Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 2.4-GHz printed meander-line antenna for USB WLAN with notebook-PC housing

A 2.4-GHz meander-line antenna printed on a USB-WLAN card is presented for WLAN applications. The HFSS 3-D EM simulator is employed for design simulation. The printed meander-line antenna is realized on a FR-4 PCB substrate. The measured VSWR is less than 2 from 2.4 to 2.5 GHz. Besides different orientations, the meander-line antenna printed on a simulated USB-WLAN card was attached to the side wall of a notebook-PC to investigate the PC housing effects on the antenna radiation patterns.
Alternative Splicing Gives Rise to Different Isoforms of the Neurospora crassa Tob55 Protein That Vary in Their Ability to Insert β-Barrel Proteins Into the Outer Mitochondrial Membrane

Tob55 is the major component of the TOB complex, which is found in the outer membrane of mitochondria. A sheltered knockout of the tob55 gene was developed in Neurospora crassa. When grown under conditions that reduce the levels of the Tob55 protein, the strain exhibited a reduced growth rate and mitochondria isolated from these cells were deficient in their ability to import β-barrel proteins. Surprisingly, Western blots of wild-type mitochondrial proteins revealed two bands for Tob55 that differed by ∼4 kDa in their apparent molecular masses. Sequence analysis of cDNAs revealed that the tob55 mRNA is alternatively spliced and encodes three isoforms of the protein, which are predicted to contain 521, 516, or 483 amino acid residues. Mass spectrometry of proteins isolated from purified outer membrane vesicles confirmed the existence of each isoform in mitochondria. Strains that expressed each isoform of the protein individually were constructed. When cells expressing only the longest form of the protein were grown at elevated temperature, their growth rate was reduced and mitochondria isolated from these cells were deficient in their ability to assembly β-barrel proteins.
A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF INHIBITIVE CASTING AS AN ADJUNCT TO PHYSIOTHERAPY FOR CEREBRAL‐PALSIED CHILDREN

The effect of a three‐week course of inhibitive casting and neurodevelopmental therapy on the static muscle tonus, developmental skills, passive range of ankle dorsiflexion and gait pattern was determined in 32 cerebral‐palsied children. Two weeks after treatment, passive range of ankle dorsiflexion and foot‐floor contact in walking had improved significantly but there was no significant change in the static muscle tone or developmental skills. After five months the improvements in ankle dorsiflexion and walking pattern were no longer evident. Further objective studies to determine the effect of ‘inhibitive casting’ are necessary before the modality is used indiscriminately.
Effects of Enucleation on High‐Affinity Binding Sites in Chick Optic Tecta

Abstract: The effect of unilateral eye extirpation on the development of the chick optic tectum has been studied in both the embryo and the newly hatched chick. Although the prevention of normal afferentation of the embryonic tectum retarded its growth, there appeared to be a significant increase of muscarinic acetylcholine binding site in the noninnervated tectum. This phenomenon was repeated also in the posthatch denervated system wherein the functioning optic nerve is severed. A significant increase in the number of binding sites as well as reduced dissociation constant of the interactions of this receptor with [3H]quinuclindinyl benzilate was found in the deafferented optic tectum. This may suggest the presence of a denervation‐supersensitivity‐like modulation. Similar increases were not detected with other binding sites studied in either the noninnervated embryonic or deafferented posthatch optic lobes. The possibility that acetylcholine is a primary neurotransmitter of the optic system is discussed.
Use of symmetric rank-one Hessian update in molecular geometry optimization

The use of the symmetric rank-one Hessian update and the Ž . Broyden]Fletcher]Goldfarb]Shano BFGS update formula are considered in an ab initio molecular geometry optimization algorithm. It is noted that the symmetric rank-one Hessian update has an advantage when compared with the BFGS update formula and this advantage must be more evident in the optimization of molecular geometry, because the total energy surface is a near-quadratic function with a small nonlinearity close to a minimum point. The results obtained in geometry optimization of a test group of molecules support this proposal and show that the use of the symmetric rank-one Hessian update formula permits reduction of the number of energy and gradient evaluations needed to locate a minimum on the energy surface. Q 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Comput Chem 19: 1877]1886, 1998
Relevance of EORTC Criteria for the Diagnosis of Invasive Aspergillosis in HIV-Infected Patients, and Survival Trends Over a 20-Year Period in France.

BACKGROUND Before the advent of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), roughly 50% of cases of invasive aspergillosis (IA) associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection involved individuals without classical predisposing host factors, and the median survival time was <4 months after diagnosis. We examined if the situation evolved over time using the revised European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Mycoses Study Group (EORTC) definition and analyzed survival trends after diagnosis over 20 years. METHODS A data review committee evaluated 342 medical records that mentioned IA in the French Hospital Database on HIV. Validated cases were classified as fulfilling the EORTC criteria or otherwise as "HIV-related IA. " Three periods were analyzed: pre-cART (before 1996), cART era prevoriconazole (1996-2001), and 2002-2011. RESULTS Among 242 validated cases of IA, 124 (51%) fulfilled the EORTC criteria (EORTC-IA) and 118 (49%) were classified as "HIV-related," with similarly low CD4 cell counts in both groups. The proportion of EORTC-IA cases remained stable across the 3 periods (50%, 48%, and 54%, respectively). The 3-month survival rate improved after the advent of cART (38% vs 69%), with no difference between EORTC-IA and HIV-related IA (hazard ratio [HR], 1.2 95% confidence interval [CI] {0.7-1.8}). Voriconazole exposure decreased mortality in 2002-2011 (HR, 0.1 95% CI [0.01-0.8]). CONCLUSIONS In the cART era, EORTC criteria, developed for use in hematology/oncology, still applied to only half the cases diagnosed among HIV-infected patients. A rapid diagnosis of IA is paramount to improve survival. For patients who do not fulfill the EORTC definition, we suggest that the addition of "HIV infected with a CD4 count <100 cells/µL" to the EORTC host criteria be validated.
In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of AM-715, a New Nalidixic Acid Analog

AM-715 [1-ethyl-6-fluoro-1,4-dihydro-4-oxo-7-(1-piperazinyl)-3-quinolinecarboxylic acid] is a new nalidixic acid analog. AM-715 has a broad spectrum of antibacterial activity against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. The antibacterial activity of AM-715 was greater than those of pipemidic acid and nalidixic acid. AM-715 had higher antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa than did gentamicin. Most nalidixic acid-resistant bacteria were susceptible to AM-715, and cross-resistance was not observed between AM-715 and various antibiotics. The minimal concentration of AM-715 required to inhibit the growth of 75% of the total number of clinical isolates was as follows: Escherichia coli, 0.04 μg/ml; Klebsiella pneumoniae, 0.1 μg/ml; Serratia marcescens, 0.88 μg/ml; Enterobacter spp. , 0.076 μg/ml; Staphylococcus aureus, 1.10 μg/ml; P. aeruginosa, 0.38 μg/ml; and nalidixic acid-resistant strains of gram-negative bacteria, 0.62 μg/ml. AM-715 at minimal inhibitory concentrations or at slightly higher concentrations had bactericidal activity against various species of bacteria. The effect of inoculum sizes on minimal inhibitory concentrations and minimal bactericidal concentrations of AM-715 against gram-negative bacteria was smaller than on those of pipemidic acid and nalidixic acid. The dose-response curve of AM-715 indicated a steep gradient, and the 50% inhibited doses of AM-715 were 0.014 μg/ml against E. coli ML4707 and 0.21 μg/ml against P. aeruginosa NC-5.
Interference of chirp sequence radars by OFDM radars at 77 GHz

Radar sensors are common devices in daily traffic, especially for driver assistance and automotive safety systems. A high sensor density increases the probability of interferences, especially when the sensors occupy a large radar bandwidth. Many current sensors, e.g. chirp sequence radars, rely on frequency modulation schemes. A promising future radar concept applies orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). This paper investigates the interference effect of an OFDM radar on a chirp sequence radar. Potential interference levels are derived and the influence of modulation parameters is evaluated with simulations.
SongRecommend: From summarization to recommendation

In recent years, the availability of too much information has become a fact of life for anybody connected with the Internet. The same is true for music: because of the penetration of portable devices and the availability of millions of tracks on the web, individual music collections have become unwieldy. Users need tools to help search their own song collections, and to recommend songs they may be interested in. Whereas recommendation systems have been developed for a variety of products, a music recommendation system presents special challenges, including the ability to recommend individual songs, as opposed to entire albums, even if only full album reviews are available on-line. SongRecommend, our music recommendation system, combines information extraction and generation techniques to produce summaries of reviews of individual songs from album reviews. We present a number of evaluations for SongRecommend: intrinsic evaluations of the extraction components, and of the informativeness of the summaries; and a user study of the impact of the song review summaries on users’ decision-making processes. When presented with the summary, users were able to make quicker decisions, and their choices were more varied. Whereas the smaller size of the summary has an impact on time-on-task, users do not appear to choose a specific recommendation only based on number of words. Our work demonstrates that state-of-the-art techniques in Natural Language Processing can be integrated into an effective end-to-end system.
Routing for Data-Collection in Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we focus on Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) in a more realistic case than classical studies and previous works: we consider wireless sensor nodes having different transmission ranges according to the environment and/or to the wireless chipset. The main consequence of this heterogeneity is the existence of asymmetric links. Such links in a WSN degrade the performance of most protocols which have not been designed to support this heterogeneity and to deal with asymmetric links: so, mainly, these links are pruned. Under this assumption, we propose a routing protocol for data collection from sensors nodes to the sink node in heterogeneous WSNs. Our proposal detects and takes benefit from asymmetric links caused by this heterogeneity. Our proposal, denoted MURA, (1) provides a high delivery ratio, (2) reduces the number of duplicated packets and (3) reduces the number of hop counts by exploiting the asymmetric links.
Modeling the unilateral multi-part strategic withholding in electricity markets

Modeling and predicting the exercise of market power is an important problem for modern electricity markets. A change in the generation mix and an evolvement of bidding procedures give ascent to a variety of new types of strategic behavior involving elaborate strategies with unconventional strategic variables. In this paper we show how it is important to consider all parameters of the bid to perform a sound market power assessment. We propose a bi-level model of a profit-maximizing decision maker bidding to the electricity market. A company, owning a portfolio of generating units, can strategically choose a price offer, capacity and a ramp rate of its units. We show that withholding the flexibility of the sources causes considerable market power costs. The strategic decision of the company is followed by the optimal dispatch, where the market price is calculated. The problem is formulated as a mathematical program with equilibrium constraints (MPEC) and recast as a single-stage mixed-integer linear programming problem (MILP). Developed model is applied to a 24-node IEEE test system to highlight the withholding and demonstrate the cost of market power.
Recombinant soluble thrombomodulin: coagulation takes another chance to reduce sepsis mortality

The striking coagulopathy in patients with severe sepsis and the increasing insight into the intricate link between inflammation and coagulation has been an inspiration for many researchers and pharmaceutical companies to explore potential therapeutic interventions for severe sepsis [1]. Indeed, in view of the high incidence of severe sepsis and sepsis mortality ranging from 20 to 50%, there is a urgent need for better treatment options [2]. As dysfunctional physiological anticoagulant regulators, such as antithrombin, activated protein C, and tissue factor pathway inhibitor, were shown to be key players in the sepsis-associated activation of coagulation, and animal studies supported the hypothesis that restoration of these pathways resulted in attenuation of coagulopathy and organ dysfunction and reduced mortality, large clinical studies were performed to establish the beneficial effect of these interventions in patients with severe sepsis [2-5]. Although some of these studies demonstrated some advantage in subgroups of patients with most extreme coagulopathies an overall reduction in mortality was not confirmed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Glucose uptake and ornithine decarboxylase activity in tetradecanoyl phorbol acetate non‐proliferative variants

The potent tumor promoter 12‐0‐tetradecanoyl phorbol‐13‐acetate (TPA) is alos an excellent mitogen for 3T3 cells. We have previously isolated two independent variants, 3T3‐TNR‐2 and 3T3‐TNR‐9, that are unable to divide in response to TPA (Butler‐Gralla and Herschman, 1981). We have now tested tow components of the pleiotypic response, elevation of 2‐deoxyglucose uptake and ornithine decarboxylase induction, in these cells. Basal levels of 2‐deoxyglucose uptake were nearly tenfold higher in confluent 3T3‐TNR‐2 and 3T3‐TNR‐9 cells than in 3T3 cells. In contrast, basal ornithine decarboxylase levels were five‐ to tenfold lower in the variants. TPA stimulation of 2‐deoxyglucose uptake was as great in absolute terms in the variant cell lines as that of 3T3 cells but was only half that observed with serum. TPA was unable to induce any elevation of ornithine decarboxylase in 3T3‐TNR‐9 cells. treated with TPA, the maximal specific activity in the variant was less than the unstimulated value for 3T3 cells.
Economic Valuation as a Framework Incentive to Enforce Conservation

A Protected Area (PA) is an “area of land and/or sea especially dedicated to the protection and maintenance of biological diversity, and of natural and associated cultural resources, and managed through legal or other effective means” [1]. In this paper biological diversity means “. the dynamic network of biological, chemical, and physical interactions that sustain a community and allow it to respond to changes in environmental conditions” (in [2], p. 41). Consequently PA means biological diversity conservation, or ecosystem conservation as a whole, with their geographical, biological and different types of resilience to different types of human activities resulting pressures. By adopting this definition we will be following the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity that indicates the importance of looking at biodiversity conservation under an ecosystem approach rather than focusing on the individual components within the ecosystems.
Significantly reduced cytochrome P450 3A4 expression and activity in liver from humans with diabetes mellitus

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Patients with diabetes mellitus require pharmacotherapy with numerous medications. However, the effect of diabetes on drug biotransformation is not well understood. Our goal was to investigate the effect of diabetes on liver cytochrome P450 3As, the most abundant phase I drug‐metabolizing enzymes in humans.
Assessment of Economic Impacts of Vehicle Miles Traveled Fee for Passenger Vehicles in Nevada

This study evaluated the effectiveness and equity of a fee for vehicle miles traveled (VMT) for passenger vehicles in Nevada. In the evaluation of the fee's effectiveness, the collection capabilities, as well as the fee's impact on the number of miles users drove, were considered. Equity was evaluated by considering the impact of the VMT fee on various population groups on the basis of socioeconomics, demographics, household type, location, and ownership of fuel-efficient vehicles. To estimate the impacts on various VMT fees, a linear regression model was developed with the use of data from the 2009 National Household Travel Survey, which provided a mechanism to estimate VMT in Nevada as a function of the cost to drive, among other characteristics. The effectiveness and the equity of two alternative VMT fees were compared with the existing fuel tax system. These fees were calculated on the basis of the average fuel efficiency of vehicles in Nevada and the historical revenue from the state fuel tax. In general, a VMT fee of 3.3 cents per mile seemed to be more effective than both the existing fuel tax and a VMT fee of 2.91 cents per mile. Although the 3.3 cents per mile fee had a slightly greater impact on various population groups, its equitable distribution of the tax burden among 71.1% of households created a small average cost increase of just 0.37% per household. Thus, a 3.3 cents per mile fee would provide the necessary revenue without significantly affecting Nevada households.
Kinetic Modeling of Continuous Flow Peritoneal Dialysis

Kinetic models have been derived for analysis of the effects on peritoneal urea clearance (Kp) of continuous single‐pass flow of fresh peritoneal dialysate and continuous flow of peritoneal dialysate recirculating through an external dialyzer. Generalized solution of the models shows that both predict Kp to be a well‐defined function of the peritoneal mass transfer coefficient (MTC) and the dialysance (D) of the external dialyzer, while the MTC is a function of the rate and distribution of dialysate flow. Thus the models should be useful to guide studies to optimize CFPD. Analysis of reported in vivo data indicate that with dialysate flow rate and D both in the range of 200 ml/min, MTC levels of 60–70 ml/min and Kp levels of 50 ml/min can be achieved. If the model predictions are verified in vivo, 8‐hour overnight CFPD 6 nights/week could provide the average‐size anephric patient a weekly stdKt/V of 3.2 which is competitive with daily hemodialysis. Kinetic modeling of ultrafiltration indicated ultrafiltration rates 0.2–0.3 L/hr should be achieved with 1.0–1.25% dextrose dialysate. The model shows average rates of glucose absorption can theoretically be reduced by 33% compared to CAPD with the same amount of fluid removal.
Grid Harmonics Suppression Scheme for LCL-Type Grid-Connected Inverters Based on Output Admittance Revision

In this paper, the influence of grid harmonics on the output current of grid-connected inverters with an LCL filter is investigated by means of the output admittance. With the complex transfer model of the output admittance, the full-feedforward scheme of grid voltage is derived, which, however, is difficult to be implemented due to the derivative terms in the feedforward link. A detailed theoretical analysis is also presented to explain the compensation error introduced by the active damping and delays when the grid voltage proportional feedforward is adopted. Then a feedforward scheme based on the band-pass filter (BPF) is proposed to compensate the grid harmonics at the selected frequencies, and the parameters of the BPF are derived to revise the output admittance. It has also been found that with the commonly used phase-locked loop (PLL), an additional admittance matrix is introduced. The compensation effect will be degraded when the PLL with a high bandwidth is used for tracking grid phase accurately. Therefore, a modified PLL is proposed to revise the output admittance again, for suppressing the output current distortion arising from the grid harmonics, which propagate to control system through the PLL. Finally, the experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, where the current harmonics are effectively suppressed.
Arrays of Geiger mode avalanche photodiodes

Following our previous work which has led us to fabricate single pixels of geiger mode avalanche photodiodes (GMAPs), we present in this letter the results regarding the fabrication and characterization of a bidimensional array of GMAPs. Low dark count rates and very good uniformity over the sensor are reported. High quantum efficiency in the visible range has been measured. Measurements indicate that not all the nominal active area is effectively sensitive. We have some preliminary evidence that no crosstalk effects are present in our device. Notwithstanding this, in view of a near future shrinking of all dead regions, an optical trench process has been developed and is illustrated here. Possible future trends are highlighted
Sex Differences in Osteoarthritis of the Hip and Knee

&NA; The prevalence, incidence, and severity of osteoarthritis are different in women than in men. Women are more likely than men to suffer from osteoarthritis, and women experience more severe arthritis in the knee. Genetics, anatomy, and prior knee injury are risk factors for developing osteoarthritis. Although the presentation of osteoarthritis does not differ between men and women, symptom severity does. Additionally, women are three times less likely than men to undergo hip or knee arthroplasty. Patient education, particularly for women, must be improved so that women with osteoarthritis who are candidates for hip and knee arthroplasty not only receive treatment but also receive it in a timely manner.
Morphological Image Processing for Road Anomalies Detection Using 2 D Images and Video Data

in Romania the damaged pavement is increasing due to climate change: heavy rains and snow, the poor or inexistent methods to drain water from the roads and because of the increasing traffic as well. One type of pavement distress is potholes. As time progresses, the severity of these distresses increases and consequently, ride quality is adversely affected. In order to solve this problem researches are performed for developing a technology which can detect and recognize potholes based on 2D images and video data. In this paper, a vision based algorithm for damaged pavement detection is proposed using morphological image processing which may result into a potential direction of developing a detection method to efficiently and accurately detect potholes. Keywords—potholes; morphological image processing; 2D image; video data; vision-based approach