Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electromagnetic Study of a Round Coil Superferric Magnet

A novel type of superferric magnets suitable to arbitrary multipole orders was proposed by I. F. Malyshev and later by V. Kashikhin. This new topology, which we refer to as round coil superferric magnets (RCSM), allows a great simplification of the superconducting part, which in the simplest case may be composed by a single round coil, which has intrinsically a rather large bending radius allowing the use of strain-sensitive superconductors. INFN is designing and building a prototype of a multipolar corrector magnet based on this geometry and using MgB2 tapes. In this paper, we investigate a number of issues pertaining to the electromagnetic characteristics of RCSM. The RCSM magnetic has inherently even harmonics, in addition to usual odd ones and a solenoidal component. Either (but not both) disappears when integrated using a one-coil or a two-coil specular design. We investigate the effect of saturation on the multipolar components and on the load line, since in RCSM, saturation plays a role that differs both from conventional superferric magnets and from round yoke design types.
Illuminating the Impact of Habitual Behaviors in Depression

Researchers have hypothesized that habitual behaviors are zeitgebers for the circadian clock. However, few studies have examined the relationship between habitual behaviors and light, the strongest zeitgeber. Depression is an ideal model in which to explore this relationship because depression is a disorder associated with disruptions in circadian biological activity, sleep, and social rhythms (or patterns of habitual behaviors). We hypothesized that individuals with fewer habitual behaviors have less average exposure to light from morning rise time to evening bedtime and that a reduction in light exposure increases the likelihood of depression. Thirty‐nine depressed and 39 never‐depressed participants wore an ambulatory light monitor and completed the Social Rhythm Metric over the course of 2 weeks. Linear and logistic regression techniques were used to calculate regression coefficients, and confidence limits based on the distribution of the product of two normal random variables were computed to test the significance of the mediation effect. Infrequent habitual behaviors were associated with a decrease in average levels of light exposure, and low levels of light increased the likelihood of depression. This mediation effect was partial; the overall number of habitual behaviors had a direct relationship with depression above and beyond the association with light exposure. Longitudinal studies are needed to empirically demonstrate the direction of relationships between each of the variables tested.
TGF‐β promotes cell death and suppresses lactation during the second stage of mammary involution

Transforming growth factor beta (TGF‐β) ligands are known to regulate virgin mammary development and contribute to initiation of post‐lactation involution. However, the role for TGF‐β during the second phase of mammary involution has not been addressed. Previously, we have used an MMTV‐Cre transgene to delete exon 2 from the Tgfbr2 gene in mammary epithelium, however we observed a gradual loss of TβRII deficient epithelial cells that precluded an accurate study of the role for TGF‐β signaling during involution timepoints. Therefore, in order to determine the role for TGF‐β during the second phase of mammary involution we have now targeted TβRII ablation within mammary epithelium using the WAP‐Cre transgene [TβRII(WKO)Rosa26R]. Our results demonstrated that TGF‐β regulates commitment to cell death during the second phase of mammary involution. Importantly, at day 3 of mammary involution the Na–Pi type IIb co‐transporter (Npt2b), a selective marker for active lactation in luminal lobular alveolar epithelium, was completely silenced in the WAP‐Cre control and TβRII(WKO)Rosa26R tissues. However, by day 7 of involution the TβRII(WKO)Rosa26R tissues had distended lobular alveoli and regained a robust Npt2b signal that was detected at the apical luminal surface. The Npt2b abundance and localization positively correlated with elevated WAP mRNA expression, suggesting that the distended alveoli were the result of an active lactation program rather than residual milk protein and lipid accumulation. In summary, the results suggest that an epithelial cell response to TGF‐β signaling regulates commitment to cell death and suppression of lactation during the second phase of mammary involution. J. Cell. Physiol. 219: 57–68, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Study of an adaptive lattice structure for linear prediction analysis of speech

Recently a lattice structure for adaptive linear prediction using the least mean square gradient approach was proposed. This paper investigates the application of this method to speech signals, and presents a number of implementations of the Adaptive Lattice Linear Prediction (ALLP) algorithm. These implementations allow flexible tradeoffs to be made between the computational requirements and the covergence properties of the algorithm. A measure of fast spectral transitions, inherent in certain implementations, is also described with particular application to detecting plosives in speech. Experimental results are discussed.
Fiber Bragg grating array sensor system using a bandpass wavelength division multiplexer and interferometric detection

A multiplexing approach for high-resolution sensing with Bragg gatings is described. The scheme uses a band-pass wavelength division multiplexer to separate the returned wavelengths from an array of gratings, and interferometric processing to attain high-strain resolution. A strain resolution of 1.5 nanostrain//spl radic/Hz is demonstrated, with a sensor bandwidth of 10 Hz-2 kHz for four sensors.
ACDC: Advanced consolidation for dynamic containers

The thriving success of the Cloud Industry greatly relies on the fact that virtual resources are as good as bare metal resources when it comes to ensuring a given level of quality of service. Thanks to the isolation provided by virtualisation techniques based on hypervisors, a big physical resource can be spatially multiplexed into smaller virtual resources which are easier to sell. Unfortunately, virtual machines have quickly shown their limit in terms of temporal multiplexing. It has been demonstrated that reclaiming the unused memory of a VM is a tedious task, infeasible in production. Today, containerization opens up a wide range of multiplexing opportunities that were not accessible through machine virtualization. However, in this article, we demonstrate, through a reproducible experiment, that the current implementation of memory consolidation can deteriorate the performance of applications deployed in Linux kernel containers. Indeed, we observed that when a new container boots, the memory of active containers is reclaimed while unused memory is still available in other containers that are inactive. To tackle these performance drop in active containers, we have rethought the hierarchical memory reclaim mechanism of the Linux kernel. We have implemented inside the kernel our new approach that tracks the container that has made a memory demand the least recently. Our evaluations show that our approach provides the ability to reclaim memory without disturbing performances.
Simultaneous RP HPLC determination of Latanoprost and Timolol Maleate in combined pharmaceutical dosage form

ABSTRACT A simple, fast and precise reverse phase high perfo rmance liquid chromatography method is described for simultaneous determination of latanop rost and timolol maleate using methyl paraben as an internal standard. Chromatographic se paration of these two drugs was achieved on Waters symmetry C 18 column (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 μm) as stationary phase with a mobile phase comprising of 0.05% (v/v) trifluoro acetic ac id in water : 0.05% (v/v) trifluoroacetic acid in acetonitrile (40:60 v/v) at a flow rate of 1ml / min and UV detection at 210 nm. The retention time of timolol, maleic acid, methyl paraben and la tanoprost were 1.967 min, 2.342 min, 3.275 min and 7.633 min respectively. The proposed method was validated for system suitab ility, linearity, accuracy, precision, LOD, LOQ and soluti on stability. Linearity, accuracy and precision were found to be acceptable over the rang es of 2.5 – 7.5 μg/ml for latanoprost and 250 – 750 μg/ml for timolol maleate. It can be convenie ntly adopted for routine quality control analysis.
Development of evaluation indexes for assistive robots based on ICF

With the aging population trends in developed countries, there is an increased expectation of the application of assistive robots. A variety of robots have been developed to address this challenge. Although there are many technical problems to be solved, the lack of objective evaluation indexes for evaluating the benefit to the users is one of the important problems to be addressed before the commercialization of the assistive robots can be realized. The ICF (International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health) is a classification of the health components of functioning and disability, and is being utilized in medical, healthcare, and welfare fields. The ICF has a basic framework to evaluate healthcare and welfare equipment, including robots, and it will be the basis of the evaluation indexes for assistive robots. In this paper, we present the development of evaluation indexes, and provide the results of preliminary experiments which were conducted using iARM and RAPUDA robots performing a certain lifting task. The experiments illustrate the issues involved in the development of ICF-based indexes for assitive robots.
Species-isolating mechanisms in a mating system with male mate choice (garter snakes, Thamnophis spp.)

Reproductive isolation between sympatric taxa can be maintained by specific mate-recognition behaviours or by ecological divergence that reduces interspecific contact during reproduction. Common garter snakes, Thamnophis sirtalis (L., 1758), and plains garter snakes, Thamnophis radix (Baird and Girard, 1853), are sympatric over large areas, but morphological data suggest that the prezygotic isolation between these two species partially breaks down in a severely cold part of their joint range in Manitoba. Courtship trials show that male T. radix court intensely over a narrower range of (higher) ambient temperatures than do male T. sirtalis. Males selectively court females of their own species, but male T. radix are less choosy than male T. sirtalis. Hexane extracts of female skin lipids also elicited species-specific courtship. Although this male preference for species-specific pheromones contributes to species isolation, it is not strong enough to completely separate the two taxa. The absence of hybridiza.
A MICROFLUIDIC PLATFORM FOR AUTOMATED MICROPARTICLE LABEL IMMUNOASSAYS

We present a microfluidic device for immunoassays based on microparticle labeling using microvalve-control structures. Programmable microvalve control in a multilayer structure provides automated sample delivery, adjustable hydrodynamic washing and diverse substrate compatibility. Antibody derivatized surfaces within the processor capture the target antigen, and magnetic microspheres conjugated with a detection antibody are used as labels in a capture-sandwich format. We demonstrate automated microfluidic immunoassays for mouse immunoglobulin (IgG) and human prostate specific antigen (PSA) with limits of detection (LOD) of 1.8 and 3 pM, respectively.
Difficult to intubate, mandatory to oxygenate.

EDITOR: We read with great interest the paper by Slater and Bhatia [1]. In patients such as the one described in which surgery could represent a potential physical conflict for airway management, airway preoperative evaluation should be rigorous and precise, so as to allow planning of first-line strategy and of a ‘plan B’ in case of failure. In this case, no such information was available for the reader except for an ‘unremarkable’ preanaesthetic evaluation and a generic ‘some limitations of mouth opening’. According to the Italian Difficult Airway Management Guidelines [2], and representing general commonsense, mouth opening limitation represents, even as an isolated finding, a prediction of potential major difficulty requiring very careful considerations and strategies. In fact, a reduction in mouth opening, especially in the presence of limited mandibular protrusion, represents a critical step not only for intubation (no space for laryngoscope insertion and/or airway manoeuvres) [3] but also for ventilation with both face-mask [4] or laryngeal mask or other extraglottic devices. So, despite this ‘unremarkable’ isolated finding, the safest strategy would have been, in our opinion, awake fibreoptic intubation or, in the event of lack of patient cooperation, by fibreoptic intubation in a sedated but spontaneously breathing patient. This is especially so considering of the concomitant presence of facial deformity due to previous surgery and radiotherapy (before which, presumably, ventilation was uneventful). Insertion of a laryngeal mask in cases of difficult ventilation is an appropriate choice although it may be inadvisable to remove it to perform laryngoscopy, place it again and then finally remove it before proceeding to an asleep fibreoptic intubation. These manoeuvres could have compromised further ventilation or fibreoptic intubation because of bleeding, secretions or minor pharyngo-laryngeal trauma. Italian guidelines prefer direct vision techniques to blind attempts, though recognizing the value of a bougie or, better, of hollow introducers [2]. Particularly, in this case, fibreoptic intubation via a laryngeal mask using the Aintree catheter (Cook Critical Care, Bloomington, IN, USA), once the laryngeal mask was placed and ventilation was guaranteed [5], could have been the best option. Asleep fibreoptic intubation, we believe, could have led to dangerous desaturation, especially if performed in an apnoeic patient without dedicated devices such as a Berman-like cannula or endoscopy mask. We would finally consider protected extubation (such as over an airway exchange catheter under local anaesthesia) [2] as a strategy for similar cases. Our message is hopefully clear – might intubation be difficult, guarantee oxygenation first. If either ventilation or intubation is predicted to be difficult, safety first. The fibreoptic awake intubation technique is the definitive choice, particularly in elective situations.
An examination of cetacean brain structure with a novel hypothesis correlating thermogenesis to the evolution of a big brain

This review examines aspects of cetacean brain structure related to behaviour and evolution. Major considerations include cetacean brain‐body allometry, structure of the cerebral cortex, the hippocampal formation, specialisations of the cetacean brain related to vocalisations and sleep phenomenology, paleoneurology, and brain‐body allometry during cetacean evolution. These data are assimilated to demonstrate that there is no neural basis for the often‐asserted high intellectual abilities of cetaceans. Despite this, the cetaceans do have volume‐trically large brains. A novel hypothesis regarding the evolution of large brain size in cetaceans is put forward. It is shown that a combination of an unusually high number of glial cells and unihemispheric sleep phenomenology make the cetacean brain an efficient thermogenetic organ, which is needed to counteract heat loss to the water. It is demonstrated that water temperature is the major selection pressure driving an altered scaling of brain and body size and an increased actual brain size in cetaceans. A point in the evolutionary history of cetaceans is identified as the moment in which water temperature became a significant selection pressure in cetacean brain evolution. This occured at the Archaeoceti – modern cetacean faunal transition. The size, structure and scaling of the cetacean brain continues to be shaped by water temperature in extant cetaceans. The alterations in cetacean brain structure, function and scaling, combined with the imperative of producing offspring that can withstand the rate of heat loss experienced in water, within the genetic confines of eutherian mammal reproductive constraints, provides an explanation for the evolution of the large size of the cetacean brain. These observations provide an alternative to the widely held belief of a correlation between brain size and intelligence in cetaceans.
Generation and characterization of mice with null mutation of the chloride intracellular channel 1 gene

CLIC1 belongs to a family of highly conserved and widely expressed intracellular chloride ion channel proteins existing in both soluble and membrane integrated forms. To study the physiological and biological role of CLIC1 in vivo, we undertook conditional gene targeting to engineer Clic1 gene knock‐out mice. This represents creation of the first gene knock‐out of a vertebrate CLIC protein family member. We first generated a Clic1 Knock‐in (Clic1FN) allele, followed by Clic1 knock‐out (Clic1−/−) mice by crossing Clic1FN allele with TNAP‐cre mice, resulting in germline gene deletion through Cre‐mediated recombination. Mice heterozygous or homozygous for these alleles are viable and fertile and appear normal. However, Clic1−/− mice show a mild platelet dysfunction characterized by prolonged bleeding times and decreased platelet activation in response to adenosine diphosphate stimulation linked to P2Y12 receptor signaling. genesis 48:127–136, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Monaural and binaural frequency selectivity in hearing-impaired subjects

Abstract Sensorineurally hearing-impaired (HI) subjects often report difficulties in complex acoustical environments. To investigate whether these problems arise from specific deficits in the frequency selectivity in binaural listening conditions, thresholds were measured for a 500-Hz sinusoid in phase (So) or antiphase (Sπ) masked by a diotic notched noise (No). The equivalent rectangular bandwidth (ERB) for filters derived from diotic (NoSo) and dichotic (NoSπ) threshold curves is larger for the HI subjects than for the normal-hearing (NH) subjects. However, the ratio of binaural to monaural ERB is the same. The data indicate that there is no additional retrocochlear impairment reducing the binaural frequency selectivity of HI subjects. A specific binaural impairment was also tested by measuring the perception of binaural pitch (Huggins’ pitch). Two out of eight HI subjects failed to perceive this pitch, although in the masking experiment they obtained a binaural masking-level difference of up to 10 dB. The current data therefore provide no clear evidence for a specific binaural impairment factor in hearing impairment that deteriorates several aspects of binaural processing in a similar way. Sumario Los sujetos con hipoacusia sensorineural (HI) a menudo reportan dificultades cuando se encuentran en ambientes acústicos complejos. Para investigar si estos problemas surgen por deficiencias específicas en la selectividad de frecuencias en condiciones de audición binaural, se midieron los umbrales para sinusoides de 500Hz en fase (So) o en antifase (Sω) enmascarados con un ruido con muesca diótica (No). La banda ancha rectangular equivalente (ERB) para filtros derivaba de curvas umbral dióticas (NoSo) y dicóticas (NoSω) son más amplias para los sujetos con HI que para los sujetos normoyentes (NH). Sin embargo, el ratio de ERB binaural / monoaural es la misma. Los datos indican que no hay un impedimento retrococlear adicional cuando se reduce la selectividad binaural de frecuencias en los sujetos con HI. También se hizo una prueba de impedimento binaural específico por medio de la medición de la percepción binaural de tono (Huggins’ pitch). Dos de cada ocho sujetos no pudieron percibir este tono, aunque en el experimento con enmascaramiento, obtuvieron un nivel binaural de diferencia de enmascaramiento de hasta 10dB. Estos datos no dan una evidencia clara de un impedimento binaural específico en la hipoacusia que deteriore diversos aspectos del procesamiento binaural en una forma similar.
Binding to protein targets of peptidic leads discovered by phage display: crystal structures of streptavidin-bound linear and cyclic peptide ligands containing the HPQ sequence.

The streptavidin-bound crystal structures of two disulfide-bridge cyclic peptides (cyclo-Ac-[CHPQGPPC]-NH2 and cyclo-Ac-[CHPQFC]-NH2) and of a linear peptide (FSHPQNT) were determined, as well as the structure of apostreptavidin (streptavidin-sulfate). Both the linear and disulfide-bridged cyclic peptides studied share a common HPQ conformation and make common interactions with streptavidin, although significant differences in structures and interactions occur for flanking residues among the complexes. The conformation of the linear peptide in the crystal structure of streptavidin-FSHPQNT was found to differ from that in the same complex published [Weber, P. C. , Pantoliano, M. W. , & Thompson, L. D. (1992) Biochemistry 31, 9350-9354]. In the present investigation, the HPQNT portion of the ligand is well-defined with some density defining the Phe, whereas in the investigation of Weber et al. only the HPQ segment of the bound peptide could be interpreted. Both bound cyclic peptides adopt a beta-turn involving an H-bond between the His main chain carbonyl and the main chain amide NH of the i+3 residue. In the streptavidin-bound cyclo-Ac-[CHPQFC]-NH2 structure, there is an additional H-bond, indicative of alpha-helix, between the main chain His carbonyl and the main chain C-terminal Cys amide NH group. Binding interactions for both cyclic and linear peptides include direct H-bonds, H-bonds mediated by tightly bound water molecules, and hydrophobic interactions. The above structures and that of streptavidin-biotin in the literature are compared and discussed in the context of structure-based ligand design.
Stimulation of intestinal growth and function with DPP-IV inhibition in a mouse short 1 bowel syndrome model 2 3

32 Glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) has been shown to be effective in patients with short bowel syndrome 33 (SBS), but is rapidly inactivated by dipeptidyl peptidase-IV (DPP4). We used an orally-active DPP4 inhibitor 34 (DPP4-I), MK-0626, to determine the efficacy of this approach to promote adaptation after SBS, determined 35 optimal dosing, and identified further functional actions in a SBS mouse model. Ten week old mice underwent 36 a 50% proximal small bowel resection (SBR). Dose optimization was determined over a 3-day post-SBS period. 37 The established optimal dose was given for 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, and 7 days followed by 23 days washout 38 period. Adaptive response was assessed by morphology, intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) proliferation (PCNA), 39 epithelial barrier function (transepithelial resistance), RT-PCR for intestinal transport proteins, GLP-2R, and 40 IGF-1R, and GLP-2 plasma levels. Glucose-stimulated sodium transport was assessed for intestinal absorptive 41 function. Seven days of DPP4-I treatment facilitated an increase in GLP-2R levels, intestinal growth, and IEC 42 proliferation. Treatment led to differential effects over time with greater absorptive function early, and enhanced 43 proliferation at later time points. Interestingly, 7 day treatment followed by 23 days of non-treatment showed 44 continued adaptation. DPP-IV-I enhanced IEC proliferative action up to 90-days post-resection, but this action 45 seemed to peak by 30 days, as did GLP-2 plasma levels. Thus, use of DPP4-I treatment may prove to be a 46 viable treatment for accelerating intestinal adaptation with SBS. 47