thickness 0.785 mm and surface area of 14 × 14 sq. mm. Insertion loss of the proposed filter at notch bands is high (>13 dB) and low (<0.8 dB) elsewhere. Measured results are correlated with simulated results and ensure proposed filter is a suitable candidate to mitigate interference caused by the co-existing and emerging wireless technologies.
Genetic ablation of the alpha 6‐integrin subunit in Tie1Cre mice enhances tumour angiogenesis

Laminins are expressed highly in blood vessel basement membranes and have been implicated in angiogenesis. α6β1‐ and α6β4‐integrins are major receptors for laminins in endothelial cells, but the precise role of endothelial α6‐integrin in tumour angiogenesis is not clear. We show that blood vessels in human invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast have decreased expression of the α6‐integrin‐subunit when compared with normal breast tissue. These data suggest that a decrease in α6‐integrin‐subunit expression in endothelial cells is associated with tumour angiogenesis. To test whether the loss of the endothelial α6‐integrin subunit affects tumour growth and angiogenesis, we generated α6fl/fl‐Tie1Cre+ mice and showed that endothelial deletion of α6‐integrin is sufficient to enhance tumour size and tumour angiogenesis in both murine B16F0 melanoma and Lewis cell lung carcinoma. Mechanistically, endothelial α6‐integrin deficiency elevated significantly VEGF‐mediated angiogenesis both in vivo and ex vivo. In particular, α6‐integrin‐deficient endothelial cells displayed increased levels of VEGF‐receptor 2 (VEGFR2) and VEGF‐mediated downstream ERK1/2 activation. By developing the first endothelial‐specific α6‐knockout mice, we show that the expression of the α6‐integrin subunit in endothelial cells acts as a negative regulator of angiogenesis both in vivo and ex vivo. Copyright © 2009 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Evidence on the Effectiveness of Abstinence Education: An Update. No. 2372.

Sexual activity during teenage years poses serious health risks for youths and has long-term implications. Early sexual activity is associated with an increased risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), reduced psychological and emotional wellbeing, lower academic achievement, teen pregnancy, and out-of-wedlock childbearing. Many of these risks are avoidable if teens choose to abstain from sexual activity. Abstinence is the surest way to avoid the risk of STDs and unwed childbearing.
Comb-drive XYZ-microstage based on assembling technology for low temperature measurement systems

This paper reports the novel design, fabrication and testing of a chip-level-assembled comb-drive XYZ-microstage that produces large displacements into X-, Y-, and Z-directions for the three-dimensional scanning stage of magnetic resonance force microscopy. The main parts of the XYZ-microstage, consisting of a comb-drive XY-microstage, two comb-drive Z-microstages and a bottom silicon base substrate, are assembled together by using micro manipulators. Mechanical springs are used to realize the electrical connections between the XY-microstage and the Z-microstages. It is demonstrated that the assembled XYZ-microstage can achieve large displacements of 25.2 μm in X direction, 20.4 μm in Y direction and 58.5 μm in Z direction. Also, the fabricated Z-microstage integrated with capacitive displacement sensors is installed into a vacuum chamber equipped with a liquid nitrogen cooling stage to evaluate the actuation performance at low temperatures. A maximum displacement of ~60 μm without any degradation is obtained in the Z-microstage at 77.6 K.
Eye and pit size are inversely correlated in crotalinae: Implications for selection pressure relaxation

Mate, prey, and predator recognition often depend on the integration of information from multiple sensory modalities including visual, auditory, and/or olfactory inputs. In Crotalinae, the eyes sense visible light while the pit organs detect infrared (IR) radiation. Previous studies indicate that there is significant overlap between the eye and pit sensory fields and that both senses are involved in recognition processes. This study investigated the relationships between eye and pit sizes in this taxonomic group as a function of phylogeny and habitat. In view of the fact that pit orientation depends largely on snout shape, pit vipers were grouped as follows: 1) arboreal, 2) terrestrial with rounded snout, and 3) terrestrial with pointed snout. The pit orientations and habitant patterns were fully independent of the Crotalinae phylogenetic tree. The phylogenetic generalized least squares model showed that both eye and pit areas were not of significantly phylogenetic relatedness, implying alternatively a strong effect of adaptation on eye and pit sizes. Negative correlations between relative eye and pit areas in terrestrial (both pointed and rounded snouts) and arboreal species were statistically significant. Our results suggest that the eyes and pits function in a complementary fashion such that selection for IR‐perception relaxes selection pressures on the visual system and selection for visual discrimination relaxes selection pressures acting on the IR‐system. J. Morphol. 277:107–117, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Contribution of DFIG wind turbines to system frequency control

Wind power has become the fastest growing renewable energy source around the world, and has become relatively large proportion of total system generation and this procedure will be continuing in future, because of wind power global preference. Because variable speed wind turbine generation (WTG) connects to power system indirectly through converters and other power electronic devices, this makes the generation system dynamic behavior different from conventional generations and decouples the rotor of generator from other parts of power system, so power system inertia will decrease by addition of variable speed WTG. Therefore, if renewable energy systems in today's power system don't capable of contribution in frequency control, rate of change of system frequency (ROCOF) will be increase, and loss of generation or change in system loading may result in critical conditions such as blackout in the system. Meanwhile, modification of wind energy systems inertial response characteristics, or considering internal frequency control loop is necessary to facilitate the increasing integration of wind generation level in power systems. Therefore, the complete dynamic model of Doubly-fed WTG systems are implemented to investigate the possibility of their contribution in primary frequency control.
Excitation Voltage Control for Emergency Frequency Regulation of Island Power Systems With Voltage-Dependent Loads

This paper proposes a generator excitation voltage control scheme for emergency frequency regulation of island power systems with voltage-dependent loads. It is able to regulate the load voltages and their power demand to maintain stable frequency when the systems have no active power reserves. Taking an actual island power system with aluminum electrolysis loads as an example, a frequency and excitation voltage control model for the actual island power system is established. Then, by applying the output regulation theory, feedback control signals with the frequency deviations and the power imbalances are used to obtain a practical feasible control scheme whose structure is similar to that of primary and secondary frequency control. Furthermore, by taking into account the constraints of generator voltage controls and load bus voltages, two useful conditions are found to limit the power imbalances. Our control strategy can maintain the frequency and voltages in permitted ranges. Both the WSCC 9-bus system and the actual island power system are used to validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Ability of canine Lyme disease vaccine to protect hamsters against infection with several isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi

We used flow cytometry to determine levels of borreliacidal antibodies in hamsters after vaccination with a commercially available canine Lyme disease vaccine. In addition, we evaluated the ability of vaccinated hamsters to resist infection with several isolates of Borrelia burgdorferi. Borreliacidal antibodies could be detected 1 week after a primary vaccination, peaked at weeks 3 to 5, and then rapidly declined. One week after a booster vaccination, borreliacidal activity was detected at a dilution of 1:10,240, and it decreased fourfold by week 10 after the booster vaccination. Vaccinated hamsters were protected against infection with < or = 10(6) B. burgdorferi 297 organisms during the peak borreliacidal response (5 weeks after primary vaccination or 2 weeks after booster vaccination). However, hamsters were not fully protected from development of Lyme arthritis when the titer of borreliacidal antibodies was < 1:5,120. In addition, no significant borreliacidal activity was induced against B. burgdorferi C-1-11, LV4, or BV1, which belong to three other seroprotective groups. These studies demonstrate that vaccination with the canine Lyme disease vaccine induces protective antibodies against B. burgdorferi 297. However, significant levels of borreliacidal antibodies are not produced until 5 weeks after vaccination, and protection is short-lived. In addition, no borreliacidal activity was induced against other isolates of B. burgdorferi. Because of this, the incorporation of multiple isolates or protein subunits may be necessary to increase the effectiveness of future vaccines.
Chemical vapor deposition growth of boron–carbon–nitrogen layers from methylamine borane thermolysis products

This work investigates the growth of B–C–N layers by chemical vapor deposition using methylamine borane (MeAB) as the single-source precursor. MeAB has been synthesized and characterized, paying particular attention to the analysis of its thermolysis products, which are the gaseous precursors for B–C–N growth. Samples have been grown on Cu foils and transferred onto different substrates for their morphological, structural, chemical, electronic and optical characterizations. The results of these characterizations indicate a segregation of h-BN and graphene-like (Gr) domains. However, there is an important presence of B and N interactions with C at the Gr borders, and of C interacting at the h-BN-edges, respectively, in the obtained nano-layers. In particular, there is a significant presence of C–N bonds, at Gr/h-BN borders and in the form of N doping of Gr domains. The overall B:C:N contents in the layers is close to 1:3:1.5. A careful analysis of the optical bandgap determination of the obtained B–C–N layers is presented, discussed and compared with previous seminal works with samples of similar composition.
Iron Doped TiO2 Photocatalysts for Environmental Applications: Fundamentals and Progress

One of the most pervasive problems affecting people throughout the world is inadequate access to clean water and sanitation. Problems with water are expected to grow worse in the coming decades, with water scarcity occurring globally. Many recent studies have been reported on the photodegradation of the organic compounds in industrial wastewater in the presence of TiO2 semiconductor as photocatalyst. Heterogeneous photocatalysts using iron as a dopant metal, so far, have been reported for various environmental applications. This paper highlights the recent advances and applications of Fe-TiO2 photocatalysis for the degradation/photodegradation of various pollutants, alkanolamines and other organic pollutants like phenols and dyes.
Tool wear in machining AISI D2 steel with minimum quantity lubrication using alternative cutting fluids

Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) is known to perform better than conventional flood cooling in machining. However, no studies on MQL using alternative cutting fluids with the chosen work-tool material combination, are reported in the literature. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of MQL using alternative cutting fluids on tool wear. The objectives were; to identify suitable alternative cutting fluids that can be used with the MQL method, and to study the tool wear for different alternatives. Alternative cutting fluids were identified using a literature review. Then a set of simple turning operations using carbide coated tools and AISI D2 steel work-pieces were performed with the MQL method using three identified alternative fluids. Trials were also carried out with dry cutting, conventional flood cooling with emulsion oils and MQL method using emulsion oils. Tool wear in each treatment was measured and graphically analysed to compare the performance of the cooling methods. Coconut oil, sun flower oil and waste cooking oil were identified as the alternatives for conventional cutting fluids. Coconut oil and sun flower oil performed the best while waste cooking oil was the worst. Further experiments are need with different combinations of cutting tool and work-piece material to generalise the findings.
Corneal amino acid supply and distribution.

The distribution of nonmetabolized carbon ^'-labelled a-aminoisobutyric acid (a-AIB) in the anterior segment of the rabbit eye has been determined in vivo. In addition to confirming earlier observations of the active accumulation of the molecule by the lens, the distribution in the cornea ivas found to favor the hypothesis of passive diffusion through the corneal endothelial layer and active uptake by the epithelium. The passive role of the endothelium was shown also by measuring the flux of a-AIB across the anterior stromal surface. This flux was substantially greater in the absence of endothelium. The active accumulation of a-AIB by the corneal epithelium occurred only when the molecule was present on the stromal side. A significant barrier to diffusion as well as no evidence of active uptake was found when the molecule was present in the tears.
Replication Fork Progression Is Impaired by Transcription in Hyperrecombinant Yeast Cells Lacking a Functional THO Complex

ABSTRACT THO/TREX is a conserved, eukaryotic protein complex operating at the interface between transcription and messenger ribonucleoprotein (mRNP) metabolism. THO mutations impair transcription and lead to increased transcription-associated recombination (TAR). These phenotypes are dependent on the nascent mRNA; however, the molecular mechanism by which impaired mRNP biogenesis triggers recombination in THO/TREX mutants is unknown. In this study, we provide evidence that deficient mRNP biogenesis causes slowdown or pausing of the replication fork in hpr1Δ mutants. Impaired replication appears to depend on sequence-specific features since it was observed upon activation of lacZ but not leu2 transcription. Replication fork progression could be partially restored by hammerhead ribozyme-guided self-cleavage of the nascent mRNA. Additionally, hpr1Δ increased the number of S-phase but not G2-dependent TAR events as well as the number of budded cells containing Rad52 repair foci. Our results link transcription-dependent genomic instability in THO mutants with impaired replication fork progression, suggesting a molecular basis for a connection between inefficient mRNP biogenesis and genetic instability.
Removal of Aromatic Amines from Water by Cu 2 + – impregnated Chitosan / alumina Bionanocomposite

The pollution of natural waters with aromatic amines originating from wastewaters of many industries is of serious concern due to its negative impact on environment and living organisms. In this research work, Cu–impregnated chitosan/alumina nanocomposite was prepared and employed as an adsorbent for removal of aromatic amines from water. The results showed that the adsorption capacity of the prepared adsorbent toward aromatic amines such as aniline is much higher than that of neat chitosan and chitosan/alumina nanocomposite. Adsorption behavior of the modified adsorbent was also studied using adsorption isotherms at room temperature. The adsorption data for the modified adsorbent were fitted well by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Chemical and morphological properties of the adsorbent were studied using FTIR and SEM. A much higher surface area of the modified adsorbent compared to neat chitosan and the presence of Cu(II) bonded to the adsorbent surface are main causes of the higher adsorption capacity for the prepared adsorbent compared to neat chitosan and chitosan/alumina nanocomposit. According to the obtained results, the introduced bionanocomposite can be applied for effective removal of aromatic amines from water. Keywords—Adsorption, Aromatic amines, Bionanocomposite, Chitosan
Cloning, Expression, Purification, and Some Properties of Calf Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase

Calf spleen purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) is considered a model enzyme for the trimeric PNPs subfamily. PCR amplification of the calf phosphorylase from the calf spleen library, cloning, overexpression of the recombinant PNP, its enzymatic activity and interactions with typical ligands of mammalian wild type PNP are described. Relative activity of the recombinant phosphorylase versus several substrates is similar to the respective values obtained for the enzyme isolated from calf spleen. As for the nonrecombinant calf PNP, the unusual fluorescence properties of the PNP/guanine complex were observed and characterized.
Lists of Face-Regular Polyhedra

We introduce a new notion that connects the combinatorial concept of regularity with the geometrical notion of face transitivity. This new notion implies finiteness results in the case of bounded maximal face size. We give lists of structures for some classes and investigate polyhedra with constant vertex degrees and faces of only two sizes.
Online health information search and evaluation: observations and semi-structured interviews with college students and maternal health experts.

BACKGROUND While the Internet is a popular source of health information, health seekers' inadequate skills to locate and discern quality information pose a potential threat to their healthcare decision-making. OBJECTIVES We aimed to examine health information search and appraisal behaviours among young, heavy users of the Internet. METHODS In study 1, we observed and interviewed 11 college students about their search strategies and evaluation of websites. In study 2, three health experts evaluated two websites selected as the best information sources in study 1. RESULTS Familiarity with health websites and confidence in search strategies were major factors affecting search and evaluation behaviours. Website quality was mostly judged by aesthetics and peripheral cues of source credibility and message credibility. In contrast to users' favourable website evaluation, the experts judged the websites to be inappropriate and untrustworthy. CONCLUSION Our results highlight a critical need to provide young health seekers with resources and training that are specifically geared toward health information search and appraisal. The role of health seekers' knowledge and involvement with the health issue in search effort and success warrants future research.
Risk of Hospitalized Infection Among Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Concurrently Treated With a Biologic Agent and Denosumab

Denosumab is a biologic agent used to treat osteoporosis. Its safety profile given concurrently with biologic drugs for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has not been well studied. We evaluated hospitalized infections among patients treated with biologic agents for RA who initiated denosumab or zoledronic acid (ZA), a parenteral bisphosphonate without known associations with infection. We hypothesized that the rate of hospitalized infection with denosumab would be noninferior to ZA.