Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Clustering Protocol for Data Aggregation in Wireless Sensor Network

Energy efficiency is one of the most important issues of wireless sensor network (WSN). Since the energy mainly dissipates on data transmission, the data transmission has become the most important issue of WSN recently. Otherwise, the data accuracy is another key factor of data transmission. To optimize these factors, a noble routing protocol is proposed in this paper. The proposed algorithm is originated from LEACH, and energy efficiency and latency is considered as the researching parameters. The overlap of detect regions is discussed and a nodes-adaptive schedule is designed to reduce the amount of data with LEACH protocol. Moreover, a data aggregation is also studied, which takes the data aggregate along the transmission process. The proposed protocol is evaluated in comparison with the traditional LEACH, and the performance of the proposed protocol is verified to be efficient and competent.
Detection and analysis of broken bar in three phase squirrel cage induction motor using FEM

Three Phase Induction Motors are widely used for industrial and domestic applications. There are various faults that occur in induction motors like stator inter-turn fault, bearing's faults and eccentricity fault. Out of these faults, the rotor broken bar fault is very specific in squirrel cage induction machines. This paper deals with the detection of broken bars in three phase squirrel cage induction motor using finite element model of the induction machine. Finite element method is more precise than the winding function approach method, as it is based on the actual geometry of the machine. This paper uses a CAD package called “Magnet” for the Static 2D and Transient 2D analysis. The various machine parameters like flux density, flux function, magnetic energy, etc are calculated using this CAD package and their values are compared under healthy and faulty conditions.
Coated-Strand Litz Wire for Multi-Megahertz Frequency Applications

Substantial induced eddy-current losses and the need for skin-depth-size strands leave litz wire out as an option for inductive applications at multi-megahertz frequencies. To address this, we analyze and minimize the litz-wire eddy-current losses by adding a coating layer to each strand while keeping the wire dimensions and packing factor constant. The skin and proximity effects of isolated and in-bundle coated strands are studied for various coating properties and dimensions. A new method is proposed for calculation of proximity losses inside coated-strand litz wire, which enables simple systematic approach for proximity loss and ac resistance (Rac) determination. Three types of pure copper (Cu), silver-coated copper (Ag/Cu), and nickel-coated copper (Ni/Cu) strands are studied in isolation and inside a litz wire. The litz wires associated with these strands are fabricated and their power dissipations are measured. Analytical results followed by finite-element modeling and experimental results show 26% reduction in Ni/Cu litz wire Rac, and 3% reduction in Ag/Cu litz wire Rac at 13.56 MHz compared with same-size Cu litz wire.
Two overrepresented B cell populations in HIV-infected individuals undergo apoptosis by different mechanisms

Perturbations of B cells in HIV-infected individuals are associated with the overrepresentation of distinct B cell populations. Here we describe high extrinsic CD95 ligand (CD95L)-mediated apoptosis in CD10−/CD21lo mature/activated B cells that likely arise from HIV-induced immune activation. In addition, high intrinsic apoptosis was observed in CD10+ immature/transitional B cells that likely arise as a result of HIV-induced lymphopenia. CD10+ B cells expressed low levels of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, consistent with their high susceptibility to intrinsic apoptosis. Higher levels of activated Bax and Bak were induced in CD10+ B cells compared with CD95L-treated CD10− B cells, consistent with the greater involvement of mitochondria in intrinsic vs. extrinsic apoptosis. Of interest, both extrinsic apoptosis in CD95L-treated CD10− B cells and intrinsic apoptosis in CD10+ B cells were associated with caspase-8 activation. Our data suggest that two distinct mechanisms of apoptosis are associated with B cells of HIV-infected individuals, and both may contribute to the depletion and dysfunction of B cells in these individuals.
Growth Hormone (GH)-induced Dimerization Inhibits Phorbol Ester-stimulated GH Receptor Proteolysis*

Growth hormone (GH) initiates its cellular action by properly dimerizing GH receptor (GHR). A substantial fraction of circulating GH is complexed with a high-affinity GH-binding protein (GHBP) that in many species can be generated by GHR proteolysis and shedding of the receptor's ligand-binding extracellular domain. We previously showed that this proteolysis 1) can be acutely promoted by the phorbol ester phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), 2) requires a metalloprotease activity, 3) generates both shed GHBP and a membrane-associated GHR transmembrane/cytoplasmic domain remnant, and 4) results in down-regulation of GHR abundance and GH signaling. Using cell culture model systems, we now explore the effects of GH treatment on inducible GHR proteolysis and GHBP shedding. In human IM-9 lymphocytes, which endogenously express GHRs, and in Chinese hamster ovary cells heterologously expressing wild-type or cytoplasmic domain internal deletion mutant rabbit GHRs, brief exposure to GH inhibited PMA-induced GHR proteolysis (receptor loss and remnant accumulation) by 60–93%. PMA-induced shedding of GHBP from Chinese hamster ovary transfectants was also inhibited by 70% in the presence of GH. The capacity of GH to inhibit inducible GHR cleavage did not rely on JAK2-dependent GH signaling, as evidenced by its continued protection in JAK2-deficient γ2A rabbit GHR cells. The GH concentration dependence for inhibition of PMA-induced GHR proteolysis paralleled that for its promotion of receptor dimerization (as monitored by formation of GHR disulfide linkage). Unlike GH, the GH antagonist, G120K, which binds to but fails to properly dimerize GHRs, alone did not protect against PMA-induced GHR proteolysis; G120K did, however, antagonize the protective effect of GH. Our data suggest that GH inhibits PMA-induced GHR proteolysis and GHBP shedding by inducing GHR dimerization and that this effect does not appear to be related to GH site 1 binding, GHR internalization, or GHR signaling. The implications of these findings with regard to GH signaling and GHR down-regulation are discussed.
Real‐time measurement of serotonin release and motility in guinea pig ileum

Enterochromaffin (EC) cells are sensors that detect chemical or mechanical stimuli and respond with release of serotonin (5‐HT). 5‐HT activates local motor reflexes, but whether local motor reflexes also evoke 5‐HT release is unknown. The aim of the present study was to establish the relationship between the release of 5‐HT and the enteric neural circuits controlling the movements of the intestine. Recordings were made from full‐thickness preparations of guinea pig ileum using electrochemical techniques with carbon fibre electrodes to measure local concentrations of 5‐HT. The tension in the circular muscle (CM) and longitudinal muscle (LM) was recorded with force transducers. The release of 5‐HT from the EC cells was detected selectively and the timing of the events quantified. Pressure‐evoked peristalsis caused detectable 5‐HT release only when the recording site was invaded by a ring of CM contraction. Spontaneous and stretch‐evoked reflex contraction of the CM and LM occurred simultaneously with 5‐HT release. Paralysis of the smooth muscle significantly reduced the stretch‐evoked release. Muscarinic agonists evoked reflexes that were associated with increases in tension in CM and LM simultaneous with 5‐HT release. Tetrodotoxin abolished the coordination between the CM contraction and 5‐HT release but not the direct activation of the CM and EC cells by the agonists. In conclusion, the correlation between local motor reflexes and 5‐HT release observed in the present study is caused primarily by the contraction of the smooth muscle and subsequent deformation of the mucosa. The EC cell is, thus, a site of convergence for mechanical forces that contribute to the release of 5‐HT during motor reflexes.
Effect of late gestation low protein supply to mink (Mustela vison) dams on reproductive performance and metabolism of dam and offspring

Protein malnutrition in utero that induces permanent changes in metabolism has been investigated intensively in various animals in recent years, but to the best of our knowledge, not yet in the mink, a strict carnivore. In the present study, minks were fed either a low-protein (LP) diet, i.e., with a protein:fat:carbohydrate ratio of 14:51:35% of metabolisable energy (ME), or an adequate-protein diet (AP), i.e. 29:56:15% of ME, from when implantation was completed until parturition (17.9 ± 3.6 days). Respiration and balance experiments were performed during both gestation and lactation. Plasma concentrations of leptin, IGF-1, and insulin were determined by radioimmunoassay; the relative abundances of glucose-6-phosphatase (G-6-Pase), fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (Fru-1,6-P2ase), phosphoenol-pyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), and pyruvate kinase (PKM2) were determined in liver, and abundances of adiponectin and leptin in adipose tissue were determined by real-time quantitative PCR (q PCR). The protein supply only affected quantitative metabolism traits during the period of differentiated feeding. The dietary composition was reflected in the nitrogen metabolism and substrate oxidation, but no effects remained during lactation. The LP dams tended to have a smaller liver mass in relation to body weight than did AP dams (2.5% vs. 2.9%; p = 0.09), significantly less leptin mRNA (p < 0.05), and 30.6% fewer kits per mated female (p = 0.03). Furthermore, F1-generation kits exposed to protein restriction during foetal life (FLP1; 10.3 g) had a lower birth weight (p = 0.004) than did F1-generation kits exposed to adequate protein (FAP1; 11.3 g). Differences remained significant until 21 days of age (120.4 g vs. 127.6 g; p = 0.005). The FLP1 foetuses displayed a lower abundance of Fru-1,6-P2ase mRNA (p = 0.007) and of PKM2 mRNA (p = 0.002) than did FAP1 foetuses. Whether these changes during foetal life cause permanent changes in the glucose homeostasis of the offspring and result in the transmission of epigenetic phenotypic changes, as seen in the rat, needs further investigation.
Predicting urban growth of a developing country city using a statistical modeling approach

Rapid population growth is pushing African cities to unprecedented sizes. The negative social and environmental consequences of the uncontrolled urban expansion have been documented. The purpose of this project was to develop appropriate databases to study the temporal land use changes in urban expansion and predict future urban growth for the city of Niamey, Niger. Land use transition was obtained from satellite imagery of 1973, 1988, and 2001. Spatial layers of driving forces of urban growth were derived from a digital orthophoto and extensive GPS mapping. A multinomial binary logistic regression was used to derive urban transition probabilities and simulated maps of future urban growth were subsequently generated. This study suggests that urbanized areas of the city will increase by 65.64 km2 between 1988 and 2010 and the population will increase from 397,437 to 2,063,894. The implications will include overcrowding, destruction of scarce farmlands and deforestation of the surrounding plateaus. Deforestation of the fragile uplands results in the generation of uncontrolled runoff that provokes serious erosion. Sediment carried in the runoff creates unproductive alluvial fans at the footslopes of the plateau.
A Uniform Pressure Apparatus for Micro/Nanoimprint Lithography Equipment

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) has overcome the limitation of light diffraction. It is capable of printing features less than 10nm in size with high lithographic resolution, high manufacturing speed, and low production cost. The uniformity of pressure, however, remains a critical issue. To improve the uniformity of pressure, we developed a flexible uniform pressure component based on Pascal’s Law. When external force is applied to this component, uniform pressure is delivered to the mold and substrate. Average pressure over the embossed area using our improved nanoimprint equipment deviates by only 3.15%.
RNA binding specificity of hnRNP A1: significance of hnRNP A1 high‐affinity binding sites in pre‐mRNA splicing.

Pre‐mRNA is processed as a large complex of pre‐mRNA, snRNPs and pre‐mRNA binding proteins (hnRNP proteins). The significance of hnRNP proteins in mRNA biogenesis is likely to be reflected in their RNA binding properties. We have determined the RNA binding specificity of hnRNP A1 and of each of its two RNA binding domains (RBDs), by selection/amplification from pools of random sequence RNA. Unique RNA molecules were selected by hnRNP A1 and each individual RBD, suggesting that the RNA binding specificity of hnRNP A1 is the result of both RBDs acting as a single RNA binding composite. Interestingly, the consensus high‐affinity hnRNP A1 binding site, UAGGGA/U, resembles the consensus sequences of vertebrate 5′ and 3′ splice sites. The highest affinity ‘winner’ sequence for hnRNP A1 contained a duplication of this sequence separated by two nucleotides, and was bound by hnRNP A1 with an apparent dissociation constant of 1 × 10(‐9) M. hnRNP A1 also bound other RNA sequences, including pre‐mRNA splice sites and an intron‐derived sequence, but with reduced affinities, demonstrating that hnRNP A1 binds different RNA sequences with a > 100‐fold range of affinities. These experiments demonstrate that hnRNP A1 is a sequence‐specific RNA binding protein. UV light‐induced protein‐RNA crosslinking in nuclear extracts demonstrated that an oligoribonucleotide containing the A1 winner sequence can be used as a specific affinity reagent for hnRNP A1 and an unidentified 50 kDa protein. We also show that this oligoribonucleotide, as well as two others containing 5′ and 3′ pre‐mRNA splice sites, are potent inhibitors of in vitro pre‐mRNA splicing.
Genetic fusion: application to multi-components image segmentation

In this communication, we propose a new approach which enables to fusion either the results of several segmentation methods of a same image or the different results in the case of a multi-components image. The developed method is based on a genetic algorithm approach which allows to combine segmentation results by taking into account their quality through an evaluation criterion. This criterion provides to quantify a segmentation result without any a priori knowledge such as the ground truth. This approach is applied to segment multi-components images by combining the segmentation results of each component. We show the efficiency of the method through some experimental results on several images.
Polyhedral Formulations and Loop Elimination Constraints for Distribution Network Expansion Planning

Distribution network expansion planning (DNEP) aims at minimizing the capital and operational cost of the expansion plan; the plan entails choosing conductor types and line construction routes together with substation installation and reinforcement that allow serving the demand while satisfying the physical and technical constraints of the expanded network. Two findings are reported in this paper. First, DNEP can be exactly formulated as a disjunctive conic program, in two equivalent formulations; both formulations admit a tight polyhedral approximation and can be solved for the globally optimal solution using software for mixed-integer linear programming (MILP). Second, the DNEP solution can be computed more efficiently when the linear relaxations of the MILP formulations are strengthened using loop elimination constraints. Numerical results on practical DNEP problems reveal that combining the parallel equivalent-circuit polyhedral formulation with the spanning tree loop elimination constraints yields MILP planning solutions with a tight relative optimality gap and within reasonable computing time. In addition, the results are at least of the same quality if not better than those reported in the recent literature.
Temperature , Wages , and Agricultural Labor Productivity ⇤

Agricultural laborers frequently work for piece rate wages – where they are paid per unit of output rather than per unit of time – based on the assumption that these wages incentivize productivity. In this paper, I provide the first quasi-experimental estimate of the elasticity of labor productivity with respect to piece rate wages by analyzing a high-frequency panel of over 2,000 blueberry pickers on two California farms over three years. To account for endogeneity in the piece rate wage, I use the market price for blueberries as an instrumental variable. I find that picker productivity is very inelastic on average, and I can reject even modest elasticities of up to 0.7. However, this average masks important heterogeneity across outdoor working conditions. Specifically, at temperatures below 60 F, I find that higher piece rate wages do induce increases in labor productivity. This is suggestive evidence consistent with a model where at moderate to hot temperatures, workers face binding physiological constraints that prevent them from exerting additional effort in response to higher wages. This insight has important implications for understanding how climate change will affect the agricultural labor sector. (JEL codes: J24, J31, J43, Q12, Q54)
Mining correlation patterns of taxa, pathways and environmental factors with an improved weighted network community detection algorithm

With the development of high-throughput and low-cost sequencing technology, a large amount of marine microbial sequences is generated. So, it is possible to research more uncultivated marine microbes. Generally, the functional capability and taxa structure are highly related with environment factors in microbial communities, which are hidden in these large amount sequences. However, most works used the canonical correlation analysis (CCA) method to research the correlative relationship among taxa, pathways and environmental factors. CCA is difficult to find which environmental factors are the major determinants of some special taxa and pathway. In this paper, we integrated 14 ocean metagenomes with geographical, meteorological and geophysicochemical data to construct the correlative weighted networks with Spearman correlation. By using an improved weighted network community detection algorithm, named as IWNCD, we find some special correlation patterns among taxa, pathways and environmental factors. Analysis of these patterns shows that the climatic factors such as temperature, sunlight, and correlated CO2, and the nutrients such as chlorophyII and primary production are the main determining factors of the functional community composition; The growth and development of some special taxa are dependent on some main environmental factors such as sunlight, temperature, CO2, primary production, dissolved oxygen, dissolved silicate; In addition, sampling sites more similar in geographic location have a greater tendency to be closer together based on their metabolic pathways.
Development of closed-loop control of robotic welding processes

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to develop closed‐loop control of robotic welding processes.Design/methodology/approach – The approach being developed is the creation of three‐dimensional models of the weld pool using stereo imagining. These models will be used in a model‐based feedback control system. Fusion of more than one sensor type in the controller is used.Findings – Three‐dimensional images can be produced from stereo images of GMAW‐p weld pools. This requires coordinating the image capture with the arc pulse to allow observation of the pool.Research limitations/implications – This is a work in progress. The imaging is not being done in real time at this point in time. Future work will address this issue. Also, how the image information is to be used to make corrections within the controller is future work.Practical implications – Closing the loop on GMAW welding will allow robotic automation of welding to proceed to a much broader degree of application.Originality/value – This paper dem.
Potential-Function Based Control of a Microgrid in Islanded and Grid-Connected Modes

This paper introduces the potential-function based method for secondary (as well as tertiary) control of a microgrid, in both islanded and grid-connected modes. A potential function is defined for each controllable unit of the microgrid such that the minimum of the potential function corresponds to the control goal. The dynamic set points are updated, using communication within the microgrid. The proposed potential function method is applied for the secondary voltage control of two microgrids with single and multiple feeders. Both islanded and grid-connected modes are investigated. The studies are conducted in the time-domain, using the PSCAD/EMTDC software environment. The study results demonstrate feasibility of the proposed potential function method and viability of the secondary voltage control method for a microgrid.
Effect of osmotic, alkaline, acid or thermal stresses on the growth and inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes

Five strains of Listeria monocytogenes (a, b, c, d and e) isolated from industrial plants have been subjected to different osmotic, alkaline, acid or thermal stresses. The effects of these treatments on lag‐phase (L) and growth rate (μ) of cells in mid‐log phase have been followed using an automated optical density monitoring system. Increasing the osmotic pressure by the addition of different amounts of NaCl increased the lag phase and decreased the growth rate. The same phenomena were observed after decreasing the pH of the medium to 5·8, 5·6 or 5·4 by addition of acetic, lactic or hydrochloric acids. The inhibitory effect was: acetic acid > lactic acid > hydrochloric acid. The addition of NaOH to attain pH values of 9·5, 10·0, 10·5 or 11·0 in the medium produced a dramatic increase of the lag phase at pH 10·5 and 11. Growth rates were also decreased while the maximal population increased with high pH values. These effects varied according to strains. Strains d and e were the most resistant to acidic and alkaline stresses, and e was the most affected by the addition of NaCl. A cold shock of 30 min at 0 °C had limited effects on growth parameters. On the other hand, hyperthermal shocks (55 or 63 °C, 30 min) led to similar increased lag phases and to significant increases of the maximal population in all five strains.
An efficient parametric model for real-time 3D tongue skeletal animation

In this paper, we propose a very efficient novel parametric model to describe the surface and structure of the human tongue and a corresponding mathematical model for performing 3D tongue animation. A skeletal chain of virtual bones is automatically generated depending on the geometric features of the 3D object, allowing each tongue segment to be easily manipulated by its corresponding parameters, thus leading to a very eye-pleasant and anatomically correct tongue animation. We also provide a very useful non-linear falloff method for defining the bone influence over its surrounding vertices and a novel mathematical model for performing the skeletal chain transformations with minimal tongue volume variation. Tongue animation is a key task for all visible speech researchers and is highly helpful to describe speech production and the articulation of phonemes.