Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oscillation condition analysis of a VHF self-oscillating gate driver based on a Φ2 resonant inverter

In recent years, most electronic devices are miniaturized because the technique on integrated circuits has been developing. Switching power supplies become small-sized by using high switching frequency to decrease the size of reactance components. The resonant converters are useful because of the low switching loss in semiconductor switches. LC oscillators are suitable for VHF gate driver in resonant converters. In this paper, an analysis on oscillation conditions of a 110-MHz self-excitation gate driver based on class-Φ2 inverter is reported. The oscillation frequency characteristics and the conditions for oscillation are analyzed in detail including the influence due to the internal capacitances of switching devices.
Comanagement of coral reef social-ecological systems

In an effort to deliver better outcomes for people and the ecosystems they depend on, many governments and civil society groups are engaging natural resource users in collaborative management arrangements (frequently called comanagement). However, there are few empirical studies demonstrating the social and institutional conditions conducive to successful comanagement outcomes, especially in small-scale fisheries. Here, we evaluate 42 comanagement arrangements across five countries and show that: (i) comanagement is largely successful at meeting social and ecological goals; (ii) comanagement tends to benefit wealthier resource users; (iii) resource overexploitation is most strongly influenced by market access and users’ dependence on resources; and (iv) institutional characteristics strongly influence livelihood and compliance outcomes, yet have little effect on ecological conditions.
Correlation between HFE gene polymorphisms and increased risk of coronary artery disease among patients with type 2 diabetes in Iran.

BACKGROUND/AIM Diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), which are among the major causes of deaths in type 2 diabetes (T2D). The purpose of the present study was to determine the association of C282Y and H63D mutations in the HFE gene with increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) in T2D patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS Two hundred and ninety individuals were divided into two groups: a case group and a control group. Genomic DNA of peripheral venous blood cells was extracted and the HFE gene mutations were analyzed using the PCR-RFLP technique. RESULTS Data analysis revealed a significant difference between the allele frequencies of H63D and C282Y mutations between the case group and the controls (P < 0.05). The relationships between the GA and GG genotypes in C282Y and H63D mutations in terms of fasting blood sugar (FBS), lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglycerides, high-density lipoproteins (HDL), low-density lipoproteins), body mass index (BMI), HbA1c, micro albuminuria, and creatine levels did not show a significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.05). Using a logistic regression model, BMI, FBS, HDL, and total cholesterol levels were significantly different with independent predictors of CVD (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Our results revealed a significant correlation between C282Y and H63D mutations and the development of CAD in T2D patients.
Hydroxyapatite and Bioactive Glass Composite Coating on Ti6Al4V

Hydroxyapatite (HA) was widely used as coating on metals and alloys to enhance the interconnection between metal implants and bone. To improve the bonding strength and bioactivity, in this work, bioactive glass (G) was added and HA-G composite coating was prepared on Ti-6Al-4V at low temperature. The scanning electronic microscope (SEM) graphs showed that the surface of the coating was composed with needle-like crystals, and the X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and Fourier transform infra-red spectrometry (FTIR) results proved that the crystals was carbonate hydroxyapatite (CHA), no other crystal phase was detected. The SEM micrographs of the cross section showed that the coating was porous and bonded closely with the surface of the alloy. The energy diffraction spectra (EDS) result show that a Si-Ti-Al-V-O layer was formed at the interface and enhance the interconnection between the coating and alloy. The bonding strength of the coating was 34.8±6.8MPa, which was much higher than that of the pure HA coating on Ti-6Al-4V prepared by plasma spraying method. The HA-G composite coating on Ti-6Al-4V showed high bonding strength, porous structure, and bone like CHA composition, which has good potential to be used as bone substitutes.
Association of HLA-DRB1*14 with rheumatic heart disease patients from Chandigarh, North India

Context: Acute rheumatic fever (ARF)/rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in India, yet, few studies are available on susceptibility markers. Objective: To associate human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II alleles with north Indian RHD patients as genetic susceptibility markers. Materials and methods: HLA alleles were analysed using sequence specific primer-polymerase chain reaction and nucleotide sequencing, while HLA-B27 expression by flowcytometry. Results: Few HLA-DQB1/DRB1 alleles were associated with RHD and HLA-DRB1*14 gene polymorphism revealed two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in patients. Bioinformatic predictions showed influence of SNPs on protein function. HLA-B27 was positive in 42.85% ARF patients. Conclusion: The study showed association of different HLA class II alleles with RHD in North Indian population.
Carbon Nanotube And Graphene Device Physics

Frontiers | Graphene-Based Sensors for Human Health Thermal properties of graphene and nanostructured carbon Graphene WikipediaCarbon nanotube supplier – 97% of the global SWCNT marketCarbon Nanotubes History And Production Methods | Cheap . Humidification of highperformance and multifunctional Carbon nanotubes: properties, synthesis, purification, and Ruthenium anchored on carbon nanotube electrocatalyst for Potential applications of carbon nanotubes WikipediaPolymer Research, Development, Analysis, Production :: Bay Carbon nanotubes are about to spell the end of the clunky 3D MXene anchored carbon nanotube as bifunctional and
Steganographic Scheme for VQ Compressed Images Using Progressive Exponential Clustering

In this work, we propose a steganographic scheme for embedding secret message in VQ-compressed images, which aims to achieve high embedding capacity while keeping distortion low. To achieve these objectives, we develop a progressive exponential clustering (PEC) algorithm for partitioning the VQ codebook into a set of clusters. To embed the secret message based on the clustering, we substitute the indexes of the codewords with others within the same cluster according to the size of the cluster and the secret message bits.
MicroRNA-221 Induces Cell Survival and Cisplatin Resistance through PI3K/Akt Pathway in Human Osteosarcoma

Background MicroRNAs are short regulatory RNAs that negatively modulate protein expression at a post-transcriptional and/or translational level and are deeply involved in the pathogenesis of several types of cancers. Specifically, microRNA-221 (miR-221) is overexpressed in many human cancers, wherein accumulating evidence indicates that it functions as an oncogene. However, the function of miR-221 in human osteosarcoma has not been totally elucidated. In the present study, the effects of miR-221 on osteosarcoma and the possible mechanism by which miR-221 affected the survival, apoptosis, and cisplatin resistance of osteosarcoma were investigated. Methodology/Principal Findings Real-time quantitative PCR analysis revealed miR-221 was significantly upregulated in osteosarcoma cell lines than in osteoblasts. Both human osteosarcoma cell lines SOSP-9607 and MG63 were transfected with miR-221 mimic or inhibitor to regulate miR-221 expression. The effects of miR-221 were then assessed by cell viability, cell cycle analysis, apoptosis assay, and cisplatin resistance assay. In both cells, upregulation of miR-221 induced cell survival and cisplatin resistance and reduced cell apoptosis. In addition, knockdown of miR-221 inhibited cell growth and cisplatin resistance and induced cell apoptosis. Potential target genes of miR-221 were predicted using bioinformatics. Moreover, luciferase reporter assay and western blot confirmed that PTEN was a direct target of miR-221. Furthermore, introduction of PTEN cDNA lacking 3′-UTR or PI3K inhibitor LY294002 abrogated miR-221-induced cisplatin resistance. Finally, both miR-221 and PTEN expression levels in osteosarcoma samples were examined by using real-time quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry. High miR-221 expression level and inverse correlation between miR-221 and PTEN levels were revealed in osteosarcoma tissues. Conclusions/Significance These results for the first time demonstrate that upregulation of miR-221 induces the malignant phenotype of human osteosarcoma whereas knockdown of miR-221 reverses this phenotype, suggesting that miR-221 could be a potential target for osteosarcoma treatment.
Pds1/Esp1-dependent and -independent sister chromatid separation in mutants defective for protein phosphatase 2A

Spindle disruption or DNA damage prevents sister chromatid separation through the activation of checkpoint pathways that inhibit anaphase entry by stabilizing the anaphase inhibitor Pds1. Mutation of CDC55, which encodes a B regulatory subunit of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), results in precocious sister chromatid separation when spindle is disrupted. Here we report that decreased Pds1 levels in Δcdc55 mutants contribute to sister chromatid separation in the presence of nocodazole, a microtubule-depolymerizing drug. However, in the presence of DNA damage, Δcdc55 mutant cells separate sister chromatids without noticeable decrease of Pds1 or cohesin Mcd1/Scc1 levels. Further analysis demonstrates that Δcdc55 mutants lose cohesion along the entire chromosomes when the spindle is disrupted. In contrast, separation of sister chromatids is limited to the centromeric regions in Δcdc55 cells after DNA damage. Moreover, mutation of TPD3, which encodes the A regulatory subunit of PP2A, also results in sister chromatid separation in DNA- or spindle-damage-arrested cells. These data suggest that PP2A regulates sister chromatid cohesion in Pds1-dependent and -independent manners.
A sigmoidal fit for pressure-volume curves of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients on mechanical ventilation: clinical implications

OBJECTIVE: Respiratory pressure-volume curves fitted to exponential equations have been used to assess disease severity and prognosis in spontaneously breathing patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Sigmoidal equations have been used to fit pressure-volume curves for mechanically ventilated patients but not for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients. We compared a sigmoidal model and an exponential model to fit pressure-volume curves from mechanically ventilated patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. METHODS: Six idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients and five controls underwent inflation pressure-volume curves using the constant-flow technique during general anesthesia prior to open lung biopsy or thymectomy. We identified the lower and upper inflection points and fit the curves with an exponential equation, V = A-B.e-k.P, and a sigmoid equation, V = a+b/(1+e-(P-c)/d). RESULTS: The mean lower inflection point for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients was significantly higher (10.5±5.7 cm H2O) than that of controls (3.6±2.4 cm H2O). The sigmoidal equation fit the pressure-volume curves of the fibrotic and control patients well, but the exponential equation fit the data well only when points below 50% of the inspiratory capacity were excluded. CONCLUSION: The elevated lower inflection point and the sigmoidal shape of the pressure-volume curves suggest that respiratory system compliance is decreased close to end-expiratory lung volume in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients under general anesthesia and mechanical ventilation. The sigmoidal fit was superior to the exponential fit for inflation pressure-volume curves of anesthetized patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and could be useful for guiding mechanical ventilation during general anesthesia in this condition.
Environmental distribution and diversity of insecticidal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner

Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner based biopesticides have been successfully used world over for the control of agricultural pests and vectors of human diseases. Currently there are more than 200 B. thuringiensis strains with differing insecticidal activities are available as biocontrol agents and for developing transgenic plants. However, two major disadvantages are the development of insect resistance and high target specificity (narrow host range). Globally there is a continuous search for new B. thuringiensis strains with novel insecticidal activities. The present study aims to study the environmental distribution of B. thuringiensis and their toxic potential against insect pests. Soil and grain samples were collected from different environments and were processed by a modified acetate selection method. Initially B. thuringiensis isolates were screened on the basis of colony morphology and phase contrast microscopy for the presence of parasporal crystal inclusions. The population dynamics showed that B. thuringiensis is abundant in sericulture environment compared to other niches. Relative abundance of B. thuringiensis strains in sericulture environment shows the persistent association of B. thuringiensis with Bombyx mori (silk worm) as insect pathogen. The protein profiles of the selected strains were studied by SDS-PAGE. The protein profiles of majority of B. thuringiensis isolates from grain storage facilities predominantly showing the 130 kDa and 68 kDa proteins, which is characteristics of lepidopteran active B. thuringiensis. However, one isolate BTRX-4 has 80-85 kDa protein, which is novel in that, this strain also exhibits antilepidopteran activity, which is normally presented by B. thuringiensis strains having 130 kDa and 68 kDa proteins. The protein profile of B. thuringiensis isolates from sericulture environment shows two different protein profiles. B. thuringiensis isolates BTRX-16 to BTRX-22 predominantly show 130 kDa protein, however, the B. thuringiensis isolates BTRX-23 to BTRX-30 have two distinct protein profiles corresponding to 130 kDa and 68 kDa. These results show that there may be more than one B. thuringiensis strain that can infect Bombyx mori. The preliminary bioassay against second instar larvae of Heliothis armigera showed varying mortality rate. In conclusion, despite the ubiquitous presence of B. thuringiensis strains in different environments, specifically the sericulture environment supports B. thuringiensis in a significant manner compared to other environments. Further the ICPs produced by different strains of B. thuringiensis are unique in terms of the protein profile and hence may also differ in their insecticidal activities.
Effects of Multicurve RGP Contact Lens Use on Topographic Changes in Keratoconus

Purpose To evaluate the effects of wearing rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses on the topographic changes in keratoconus. Methods Seventy-seven keratoconic eyes that wore multicurve RGP contact lenses and 30 keratoconic eyes that wore no contact lenses were retrospectively analyzed. The mean follow-ups were 22.6 and 20.5 months in the lens-wearing and control groups, respectively. Visual acuity, comfort, daily wearing time, and corneal staining were evaluated for both groups. The changes in topographic indices were compared between the lens-wearing and control groups. Results Multicurve RGP lens corrected logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution visual acuity of the lens-wearing group significantly improved from -0.016±0.065 to -0.032±0.10 at follow-up (p=0.05). In the lens-wearing group with advanced keratoconus, the Sim Kmax, Sim Kmin, apical power, astigmatic index, and anterior elevation significantly decreased from 57.68±4.26 diopter (D), 50.50±2.32 D, 62.79±5.11 D, 7.20±0.55 D and 67.36±16.30 µm to 55.51±4.28 D, 49.62±3.26 D, 60.31±5.41 D, 5.90±0.51 D and 60.61±16.09 µm, respectively (paired t-test, p<0.05). The irregularity index of 3 mm did not significantly change. Meanwhile, in the control group, the apical power and irregularity index increased from 55.56±7.25 D and 3.06±1.68 D to 57.11±7.75 D and 3.25±1.71 D, respectively (paired t-test, p=0.008, p=0.01). Conclusions Properly fitted multicurve RGP contact lenses are not likely to contribute to the progression of keratoconus.
Tracking techniques for the PEMFC in portable applications

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) exhibits nonlinear output characteristics which may result in low efficiency and low power operation of the PEMFC. Different tracking techniques are used to track the maximum power point (MPP) to extract maximum power and maximum efficiency point (MEP) to operate at maximum efficiency. However, the output power and efficiency of the PEMFC should be high for portable applications but they are low at MEP and MPP respectively. In this paper, an alternative tracking technique referred to as the midpoint tracking (MDT) technique is proposed to overcome the limitations of the MEP and MPP tracking techniques for portable applications. A detailed analysis of the model-independent tracking techniques based on simulation results is presented. It is found that the proposed MDT technique is the most suitable technique with high output power and high efficiency compared with the MEP and MPP respectively.
Dynamic Incentive Accounts

Contracts in a dynamic model must address a number of issues absent from static frameworks. Shocks to firm value may weaken the incentive effects of securities (e.g. cause options to fall out of the money), and the impact of some CEO actions may not be felt until far in the future. We derive the optimal contract in a setting where the CEO can affect firm value through both productive effort and costly manipulation, and may undo the contract by privately saving. The optimal contract takes a surprisingly simple form, and can be implemented by a "Dynamic Incentive Account. " The CEO's expected pay is escrowed into an account, a fraction of which is invested in the firm's stock and the remainder in cash. The account features state-dependent rebalancing and time-dependent vesting. It is constantly rebalanced so that the equity fraction remains above a certain threshold; this threshold sensitivity is typically increasing over time even in the absence of career concerns. The account vests gradually both during the CEO's employment and after he quits, to deter short-termist actions before retirement.
A novel property of the second-order modes of discrete-time systems under variable transformation

This paper derives a novel property of the second-order modes of discrete-time systems under variable transformation. This is the generalization of the theory presented by Mullis and Roberts, who discovered the invariance of the second-order modes under allpass transformation (variable transformation of lossless bounded-real function) and the relationship of this invariance to the roundoff noise of digital filters. This paper proves that the values of the second-order modes are decreased under any variable transformation of bounded-real function. The proof is achieved with the help of the bounded-real lemma and formulation of the controllability and observability Gramians of transformed discrete-time systems.
Spatial information retrieval and geographical ontologies an overview of the SPIRIT project

A large proportion of the resources available on the world-wide web refer to information that may be regarded as geographically located. Thus most activities and enterprises take place in one or more places on the Earth's surface and there is a wealth of survey data, images, maps and reports that relate to specific places or regions. Despite the prevalence of geographical context, existing web search facilities are poorly adapted to help people find information that relates to a particular location. When the name of a place is typed into a typical search engine, web pages that include that name in their text will be retrieved, but it is likely that many resources that are also associated with the place may not be retrieved. Thus resources relating to places that are inside the specified place may not be found, nor may be places that are nearby or that are equivalent but referred to by another name. Specification of geographical context frequently requires the use of spatial relationships concerning distance or containment for example, yet such terminology cannot be understood by existing search engines. Here we provide a brief survey of existing facilities for geographical information retrieval on the web, before describing a set of tools and techniques that are being developed in the project SPIRIT : Spatially-Aware Information Retrieval on the Internet (funded by European Commission Framework V Project IST-2001-35047).
Web-based system for learning of communication protocols

Summary The paper introduces a new web-based system that provides on-line access to software source codes developed using the Specification and Description Language (SDL). The purpose of this web system is to support the teaching of protocol techniques by offering practical examples of protocol implementation. However, examples developed in low-level languages such as C++ do not clearly describe the communication process as is desired. Therefore, a formal approach is often used for teaching purposes. SDL is one of the well-known formal languages used. SDL is an object-oriented programming language that uses graphical expressions for the source code. Furthermore, a simulation and validation of the SDL software can be performed without real implementation. The simulation results are again presented graphically using the Message Sequence Charts (MSC) diagrams. The above web system offers users the possibility to publish and search through SDL source codes with accompanying MSC diagrams. Key-words: protocol, e-learning, SDL, MSC
Transfer Learning for Policy Search Methods

An ambitious goal of transfer learning is to learn a task faster after training on a different, but related, task. In this paper we extend a previously successful temporal difference (Sutton & Barto, 1998) approach to transfer inreinforcement learning (Sutton & Barto, 1998) tasks to work with policy search. In particular, we show how to construct a mapping to translate a population of policies trained via genetic algorithms (GAs) (Goldberg, 1989) from a source task to a target task. Empirical results in robot soccer Keepaway, a standard RL benchmark domain (Stone et al., 2006), demonstrate that transfer via inter-task mapping can markedly reduce the time required to learn a second, more complex, task.
Game Player Strategy Pattern Recognition and How UCT Algorithms Apply Pre-knowledge of Player's Strategy to Improve Opponent AI

Player strategy pattern recognition (PSPR) is to apply pattern recognition and its approach to identification of player's strategy during the gameplay. Correctly identified player's strategy, which is called knowledge, could be used to improve game opponent AI which can be implemented by KB-UCT (knowledge-based upper confidence bound for trees). KB-UCT improves adaptability of game AI, the challenge level of the gameplay, and the performance of the opponent AI; as a result the entertainment of game is promoted. In this paper, the prey and predator game genre of dead end game is used as a test-bed. During the PSPR, classification algorithm of KNN (k-nearest neighbor) is chosen to analyze off-line data from the simulated gamers who are choosing different strategies. Based on the information from PSPR, the game AI is promoted through application of KB-UCT, in this case, domain knowledge is used for UCT tree pruning; as a result the performance of the opponent AI is enhanced.