Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Three-dimensional flow and load characteristics of flexible revolving wings at low

This study explores the flow field and fluid-dynamic loads generated by revolving low-aspect-ratio flat plate wings undergoing a revolving motion starting from rest. Three wings with different degree of chordwise flexural stiffness (i.e., rigid, moderate flexibility and high flexibility) have been tested in order to investigate the influence of the wing flexibility. The wings have an angle of attack of 45 deg in their undeformed condition. The measurements have been performed in a water tank at a Reynolds number of 10,000 based on the chord length and terminal velocity at the 75% span position. The experimental campaign consists of phase-locked tomographic particle image velocimetry measurements complemented with simultaneous force measurements The three-dimensional velocity fields are captured in three measurement volumes positioned side-by-side along the span of the wing for different phases of the revolving motion, generating a time-resolved volumetric velocity field data set. Subsequently, from the velocity data the pressure fields are reconstructed as well as the loads acting on the wing. The force measurements reveal that the lift generation of the rigid and moderately flexible wings is comparable while it is slightly reduced for the highly flexible wing. The drag shows a monotonic decrease with decreasing flexural stiffness. Consequently the lift-to-drag ratio is increased significantly with decreasing flexural stiffness and is found to correlate well with the geometric angle of attack of the deformed wing. The PIV measurements reveal a vortex system consisting of a leading edge vortex (LEV), a trailing edge vortex (TEV), a tip vortex (TV) and a root vortex (RV) that forms at the onset of the motion. For decreasing flexural stiffness, the coherency of this vortex system and spanwise transport of vorticity in the LEV is in three volumes along the wing span for different phases of the revolving motion in order to obtain time-resolved 3D3C flow field data sets around the wing. Simultaneous force measurements were carried out by means of a six-component water submergible force sensor to obtain the temporal variation of the forces during the revolving motion. Pressure fields are reconstructed from the PIV data, which also enables the calculation of forces acting on the wing from the flow fields by use of a control-volume approach.
in Developing Endosperm of Pearl Millet

Figure 1. (a) Polytene chromosomes in vivo. The endosperm of field-grown plants at 7 days after pollination; thin ribbon-shaped chromatin threads with sharp bands for most of the length ( 1000). (b) Polytene chromosomes in vitro. Endosperm nuclei of embryo sacs after 10 days of culture showing closely interwoven polytene chromosomes with thick disc-shaped bands (arrows) ( 1000). Banded Polytene Chromosomes in Developing Endosperm of Pearl Millet
Toxoplasmosis among Random Sample of Blood Donors in Baghdad City

Background: Toxoplasma gondii , Hepatitis B virus and Human immunodeficiency virus infections and blood donors could represent a risk for transmission in blood recipients. Objective: To scarce information about the epidemiology of T. gondii, HBV and HIV infections in blood donors in Iraq. Therefore, prevalence of T. gondii , HBV and HIV infections and associated socio-demographic characteristics at Baghdadis needed. Patients and Methods: The present study were carried out on 142 the blood donors attending National Blood Bank in Baghdad city between October 2013 to October 2014. Volunteers were males, females, different age groups, and different race. Information's about there, previous surgical operations, living with cats at home, samples were taken from different geographical areas in Baghdad. Serological tests were using for investigating of Toxoplasma gondii, Hepatitis B virus and HIV antibodies. Results : The results reported that(78.17%) of the blood donors were in direct contact with stray cats,(29.5%) showed antibodies for Toxoplasma by Latex test, results of the blood samples ELISA -IgM showed that only (1.5%) were positive to Toxoplasma gondii while (28.2%) showed ELISA- IgG positive for Toxoplasma gondii . Conclusion : All tested samples were negative for HIV (0%), only one sample was found to be positive for Hepatitis B virus (0.7%).
Efficient Estimation of Conditional Variance Functions in Stochastic Regression

Conditional heteroscedasticity has been often used in modelling and understanding the variability of statistical data. Under a general setup which includes the nonlinear time series model as a special case, we propose an e cient and adaptive method for estimating the conditional variance. The basic idea is to apply a local linear regression to the squared residuals. We demonstrate that without knowing the regression function, we can estimate the conditional variance asymptotically as well as if the regression were given. This asymptotic result, established under the assumption that the observations are made from a strictly stationary and absolutely regular process, is also veri ed via simulation. Further, the asymptotic result paves the way for adapting an automatic bandwidth selection scheme. An application with nancial data illustrates the usefulness of the proposed techniques.
Feasibility of Gold Fiducial Markers as a Surrogate for Gross Tumor Volume Position in Image-Guided Radiation Therapy of Rectal Cancer

This study evaluated the feasibility of ﬁducials as a surrogate for gross tumor volume position in rectal cancer. Setup correction based on ﬁducials reduces required margins in the anterior-posterior and craniocaudal directions for a gross tumor volume boost compared with bony anatomy setup correction. Reduction of these margins Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of ﬁducial markers as a surrogate for gross tumor volume (GTV) position in image-guided radiation therapy of rectal cancer. Methods and Materials: We analyzed 35 ﬁducials in 19 patients with rectal cancer who received short-course radiation therapy or long-course chemoradiation therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging examinations were performed before and after the ﬁrst week of radiation therapy, and daily pre- and postirradiation cone beam computed tomography scans were acquired in the ﬁrst week of radiation therapy. Between the 2 magnetic resonance imaging examinations, the ﬁducial displacement relative to the center of gravity of the GTV (COG GTV ) and the COG GTV displacement relative to bony anatomy were determined. Using the cone beam computed tomography scans, inter- and intrafraction ﬁducial displacement relative to bony anatomy were determined. Results: The systematic error may be higher in patients with a proximal compared with a distal tumor. random errors up to 4.7 mm were found for COG GTV and ﬁducial displacements relative to bony anatomy, mostly in the AP and CC directions. For tumors located in the mid and upper rectum, these errors were up to 9.4 mm (systematic) and 5.6 mm (random) compared with 4.9 mm and 2.9 mm for tumors in the lower rectum. Systematic and random errors of the intrafraction ﬁducial displacement relative to bony anatomy were (cid:2) 2.1 mm in all directions. Conclusions: Large interfraction errors of the COG GTV and the ﬁducials relative to bony anatomy were found. Therefore, despite the observed ﬁducial displacement relative to the COG GTV , the use of ﬁducials as a surrogate for GTV position reduces the required margins in the AP and CC directions for a GTV boost using image-guided radiation therapy of rectal cancer. This reduction in margin may be larger in patients with tumors located in the mid and upper rectum compared with the lower rectum. (cid:1) 2019
Cholesteryl esters stabilise human CD1c conformations for recognition by self-reactive T cells

CD1c-dependent self-reactive T cells are abundant in human blood, but self-antigens presented by CD1c to the T cell receptors of these cells are unknown. Here we present a crystal structure of CD1c determined at 2.4 Å revealing an extended ligand binding potential of the antigen groove and a substantially different conformation compared to known CD1c structures. Computational simulations exploring different occupancy states of the groove re-enacted these different CD1c conformations, and suggested cholesteryl esters (CE) and acylated steryl glycosides (ASG) as new ligand classes for CD1c. Confirming this, we show that binding of CE and ASG to CD1c enables the binding of human CD1c self-reactive T cell receptors. Hence, human CD1c adopts different conformations dependent on ligand occupancy of its groove, with CE and ASG stabilising CD1c conformations that provide a footprint for binding of CD1c self-reactive T cell receptors. ligand CD1c, our of how the five human non-polymorphic CD1 isoforms differentiate in their function as lipid and T cell regulating proteins. RPMI in the presence of 25ng/ml IL-4 and 10ng/ml GM-CSF (Immunotools) for 5 days. CD1c expression was confirmed by FACS analysis using APC-conjugated anti-CD1c antibody (clone AD5-8E7) (Miltenyi).
Structural and Functional Interaction between the Human DNA Repair Proteins DNA Ligase IV and XRCC4 (cid:1) †

Nonhomologous end-joining represents the major pathway used by human cells to repair DNA double-strand breaks. It relies on the XRCC4/DNA ligase IV complex to reseal DNA strands. Here we report the high-resolution crystal structure of human XRCC4 bound to the carboxy-terminal tandem BRCT repeat of DNA ligase IV. The structure differs from the homologous Saccharomyces cerevisiae complex and reveals an extensive DNA ligase IV binding interface formed by a helix-loop-helix structure within the inter-BRCT linker region, as well as signiﬁcant interactions involving the second BRCT domain, which induces a kink in the tail region of XRCC4. We further demonstrate that interaction with the second BRCT domain of DNA ligase IV is necessary for stable binding to XRCC4 in cells, as well as to achieve efﬁcient dominant-negative effects resulting in radiosensitization after ectopic overexpression of DNA ligase IV fragments in human ﬁbroblasts. Together our ﬁndings provide unanticipated insight for understanding the physical and functional architecture of the nonhomologous end-joining ligation complex.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infects and Abortively Replicates in the Lungs in Spite of Preexisting Immunity (cid:1)

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of bronchiolitis and viral pneumonia in young children and a serious health risk in immunocompromised individuals and the elderly. Immunity to RSV is not completely understood. In this work, we established a method for monitoring RSV infection by real-time PCR and applied this method for analysis of RSV replication in vivo in the cotton rat model in naı¨ve animals and in animals rendered immune to RSV by prior RSV infection. We found that even though no virus could be isolated from the lungs of RSV-challenged immune animals, RSV infection in fact took place and an accumulation of viral RNA transcripts was observed. This type of replication, therefore, can be termed “abortive,” as RSV is capable of entering the cells in the lungs of immune animals, yet the production of progeny viruses is impaired. Similar patterns of RSV gene expression gradient were observed between naı¨ve and reinfected animals, indicating that the skewing of mRNA gradient of viral gene expression, a mechanism documented during latent infection by other viruses, is not likely to be responsible for abortive replication of RSV during reinfection. We found that passive administration of antibodies to RSV prevents productive infection normally accompanied by viral release in the lung, but it does not prevent abortive replication of the virus. To the best of our knowledge, this is the ﬁrst evidence of abortive replication of RSV in vivo.
Hormonal regulation of PGE 2 and COX-2 production in rabbit uterine cervical ﬁbroblasts

and Hormonal regulation of PGE 2 and COX-2 production in rabbit uterine cervical ﬁbroblasts. J Appl Physiol 90: 1227–1231, 2001. —Prostaglandins (PGs) cause uterine contraction to initiate labor at term. We investigated the effect of progesterone and 17 b -estradiol on the production of PGE 2 in rabbit uterine cervical ﬁbroblasts. When the cervical ﬁbroblasts were treated with interleukin-1 a (IL-1 a ), the level of PGE 2 was augmented in a time- and dose-dependent manner. The IL-1 a -augmented PGE 2 level was almost completely sup- pressed by progesterone and 17 b -estradiol at the physiological concentration (0.01 m M), whereas a slight decrease in the basal level of PGE 2 was observed in the cervical ﬁbroblasts treated with both hormones at a pharmacological concentration (1 m M). In addition, the level of PGE 2 augmented by IL-1 a was due to the increase of cyclooxygenase (COX) activity, which was inhibited by progesterone and 17 b -estradiol as well as by indomethacin and a speciﬁc COX-2 inhibitor, NS-398, but not by the well-known COX-1 inhibitor, aspirin. Furthermore, progesterone and 17 b -estradiol suppressed the IL-1 a -augmented COX-2 production but not the constitutive production of COX-1 in rabbit uterine cervical ﬁbroblasts. These results suggest that progesterone and 17 b -estradiol prevent the initiation of labor by inhibiting PGE 2 production after the suppression of COX-2 production during pregnancy in the rabbit.
Vitamin D insufficiency in children, adolescents, and young adults with cystic fibrosis despite routine oral supplementation 1–3

Background: Cystic fibrosis (CF) with pancreatic insufficiency is associated with poor absorption of fat and fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamin D. Pancreatic enzyme supplementation does not completely correct fat malabsorption in CF patients. Objective: The objective of the study was to compare the vitamin D status of children, adolescents, and young adults with CF who were treated with routine vitamin D and pancreatic enzyme supplements with the vitamin D status of a healthy reference group from a similar geographic area. Design: Growth, dietary intake, and serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH) 2 D], and parathyroid hormone (PTH) were measured in 101 white subjects with CF and a reference group of 177 white subjects. Results: The median daily vitamin D supplementation in the CF group was 800 IU. The mean (cid:1) SD serum concentrations of 25(OH)D were 20.7 (cid:1) 6.5 ng/mL in the CF group and 26.2 (cid:1) 8.6 ng/mLinthereferencegroup( P (cid:2) 0.001). VitaminDdeficiencyand insufficiency were defined as 25(OH)D concentrations (cid:2) 11 ng/mL and (cid:2) 30ng/mL,respectively.SevenpercentoftheCFgroupand2% of the healthy reference group were vitamin D deficient ( P (cid:2) 0.03). Ninety percent of the CF group and 74% of the healthy reference group were vitamin D insufficient ( P (cid:2) 0.01). Twenty-five percent of the CF group and 9% of the healthy reference group had elevated PTH ( P (cid:2) 0.006). The odds of vitamin D insufficiency in the CF group, compared with the healthy reference group, were 1.2 (95% CI: 1.1, 1.3) after adjustment for season and age. Conclusion: Despite daily vitamin D supplementation, serum 25(OH)D concentrations remain low in children, adolescents, and young adults with CF. Am J Clin Nutr 2007;86:1694–9.
SELF-CORRECTION OF COMMUTATION TORQUE RIPPLE SUPPRESSION USING NIBFE IN BLDC MOTOR

— This paper firstly presents a novel boost front end simply with a diode, a MOSFET and a DC-link capacitor. Without extra inductors or other power components, the boost font end could boost the capacitor voltage with the motor stator inductances, thus reducing the influence of the limited DC-link voltage on commutation torque ripple reduction to a large extent.A unified commutation torque ripple suppression strategy is further proposed with the front end adopted based on the analysis about the effects of four switching vectors on motor speed regulation and DC-link capacitor voltage regulation. The proposed strategy can boost the DC-link capacitor voltage via properly selection of switching vectors under the premise of guaranteeing normal speed regulation in non-commutation period, and reduce both the commutation torque ripple and commutation time by two consistent switching vectors with the boosted DC-link capacitor voltage in commutation period. Finally, the proposed method is analyzed with respect to the capacitance selection and the boot capacity of NIBFE. The correctness of the analysis and the effectiveness of the presented methods are validated by experimental results.Index
The dynamics of young learners’ L2 motivation: A longitudinal perspective

Affective dispositions in language learning are regarded as dynamic constructs that change over time. Yet, longitudinal studies in this field are relatively rare. In order to better understand these changes, this chapter reports a study that investi-gates the development of 578 primary school students’ English and French learning motivation, self-concepts, anxiety, and perceived support of teachers and parents at three measurement times over two academic years. While no drastic overall changes could be identified in our data, affective dispositions remain constantly higher for English than for French. Whereas students maintain their strong English-related motivations and self-concepts and English learning anxiety remains on a low level, French-related intrinsic motivation and self-concepts weaken with a parallel growth of anxiety. With regard to extrinsic motivation, both in leisure and school contexts, as well as perceived teacher and parental encouragement, a slight decrease is observed in both target languages. These results are discussed with regard to previous findings and in light of the relation between English as a global lingua franca and French as a local foreign language.
The (cid:1) B -Dependent yabJ-spoVG Operon Is Involved in the Regulation of Extracellular Nuclease, Lipase, and Protease Expression in Staphylococcus aureus (cid:1)

The alternative sigma factor (cid:1) B of Staphylococcus aureus is involved in the coordination of the general stress response, expression of virulence determinants, and modulation of antibiotic resistance levels. It controls a large regulon, either directly by recognizing conserved (cid:1) B promoter sequences or indirectly via (cid:1) B -dependent elements. The (cid:1) B -controlled yabJ-spoVG operon encodes two such putative downstream elements. We report here transcriptome analysis in S. aureus Newman, showing that inactivation of the yabJ-spoVG operon had primarily a repressing effect on a small subregulon encoding mainly virulence factors, including a nuclease ( nuc ), a protease ( splE ) and a lipase ( lip ). As a consequence, extracellular nuclease, protease, and lipase activities were reduced in a (cid:2) yabJ-spoVG mutant. trans -complementation by SpoVG was sufﬁcient to restore their reduced phenotypic expression and lowered transcription due to the yabJ-spoVG
Distribution of the Ssu DAT1I Restriction-Modiﬁcation System among Different Serotypes of Streptococcus suis

The Ssu DAT1I restriction-modiﬁcation (R-M) system, which contains two methyltransferases and two restriction endonucleases with recognition sequence 5 * -GATC-3 * , was ﬁrst found in a ﬁeld isolate of Streptococcus suis serotype 2. Isoschizomers of the R-M system were found in the same locus between purH and purD in a ﬁeld isolate of serotype 1/2 and the reference strains of serotypes 3, 7, 23, and 26 among 29 strains of different serotypes examined in this study. The R-M gene sequences in serotypes 1/2, 3, 7, and 23 were very similar to those of Ssu DAT1I, whereas those in serotype 26 were less similar. These results indicate intraspe-cies recombination among them and genetic divergence through their evolution. Restriction-modiﬁcation (R-M) systems are distributed in a variety of microorganisms (29). The simplest systems are type II R-M systems, which usually consist of two separate enzymes, a restriction endonuclease and a methyltransferase (4, 40). Genes for R-M systems have sometimes been found to be located on transferable elements, such as plasmids and bacte-riophages, and in some cases, genes encoding proteins involved in DNA mobility, such as transposases, integrases, and inver-tases, are found in the vicinity
Obstacle and Color Object Identification by means of Wireless Electronic Perceptible Assistant System

The EPAS is vision substitution system . A description of EPAS system which is for independent navigating for Blind person in identified and unidentified environments has been presented in this paper. This system incorporates the GPS receiver to access the spatial data of local environment by the server to the user. According to available spatial maps of the environment the user can freely move around the map. For this system, the implementation of optimal path planning using D*lite algorithm, estimate the direction and orientation of the user moves has been discussed. Time to time new environment map is stored in the spatial database. The database gives the fast information response to users using this D*lite algorithm when the path is revisited. In addition to this, the system has been established the ZigBee nodes for the home environment. According to ZigBee nodes, user can aware of the home environment using the server. The system gives the position, location and orientation of information to the server. Observations can be recorded for each and every movement of the user by sitting behind the server and monitoring the user’s movement by using specialized software which was already incorporated in the system, and user can also perceive the above mentioned information through audio signals. The head height vision sensor perceive objects and recognized color and foot level proximity sensors, perceive the information of the obstacle through the audio cues.
Engineering Students’ Epistemological Thinking in the Context of Senior Design Projects

the assessment of teaching and learning in engineering, cognitive global engineering. Abstract Senior Design Projects, as culminating, comprehensive design experiences for engineering undergraduates, were hypothesized to be associated with the steep growth in students’ epistemological development during the last year of college. Nevertheless, few studies have specifically explored engineering students’ epistemological thinking and the associated factors in the context of senior design. This work-in-progress adopted a mixed methods design, and explored engineering students’ epistemological thinking in the context of senior design projects. A validated survey framed in Perry’s theory was used to explore engineering students’ epistemological development among the pre- and post- groups for engagement in senior design projects. Statistics showed a significant difference in their levels of epistemological development, particularly, their development of relativistic thinking. Also, twenty-one students from the survey respondents were interviewed in a one-on-one manner to explore the factors that were associated with students’ epistemological development in a senior design projects context. Qualitative analyses indicated that the way in which senior design projects were organized and people factors such as mentors’ roles and functions were closely related to students’ epistemological development. Meanwhile, a close link between students’ epistemological development level and their self-regulated learning skills was highlighted.