Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Effects of betaine on growth, carcass characteristics, pork quality, and plasma metabolites of finishing pigs.

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of dietary betaine (0, 0.125, 0.250, or 0.500%) on growth, carcass traits, pork quality, plasma metabolites, and tissue betaine concentrations of cross-bred finishing pigs. Four replications of three pigs (two barrows and one gilt) each were used for each treatment. The basal diet contained 0.85 (69 to 88 kg BW) or 0.65% Lys (88 to 115 kg BW). Overall ADG and gain:feed were not affected (P > 0.10) by betaine, but overall ADFI was decreased (quadratic, P < 0.05; 0 vs betaine, P < 0.01) by betaine; pigs fed 0.250% betaine had the lowest ADFI. Loin muscle area, average back-fat, dressing percentage, percentage lean, total fat, lean:fat, and leaf fat weight were not affected (P > 0.10) by betaine. Tenth-rib backfat thickness was decreased (quadratic, P < 0.05; 0 vs betaine, P < 0.05); pigs fed 0.250% betaine had the lowest 10th-rib backfat thickness. Carcass length was increased (linear, P < 0.05; 0 vs betaine, P < 0.10) as the level of betaine was increased. Fat-free lean, lean gain per day, ham weight, ham fat-free lean, and ham percentage lean were increased (quadratic, P < 0.10), but percentage fat, total ham fat, percentage ham fat, and butt-fat thickness were decreased (quadratic, P < 0.10); these traits were respectively highest or lowest in pigs fed 0.250% betaine. Thaw loss and 24-h pH were increased (quadratic, P < 0.10; 0 vs betaine, P < 0.05) and cook loss was decreased (linear, P < 0.05) in pigs fed betaine. The CIE L* value for the biceps femoris was decreased (quadratic, P < 0.10; 0 vs betaine, P < 0.10); pigs fed 0.250% betaine had the lowest CIE L* value. Subjective color, firmness-wetness, marbling, percentage moisture and bound water of the loin muscle, and shear force were not affected (P > 0.10) by betaine. Betaine was not detectable (< 0.07 mg/g) in the loin muscle of pigs fed 0% betaine, but betaine was detectable and relatively constant in pigs fed 0.125, 0.250, or 0.500% betaine (0.22, 0.17, and 0.21 mg/g, respectively). Plasma urea N, total protein, albumin, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol concentrations were not affected (P > 0.10). Plasma total cholesterol (linear, P < 0.10) and NEFA (quadratic, P < 0.10) were increased in pigs fed betaine. Betaine improved carcass traits when provided at 0.250% of the diet and improved some aspects of pork quality.
Thymic Dysfunction in Histiocytosis‐X

In some patients with histiocytosis-X there is a deficiency of suppressor T cells, which is corrected in vitro by incubation with either crude calf thymic extract or thymostimulin. This finding suggests that a thymus deficiency could be involved in this disease. Low levels of serum thymic factor (FTS) are found in patients with histiocytosis-X. Their plasma contain factors capable of inhibiting biological activity of FTS in vitro. Elucidation of the mechanism by which FTS is inhibited would be helpful in understanding the immunological defect in histiocytosis-X. The presence of evidence of thymic dysfunction and the fact that patients respond to thymic hormone therapy suggest that histiocytosis-X could be due to a primary immunodeficiency syndrome. Thymulin, which stimulates the generation of suppressor T cells, could be of benefit in therapy.
Investigation of optimum pulse width of appled voltage for water treatment by pulsed streamer discharge in air spraying water droplets

We have studied the water treatment method of spraying the droplets of waste water into a pulse discharge space. In this method, we have been developing the pulse generator which realizes higher treatment efficiency. For that, the investigation of an optimum applied voltage from the pulse generator for the treatment is needed. In this paper, investigation of an optimum pulse width has been carried out by applying the voltage of different pulse widths. As sample water for the investigation, indigo carmine solution was used. The pulse widths of applied voltage was 40, 60 and 80 ns, and Those rIse time was 12, 19 and 32 ns, respectively. By the water treatment of the pulse width of 40 ns, indigo carmine was decomposed at lower energy than that of the other pulse width. From the result, generating of active species is considered to increase in early time of the discharge and to decrease with development of the discharge. Therefore it is expected that shorter pulse width realize higher treatment efficiency.
Purification and characterization of extracellular phospholipase A2 from peritoneal cavity of caseinate-treated rat.

Peritoneal exudate produced in rat injected with caseinate contained extracellular phospholipase A2. The activity required Ca2+ ion and had a pH optimum of 9 (Chang, H.W., Kudo, I., Hara, S., Karasawa, K., & Inoue, K. (1986) J. Biochem. 100, 1099-1101). This phospholipase A2 was purified about 14,000-fold to near homogeneity by the sequential use of column chromatography on Sephadex G-75, Toyopearl HW-65, and TSK ODS-120T reverse-phase HPLC. The final preparation showed a single protein band on SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and its molecular weight was estimated to be approximately 13,500. The enzyme hydrolyzed phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylserine (PS) more effectively than phosphatidylcholine (PC). When 1-acyl-2-[1-14C]inoleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospholipids were used as a substrate, the apparent Km values were 0.027 mM with PE, 0.032 mM with PS, and 0.1 mM with PC, and the Vmax values were 105 mumol/min/mg with PE, 71 mumol/min/mg with PC. The enzyme activity was inhibited by p-bromophenacyl bromide, dithiothreitol, and mepacrine. The amino acid sequence of the NH2-terminal portion and the amino acid composition of the purified enzyme were determined. They were different from those of rat pancreatic phospholipase A2, but very similar to those of phospholipase A2 secreted from rat platelets.
The relationship of mental and physical status in institutionalized aged persons.

Our results show that the mental and physical functional status of institutionalized aged persons are highly interrelated. The relationship is seen within each of the 3 types of institutions studied, and for all age groups. In the different types of institutions it was found that persons tended to have disabilities consistent with the type of services to be expected in the institution. Thus, patients in state hospitals had the largest number with poor mental functional status, while there was predominance of persons with poor physical functional status found in the nursing homes. Nevertheless, institutions of a given type differed widely from each other. Some homes for the aged and nursing homes had a larger proportion of persons with poor mental status than did some state hospitals, while some state hospitals and homes for the aged had more persons with poor physical functional status than did some nursing homes. Therefore, it is possible to make a more accurate prediction of a person's mental status on .
Fault macromodeling for analog/mixed-signal circuits

In this paper we propose an efficient fault macromodeling technique for analog/mixed-signal circuits. We formulate the fault macromodeling problem as a problem of deriving the macro parameter set B based on the performance parameter set P of the transistor-level faulty circuit. The fault macromodel is intended to be used for efficient macro-level fault simulation. In such applications, a common approach to speeding up the macromodeling process is to generate a large number of data pairs (P, B) (the training set) and interpolate an empirical mapping function B=F(P) based on the training set. In our technique, generation of each data pair requires only one run of macro-level simulation, as opposed to multiple runs of macro-level simulation required by iterative fault macromodeling techniques. We also propose a cross-correlation-based technique to select a subset of parameters from the high dimensional parameter set P to speed up function interpolation. We demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed fault macromodeling technique by showing some preliminary, experimental results on an industrial design.
Cathodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Children With Dystonia

Increased motor cortex excitability is a common finding in dystonia, and transcranial direct current stimulation can reduce motor cortex excitability. In an earlier study, we found that cathodal direct-current stimulation decreased motor overflow for some children with dystonia. To investigate this observation further, we performed a sham-controlled, double-blind, crossover study of 14 children with dystonia. We found a significant reduction in overflow following real stimulation, when participants performed the experimental task with the hand contralateral to the cathode. While these results suggest that cathodal stimulation may help some children to reduce involuntary overflow, the size of the effect is small. Further research will need to investigate ways to increase the magnitude of the effect of cathodal transcranial direct current stimulation.
3D Simulations of Farley-Buneman turbulence demonstrates anomalous electron heating

Field aligned currents flow from the magnetosphere to the E-region ionosphere where they drive auroral electrojets. These currents often cause Farley-Buneman (FB) instabilities to develop and become turbulent. These irregularities substantially affect ionospheric conductivity, temperatures, and VHF and UHF radio wave propagation. Many of the observed characteristics of radar measurements of this region result from the nonlinear behavior of this unstable plasma. While FB waves have been studied experimentally and theoretically for five decades, about fifteen years ago, numerical simulations became an important tool in exploring the nonlinear behavior of E-region instabilities. Parallel processing now allows Particle-In-Cell (PIC) codes, to to run simulations with enormous meshes in either 2-D or 3-D [1]. This talk will present recent 3-D PIC simulations showing anomalous electron heating due to FB turbulence, a phenomenon clearly observed by radars [2]. The resulting temperatures can rise over an order of magnitude (Fig. 1). These simulations also show the saturated amplitude of the waves; coupling between linearly growing modes and damped modes; the evolution of the system from shorter to longer wavelengths; and phase velocities close to the acoustic speed. These simulations reproduce many of the observational characteristics of type 1 radar echoes. As predicted by theory, the 3-D simulations show the development of modes with a small electric field component parallel to the geomagnetic field and this field causes the majority of the anomalous electron heating. 1. Electron temperatures elevated by simulated FB turbulence at ∼105km altitude. Both panels compare the evolution of three simulations driven by large-scale electric fields while holding all other parameters constant. Though the background neutral temperature was set at 300K, the plasma temperature was initialized to 1200K for computational reasons. Initially, the temperature drops as the plasma loses energy through collisions with neutrals then, as the instability evolves, the temperature rises primarily due to anomalous electron heating.
Interpersonal social responsibility model of service learning: A longitudinal study

Abstract Background: Service-learning (SL) is commonly used in Occupational Therapy (OT) programs worldwide as a community placement educational strategy. However, most SL models are not clearly defined in terms of both methodology and learning outcomes. Objectives: This longitudinal study explores a structured model of Service-Learning (Interpersonal Social Responsibility-Service Learning: ISR-SL) aimed towards the development of professional identity among OT students. Based on OT students experiences from the end of the course through later stages as mature students and professionals. Material and methods: A qualitative research design was used to explore the perceptions and experiences of 150 first, second, and third-year OT students and graduates who have participated in ISR-SL during their first academic year. Results: Our findings suggest that the structured, long-term relationship with a person with a disability in the natural environment, which is the core of the ISR-SL, allowed students to develop a professional identity based on seeing the person as a whole and recognizing his/her centrality in the therapeutic relationship. Conclusions and significance: This study suggests ISR-SL as future direction or next step for implementing SL in OT and other healthcare disciplines programs.
Study on boron doped silicon quantum dots superlattices for all-silicon tandem solar cells

Optimized chemical structure was proposed for boron-doped Si quantum dots superlattices. Boron-doped Si quantum dots superlattices were then synthesized by a co-sputtering technique, and characterized for their promising application in all-Si tandem solar cells. The formation of Si quantum dots was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. The effect of boron dopant concentration on the Si crystallization was investigated. Lateral resistivity of Si quantum dots superlattices was studied. The results showed that boron addition does not affect the quantum dot size, but significantly reduces the resistivity of Si quantum dots superlattices.
Left Ventricular Diastolic Dysfunction and Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Echocardiographic Studies

Objective: Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction is a common cardiac condition in obese individuals. An updated review and meta-analysis focusing on this issue is lacking, we analyzed the literatures in order to conduct comprehensive information on the left ventricular diastolic function changes, as assessed by echocardiography, associated to obesity. Methods: A literature search using the keywords 'left ventricular diastolic dysfunction', 'diastolic dysfunction', 'obesity', 'obese' 'body mass index' and 'echocardiography' was performed in order to identify relevant papers. Full articles published in English in peer-reviewed journals in past 20 years reporting studies in adult obese individuals were considered. Results: A total of 11 studies including 5171 participants (2764 adults are obese patients) were considered. Obesity was defined as a BMI of ≥30kg/m2.Meta-analysis of selected 11 studies (2764 obesity subjects and 2407 normal weight) found that there is no difference of peak late diastolic mitral flow velocity (A) and deceleration time of early diastolic flow wave (DT) between the two groups, while other related parameters such as peak late diastolic mitral flow velocity (A) and E/A ratio, isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT), early diastolic myocardial velocities (E') and E/E' ratio are significant different between obese individuals and non-obese controls, the values of A, IVRT and E/E' were higher in obesity group compared with that of in control group, while the values of E/A ratio and E' were lower in obesity group. Conclusions: Our study shows that left ventricular diastolic dysfunction is present in obese population, Body mass index was found as a significant predictor for DD.
Efficient Real-Time Correlator for LS Sequences

The cross-correlation function and the side-lobes of the auto-correlation function of LS codes are zero in a certain vicinity of the zero shift. Therefore, the effects of the Inter-Symbol- Interference and Multiple-Access-Interference that appears in CDMA and multi-sensor systems are mitigated. Conventionally, the detection of these sequences has been achieved by means of straight-forward matched-filter correlators. In this paper, a new correlator which significantly reduces the total number of operations to be performed is proposed, allowing real-time operation.
Algorithms for people re-identification from RGB-D videos exploiting skeletal information

In this thesis a novel methodology to face people re-identification problem is proposed. Re-identification is a complex research topic representing a fundamental issue especially for intelligent video surveillance applications. Its goal is to determine the occurrences of the same person in different video sequences or images, usually by choosing from a high number of candidates within a dataset
On the Classi(cid:28)cation of Dynamical Data Streams Using Novel (cid:16)Anti-Bayesian(cid:17) Techniques

The classi(cid:28)cation of dynamical data streams is among the most complex problems encountered in classi(cid:28)cation. This is, (cid:28)rstly, because the distribution of the data streams is non-stationary, and it changes without any prior (cid:16)warning(cid:17). Secondly, the manner in which it changes is also unknown. Thirdly, and more interestingly, the model operates with the assumption that the correct classes of previously-classi(cid:28)ed patterns become available at a juncture after their appearance. This paper pioneers the use of unreported novel schemes that can classify such dynamical data streams by invoking the recently-introduced (cid:16)Anti-Bayesian(cid:17) (AB) techniques. Contrary to the Bayesian paradigm, that compare the testing sample with the distribution’s central points, AB techniques are based on the information in the distant-from-the-mean samples. Most Bayesian approaches can be naturally extended to dynamical systems by dynamically tracking the mean of each class using, for example, the exponential moving average based estimator, or a sliding window estimator. The AB schemes introduced by Oommen et al., on the other hand, work with a radically di(cid:27)erent approach and with the non-central quantiles of the distributions. Surprisingly and counter-intuitively, the reported AB methods work equally or close-to-equally well to an optimal supervised Bayesian scheme on a host of accepted Pattern Recognition problems. This thus begs its natural extension to the unexplored arena of classi(cid:28)-cation for dynamical data streams. Naturally, for such an AB classi(cid:28)cation approach, we need to track the non-stationarity of the quantiles of the classes. To achieve this, in this paper, we develop an AB approach for the online classi(cid:28)cation
Novel Approach for Queue Management and Improvisation of QOS for Communication Networks

: Network resources are shared as needed by a community of users. Without effective traffic controls, networks are vulnerable to possible congestion when the offered traffic exceeds the network capacity, leading to serious deterioration of network performance. Network based congestion avoidance which involves managing the queues in the network devices is an integral part of any network. Most of the networks use Drop-Tail queue management where packets are dropped on queue overflow which is global synchronization problem. This packet loss results in increased overhead in terms of energy wasted to forward a packet which was dropped, additional energy required to retransmit this packet. Active Queue Management has been a solution to the global synchronization problem and it is a very active research area in networking flows. In order to stem the increasing packet loss rates caused by an exponential increase in network traffic, researchers have been considering the deployment of active queue management algorithms. Several AQM schemes were proposed to overcome congestion by effectively managing the queues. However, there are several drawbacks in each scheme and there is a need for AQM scheme that overcome all the drawbacks and effectively manages the queue thereby avoiding congestion. In this paper an Effective queue management strategy that manages the queue proactively and simple to implement is proposed and its performance is evaluated using ns-2.
Switchable multi-band coplanar antenna

A switchable microstrip patch antenna for multi-frequency operation is presented. The antenna is fed by coplanar waveguide via capacitive coupling slot. The antenna allows an easy reconfigurability of the frequency band of operation by incorporating switches in the coupling slot. The resonant frequency of the antenna can be adjusted by setting the switches on or off. The antenna is capable of switching between 1.6, 1.8, 2.0 and 2.4 GHz. Measurements show that the realized gain is 5.2, 4.4 and 4.9 dB for the 1.6, 2.0 and 2.4 GHz frequency bands respectively. Both simulation and measurement results indicate that the proposed antennas demonstrate very good impedance matching, stable radiation patterns and reasonable gain at all frequency bands.
Route-Planning Algorithms for Amusement-Park Navigation

This paper describes route-planning algorithms for navigation in amusement parks e.g. Disneyland. Unlike conventional shortest-path-finding used for traveling salesman problems, the authors provide several algorithms that consider waiting time estimates in real time, exploit the reservation facilities of an attraction such as Fastpass in Disneyland, and balance a series of enjoyment types such as excitement or relaxation. These features make the new shortest-path algorithms more flexible and dynamic for supporting the cognitive aspects of enjoyment. The authors developed a navigation tool as a Web application in which users select their attractions of interest and the application suggests reasonable and enjoyable routes. An experiment was conducted to demonstrate the performance of this application, focusing on well-known attractions in Tokyo Disneyland.
An automatic program suitable for on-wafer characterization and statistic analysis of microwave devices

A macro program based on Agilent IC-CAP software is developed for on-wafer characterization and statistic analysis of microwave devices. With the perfect combination of Cascade Nucleus software and the IC-CAP GUI (Graphical User Interface) technique in our program, multi-die, multi-type devices characterization and statistic analysis can be easily achieved to get the quantification information that is very important for device engineers, modeling engineers and circuit designers. Furthermore, automatic moving and probing can dramatically improve the measurement accuracy by eliminate the measurement error due to probing condition variation.
AN OPTICAL–NEAR-INFRARED OUTBURST WITH NO ACCOMPANYING γ-RAYS IN THE BLAZAR PKS 0208−512

We report the discovery of an anomalous flare in a bright blazar, namely, PKS 0208−512, one of the targets of the Yale/SMARTS optical–near-IR (OIR) monitoring program of Fermi blazars. We identify three intervals during which PKS 0208−512 undergoes outbursts at OIR wavelengths lasting for ≳3 months. Its brightness increases and then decreases again by at least 1 mag in these intervals. In contrast, the source undergoes bright phases in GeV energies lasting ≳1 month during intervals 1 and 3 only. The OIR outburst during interval 2 is comparable in brightness and temporal extent to the OIR flares during intervals 1 and 3, which do have γ-ray counterparts. By analyzing the γ-ray, OIR, and supporting multi-wavelength variability data in details, we speculate that the OIR outburst during interval 2 was caused by a change in the magnetic field without any change in the total number of emitting electrons or Doppler factor of the emitting region. Alternatively, it is possible that the location of the outburst in the jet during interval 2 was closer to the black hole where the jet is more compact and the bulk Lorentz factor of the material in the jet is smaller. We also discuss the complex OIR spectral behavior during these three intervals.