Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Multiprobe-Per-Collector Modulated Scatterer Technique for Microwave Tomography

Scattering probes with collector antennas can be utilized for microwave tomography (MWT) applications based on the modulated scatterer technique. Using this technique, we previously demonstrated a novel tomography system that utilizes a single printed-wire probe in front of each collector of a multicollector MWT system. Each collector is implemented as a multilayer Vivaldi antenna. In this letter, the number of collector antennas is reduced while maintaining the number of probes. This results in a nonuniform distribution of probes with respect to the collectors and requires special calibration techniques to infer the scattered-field at the probe location. The advantages of using such a configuration for MWT are investigated. Image reconstructions for a number of targets using data collected from this system are shown and compared to results obtained from data collected using a standard MWT system that uses only the Vivaldi antennas. It is shown that the new configuration successfully extracts useful data at the locations of the probes, resulting in good tomographic constructions.
Object-Oriented Software Measures Clark Archer

This paper provides an overview of the merging of a paradigm and a process, the object-oriented paradigm and the software product measurement process. A taxonomy of object-oriented software measures is created, and existing object-oriented software measures are enumerated, evaluated, and placed in taxa. This report includes an extensive bibliography of the current object-oriented measures that apply to the design and implementation phases of a software project. Examples of computation of representative measures are included.
Quantifying Head Impacts in Collegiate Lacrosse

Background: Concussion and repetitive head impact in sports has increased interest and concern for clinicians, scientists, and athletes. Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the United States, but the burden of head impact in lacrosse is unknown. Purpose: The goal of this pilot study was to quantify head impact associated with practicing and playing collegiate lacrosse while subjects were fitted with wearable accelerometers. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: In a single year, a collegiate cohort of 14 women’s and 15 men’s lacrosse players wore mastoid-patch accelerometers to measure the frequency and severity of head impacts during official practices and games. Average impact severity, mean number of impacts, and cumulative acceleration were evaluated, stratified by sport and event type. Results: Men’s and women’s collegiate lacrosse players did not significantly differ in the number of head impacts received during games (11.5 for men vs 9.2 for women) or practices (3.1 vs 3.1). Men’s lacrosse players had significantly higher average head acceleration per impact during games compared with women (21.1g vs 14.7g) but not during practices (21.3g vs 18.1g). For both men and women, more impacts occurred during games than during practices (men, 11.5 vs 3.1; women, 9.2 vs 3.1), but impact severity did not significantly differ between events for either sport (men, 21.1g vs 21.3g; women, 14.7g vs 18.1g). Conclusion: The study data suggest a higher impact burden during games compared with practices, but this effect is driven by the quantity rather than severity of impacts. In contrast, sex-based effects in impact burden are driven by average impact severity rather than quantity. Data collected from larger multisite trials and/or different age groups could be used to inform ongoing debates, including headgear and practice regulations, that might appreciably affect the burden of head impacts in lacrosse. Clinical Relevance: While most head impacts do not result in a clinical diagnosis of concussion, evidence indicates that subconcussive head impacts may increase susceptibility to concussion and contribute to long-term neurodegeneration.
A New Profile Learning Model for Recommendation System based on Machine Learning Technique

Recommender systems (RSs) have been used to successfully address the information overload problem by providing personalized and targeted recommendations to the end users. RSs are software tools and techniques providing suggestions for items to be of use to a user, hence, they typically apply techniques and methodologies from Data Mining. The main contribution of this paper is to introduce a new user profile learning model to promote the recommendation accuracy of vertical recommendation systems. The proposed profile learning model employs the vertical classifier that has been used in multi classification module of the Intelligent. Adaptive Vertical Recommendation (IAVR) system to discover the user’s area of interest, and then build the user’s profile accordingly. Experimental results have proven the effectiveness of the proposed profile learning model, which accordingly will promote the recommendation accuracy
Understanding and Modeling the Human Driver

Summary This paper examines the role of the human driver as the primary control element within the traditional driver-vehicle system. Lateral and longitudinal control tasks such as path-following, obstacle avoidance, and headway control are examples of steering and braking activities performed by the human driver. Physical limitations as well as various attributes that make the human driver unique and help to characterize human control behavior are described. Example driver models containing such traits and that are commonly used to predict the performance of the combined driver-vehicle system in lateral and longitudinal control tasks are identified.
Cyclostationary signals in multirate linear systems

This paper presents a systematic approach to use time frequency representation (TFR) for the analysis of cyclostationary signals in multirate linear systems. We exploit the ability of blocking operation to perform the analysis in a simple yet efficient manner. We illustrate the strength of TFR for performing such analysis. The basic idea is — TFR of a cyclostationary signal is directly related to the rows of the power spectrum matrix of its blocked version. We present examples including nonuniform filter bank to highlight the capabilities of the analysis.
Triplet Pregnancy Outcome Experience Following Ovulation Induction Treatment of A Hypogonadotropic Hypogonadism Patient

Hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH) is the situation of lack of the Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) release from hypothalamus or the inadequate response of the hypophysis gland to the GnRH stimulation. Congenital HH is a rare clinical situation which exhibits itself with low sex hormone levels. Patients mostly present with amenorrhea, delayed puberty, infertility. Pregnancy can be achieved by ensuring ovulation with GnRH or gonadotropin replacement. The multiple pregnancy rates following ovulation have been reported between 20% and 50%. Diabetes, anemia, amniotic fluid abnormalities, pregnancy-related hypertension, eclampsia, cervical insufficiency, placenta previa, the use of tocolysis, twin to twin transfusion, preterm and cesarean delivery rates are increased among high order pregnancies.
Self management beliefs--attitudes and behaviour of adults with severe life threatening asthma requiring an admission to hospital.

BACKGROUND Adults who have had an admission for severe life threatening asthma are at high risk of future attacks or death. Optimal self management is the key to reducing this risk but relies on people recognising the severity of symptoms and engaging in specific health care behaviour. METHODS We used a focus group to examine self management beliefs, attitudes and behaviours in five adults admitted to hospital for asthma. RESULTS There were a number of themes. Patients delayed seeking medical attention until asthma symptoms were severe despite ownership of a peak expiratory flow meter, written plan, or experience of previous attack. DISCUSSION Insight into the significance of the severity of symptoms and need to change self management behaviour in response to symptoms is key to reducing the risk of future attacks. The general practitioner has a key role in determining and addressing self management behaviour and attitudes that place patients at risk.
RGD1 genetically interacts with MID2 and SLG1, encoding two putative sensors for cell integrity signalling in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The RGD1 gene was identified during systematic genome sequencing of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To further understand Rgd1p function, we set up a synthetic lethal screen for genes interacting with RGD1. Study of one lethal mutant made it possible to identify the SLG1 and MID2 genes. The gene SLG1/HCS77/WSC1 was mutated in the original synthetic lethal strain, whereas MID2/SMS1 acted as a monocopy suppressor. The SLG1 gene has been described to be an upstream component in the yeast PKC pathway and encodes a putative cell surface sensor for the activation of cell integrity signalling. First identified by viability loss of shmoos after pheromone exposure, and since found in different genetic screens, MID2 was recently reported as also encoding an upstream activator of the PKC pathway. The RGD1 gene showed genetic interactions with both sensors of cell integrity pathway. The rgd1 slg1 synthetic lethality was rescued by osmotic stabilization, as expected for mutants altered in cell wall integrity. The slight viability defect of rgd1 in minimal medium, which was exacerbated by mid2, was not osmoremediated. As for mutants altered in PKC pathway, the accumulation of small‐budded dead cells in slg1, rgd1 and mid2 after heat shock was prevented by 1 M sorbitol. In addition, the rgd1 strain also displayed dead shmoos after pheromone treatment, like mid2. Taken together, the present results indicate close functional links between RGD1, MID2 and SLG1 and suggest that RGD1 and MID2 interact in a cell integrity signalling functionally linked to the PKC pathway. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bisulfite and sulfite as derivatives of sulfur dioxide alters biomechanical behaviors of airway smooth muscle cells in culture

Abstract Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is a common air pollutant that triggers asthmatic symptoms, but its toxicological mechanisms are not fully understood. Specifically, it is unclear how SO2 in vivo affects airway smooth muscle (ASM) cells of which the mechanics is known to ultimately mediate airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) – a hallmark feature of asthma. To this end, we investigated the effects of bisulfite/sulfite (1:3 M/M in neutral fluid to simulate the in vivo derivatives of inhaled SO2 in the airways), on the viability, migration, stiffness and contractility of ASM cells cultured in vitro. The results showed that bisulfite/sulfite consistently increased viability, migration, F-actin intensity and stiffness of ASM cells in similar fashion as concentration increasing from 10−4 to 10−1 mmol/L. However, bisulfite/sulfite increased the ASM cell contractility induced by KCl only at the concentration between 10−4 and 10−3 mmol/L (p < 0.05), while having no consistent effect on that induced by histamine. At the concentration of 100 mmol/L, bisulfite/sulfite became acutely toxic to the ASM cells. Taken together, the data suggest that SO2 derivatives at low levels in vivo may directly increase the mass, stiffness and contractility of ASM cells, which may help understand the mechanism in which specific air pollutants contribute in vivo to the pathogenesis of asthma.
Infrequency of detection of particle-associated MSRV/HERV-W RNA in the synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVES To determine whether the recently identified multiple sclerosis-associated retrovirus, MSRV, is detectable in the serum and synovial fluid of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was used to seek evidence of particle-associated MSRV/HERV-W RNA in the plasma and synovial fluid of patients with RA and controls. Stringent precautions were taken to avoid detection of contaminating human genomic DNA and cellular RNA sequences. RESULTS Thirty-seven plasma samples were tested (20 from RA patients and 17 from controls) but none had detectable MSRV/HERV-W RNA. Synovial fluid samples were available from nine patients with RA and 10 controls. Particle-associated MSRV/HERV-W RNA was reproducibly detected in two of nine synovial fluid samples from RA patients and in one control sample. The identity of RT-PCR products was confirmed by sequencing. CONCLUSION MSRV/HERV-W RNA sequences are detectable in the synovial fluid of a small proportion of RA patients, but this phenomenon may not be specific to RA.
Impact of Behavioral Forces on Knowledge Sharing in an Extended Enterprise System of Systems

An extended enterprise is both a system of systems (SoS) and a complex dynamical system. We characterize government-run joint and interagency efforts as “government extended enterprises” (GEEs) comprising sets of effectively autonomous organizations that must cooperate voluntarily to achieve desired GEE-level outcomes. Our research investigates the proposition that decision makers can leverage four “canonical forces” to raise the levels of both internal GEE cooperation and SoS-level operational effectiveness, changing the GEE's status as indicated by the "SoS differentiating characteristics" detailed by Boardman and Sauser. Two prior papers described the concepts involved, postulated the relationships among them, and discussed the n-player, iterated "Stag Hunt" methodology applied to execute a real proof-of-concept case (the U.S. Counterterrorism Enterprise's response to the Christmas Day Bomber) in an agent-based model. This paper presents preliminary conclusions from data analysis conducted as a result of ongoing testing of
Estimation of 3D cardiac deformation using spatio-temporal elastic registration of non-scanconverted ultrasound data

Current ultrasound methods for measuring myocardial strain are often limited to measurements in one or two dimensions. Spatio-temporal elastic registration of 3D cardiac ultrasound data can however be used to estimate the 3D motion and full 3D strain tensor. In this work, the spatio-temporal elastic registration method was validated for both non-scanconverted and scanconverted images. This was done using simulated 3D pyramidal ultrasound data sets based on a thick-walled deforming ellipsoid and an adapted convolution model. A B-spline based frame-to-frame elastic registration method was applied to both the scanconverted and non-scanconverded data sets and the accuracy of the resulting deformation fields was quantified. The mean accuracy of the estimated displacement was very similar for the scanconverted and non-scanconverted data sets and thus, it was shown that 3D elastic registration to estimate the cardiac deformation from ultrasound images can be performed on non-scanconverted images, but that avoiding of the scanconversion step does not significantly improve the results of the displacement estimation.
Atomic-scale modeling of source-to-drain tunneling in ultimate Schottky barrier double-gate MOSFETs

The transport properties of single conduction channel Schottky barrier double-gate MOSFETs have been investigated by self-consistently solving the 2D Poisson equation with the Schrodinger equation, expressed in tight-binding using the Green's function formalism. In this atomic-scale approach, the source-channel-drain axis of the transistor has been modeled by an atomic linear chain, sandwiched between two silicon oxides and gate electrodes. The dependence of source-to-drain tunneling with channel length and gate electrode workfunction as well as its impact on device characteristics have been carefully investigated. The results show that source-to-drain tunneling does set an ultimate scaling limit well below 10 nm.
IC14, an Anti-CD14 Antibody, Inhibits Endotoxin-Mediated Symptoms and Inflammatory Responses in Humans1

CD14 is a receptor for cell wall components of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria that has been implicated in the initiation of the inflammatory response to sepsis. To determine the role of CD14 in LPS-induced effects in humans, 16 healthy subjects received an i.v. injection of LPS (4 ng/kg) preceded (−2 h) by i.v. IC14, a recombinant chimeric mAb against human CD14, at a dose of 1 mg/kg over 1 h, or placebo. In subjects receiving IC14, saturation of CD14 on circulating monocytes and granulocytes was >90% at the time of LPS injection. IC14 attenuated LPS-induced clinical symptoms and strongly inhibited LPS-induced proinflammatory cytokine release, while only delaying the release of the anti-inflammatory cytokines soluble TNF receptor type I and IL-1 receptor antagonist. IC14 also inhibited leukocyte activation, but more modestly reduced endothelial cell activation and the acute phase protein response. The capacity of circulating monocytes and granulocytes to phagocytose Escherichia coli was only marginally reduced after infusion of IC14. These data provide the first proof of principle that blockade of CD14 is associated with reduced LPS responsiveness in humans in vivo.
Hybrid Real-Time and Preset Processing for Indoor Radio Geo-Location in Dense Multipath Environments

The existence of various geo-location applications and their accuracy requirements enhance the necessities for suitable processing techniques to solve the indoor geo-location problems. Since, Impulse Radio Ultra-Wideband (IR-UWB) signals have very short duration pulses; they can provide very accurate ranging and geo-location capability in short range indoor radio propagation environments. Our research puts emphasis on indoor geo-location using UWB signaling considering both of non line-of-sight (NLOS) and LOS radio propagation environments. In this paper, we introduce and investigate a noble approach which makes a hybrid combination of Channel Impulse Response (CIR)-based finger-printing (FP) method with polygonal arrangement of reference nodes (or tags) and an iterative-TOA based real-time geo-location method using UWB signaling for wireless ad hoc networks. The proposed hybrid approach assures significant improvement in positioning accuracy compared to TOA only, FP only and conventional iterative-TOA geo-location methods by mitigating NLOS errors effectively in the indoor environment. Besides, this hybrid approach minimizes the calculation complexity of the FP method while maintaining improved geo-location accuracy in the dense multipath propagation environment.
Understanding the Role of Government and Buyers in Supplier Energy Efficiency Initiatives

In environmental management, companies must respond to myriad needs and pressures from stakeholders such as buyers, regulators, communities and NGOs. While researchers recognize that these stakeholder entities have different saliency and influences over a focal firm, the influences from multiple stakeholders are often aggregated as a single factor, overlooking differences among them. Stakeholders may have competing demands: A buyer may consider only potential environment-cost trade-offs while the government balances the environment, increased cost-competitive manufacturing and job creation. Such demands compete for the same resources within the supplier’s organization, forcing suppliers to satisfice and compromise. This paper qualitatively examines Chinese suppliers’ responses to requests to adopt energy efficiency initiatives in their production plants by two of their most critical stakeholders: buyers and the government. We identify three categories of energy efficiency (EE) initiatives implemented by the suppliers and find that their implementations are contingent on their ownership characteristics and value alignment with these two stakeholders. Further, we find that suppliers interpret buyers’ motives regarding EE in the context of buyer-supplier relationships and environmental positioning of the buyers’ products. These findings are articulated in a set of propositions that are introduced based on our analysis of these case study data.
Diagnostic tests for male erectile dysfunction revisited. Committee Consensus Report of the International Consultation in Sexual Medicine.

INTRODUCTION The Committee on "Clinical Evaluation and Scales in Sexual Medicine" of the third International Consultation in Sexual Medicine reviewed current practice and new developments in the field of physiological testing in male erectile dysfunction (ED). AIM To provide an overview of current practice and new developments in the field of diagnostic testing in male ED. METHODS The Pubmed literature was reviewed. RESULTS Since the 1980s of the last century, a broad array of specialized physiological tests has been used for assessing ED. The notion that ED often is an (early) symptom of generalized cardiovascular disease and the introduction of oral pharmacological therapies that are effective irrespective of etiology has reduced the application of the "classical" tests to a minimum and has shifted the scope toward tests with demonstrated reliability in cardiovascular medicine. CONCLUSIONS (i) The clinical utility of specialized tests in the evaluation of male ED is limited to a small minority of men; (ii) the scope of physiological testing has shifted toward tests with demonstrated reliability in cardiovascular medicine.
On the study of nonlinear left-handed metamaterials for harmonic and subharmonic generation

Nonlinear transmission lines (NL-TL) are used extensively for harmonic generation and pulse shaping. In this paper, we investigate the theoretical behaviours of harmonic and subharmonic generation based on left-handed (LH) NL-TL. The nonlinear elements in our investigation are back-to-back varactors, resulting in the absence of a biasing circuit. The nonlinear left- handed unit cell consists of series varactors and shunt inductors. The simulation results show that the frequency tripler can achieve 25.5 % conversion efficiency when driven by a 20 dBm sinusoidal source at 0.8 GHz. The 3-dB operation bandwidth of the tripler is 180 MHz. In the case of the frequency divider 96.5 % conversion efficiency for f/sub 0//2, where f/sub 0/ is 2.2 GHz, can be achieved. Both circuits examined have the same Bragg cut-off frequency, f/sub B/=261.7 MHz. The goal of this research is to acquire useful information on the performance of LH transmission lines and their advantages (if any) compared to conventional right-handed (RH) ones when it comes to circuit applications.
Assessing and predicting successful tube placement outcomes in ALS patients

This study reviews feeding tube placement outcomes in 69 ALS outpatients seen at an outpatient interdisciplinary ALS clinic in British Columbia, Canada. The objective was to determine at which point the risks outweigh the benefits of tube placement by reviewing outcomes against parameters of respiratory function, nutritional status and speech and swallowing deterioration. The study was a retrospective review of tube placements between January 2000 and 2005, analysing data on respiratory function (forced vital capacity and respiratory status), weight change from usual body weight (UBW) and speech/swallowing deterioration using ALS Severity Score ratings (Hillel et al., 1989) at time of tube placement. Results show a statistically significant association between nutritional status and successful tube placement outcomes (p=0.003), and none between respiratory status, speech/swallowing variables, or number of deteriorated variables in each patient. Study findings were impacted by lack of available respiratory data. The only study variable that predicted successful tube placement outcome was a body weight greater than or equal to 74% UBW at time of tube placement. In the absence of access to respiratory testing, the relatively simple assessment of weight may assist patients and caregivers in appropriate decisions around tube placement.