Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
State-dependent Accessibility and Electrostatic Potential in the Channel of the Acetylcholine Receptor

Ion channel function depends on the chemical and physical properties and spatial arrangement of the residues that line the channel lumen and on the electrostatic potential within the lumen. We have used small, sulfhydryl-specific thiosulfonate reagents, both positively charged and neutral, to probe the environment within the acetylcholine (ACh) receptor channel. Rate constants were determined for their reactions with cysteines substituted for nine exposed residues in the second membrane-spanning segment (M2) of the α subunit. The largest rate constants, both in the presence and absence of ACh, were for the reactions with the cysteine substituted for αThr244, near the intracellular end of the channel. In the open state of the channel, but not in the closed state, the rate constants for the reactions of the charged reagents with several substituted cysteines depended on the transmembrane electrostatic potential, and the electrical distance of these cysteines increased from the extracellular to the intracellular end of M2. Even at zero transmembrane potential, the ratios of the rate constants for the reactions of three positively charged reagents with αT244C, αL251C, and αL258C to the rate constant for the reaction of an uncharged reagent were much greater in the open than in the closed state. This dependence of the rate constants on reagent charge is consistent with an intrinsic electrostatic potential in the channel that is considerably more negative in the open state than in the closed state. The effects of ACh on the rate constants for the reactions of substituted Cys along the length of αM2, on the dependence of the rate constants on the transmembrane potential, and on the intrinsic potential support a location of a gate more intracellular than αThr244.
Discourse measurement in aphasia research: have we reached the tipping point?

ABSTRACT Background: Over the past few decades, clinical aphasiologists have increasingly included various measures of discourse, across a variety of genres, to assess treatment effects and to understand spoken language in people with aphasia. The paradigm shift from assessing language at the word and sentence level to assessing at the discourse level shows an increased awareness of capturing meaningful outcomes; however, this has led to a proliferation of new discourse metrics. These new metrics often lack reliability, validity, and stability data to support their use. In fact, we propose that a tipping point has been reached. Aims: To review the recent move toward establishing a basic core outcome set (COS) for aphasia. In support of this effort, we make a strong argument for the need to dovetail these efforts with the development of a core outcome set for discourse (D-COS). Main contribution: We make a case that the current state of the art in aphasia-related discourse research leaves researchers unsure of the most representative outcomes to include in future investigations and clinicians with little guidance on best practice. We applaud and support the recent efforts toward the development of a general COS for aphasia; however, we propose that the need for a D-COS is urgent because the increasing numbers of discourse measures make it difficult to replicate and compare outcomes across studies. Moreover, these issues likely interfere with adaptation of the use of discourse measurement in clinical practice. Conclusions: Many health-related fields have adopted a COS to guide their research and ensure that the field’s data can be compiled, compared, and contrasted for a better overall understanding of how treatments address targeted illnesses. We argue that, in addition to the recent progress toward a COS for aphasia, a D-COS is also required to improve our understanding of how our treatments improve the discourse of people with aphasia, which in turn will aid in evoking a paradigm shift in clinical practice. To be successful, it is essential that the development of a D-COS includes a process by which all stakeholders are included: people with aphasia, caregivers, clinicians, and clinical researchers.
X-ray observations of RX J0822-4300 and Puppis-A

Based on observations with the X-ray observatories Chandra and XMM-Newton we present results from a detailed spectro-imaging and timing analysis of the central compact X-ray source RX J0822-4300 in the supernova remnant Puppis−A. The superior angular resolution of Chandra allows for the first time to pinpoint the point source nature of this object down to 0.59 ± 0.01 arcsec (FWHM) and to determine its position: RA = 08 h 21 m 57.40 s ,D ec= −43 ◦ 00 � 16.69 �� (J2000) with sub-arcsecond accuracy. Spectral fits based on Chandra and XMM-Newton data provide a tight constraint on the emission properties of RX J0822−4300. Most of its X-ray emission seems to be of thermal origin. A model spectrum consisting of two blackbody components with T1 � 2.6 × 10 6 K, T2 � 5.0 × 10 6 K and R1 � 3. 3k m,R2 � 0.75 km for the blackbody temperatures and the size of the projected emitting regions, respectively, provides the best model description of its spectrum. A search for X-ray pulsations from RX J0822−4300 revealed an interesting periodicity candidate which, if confirmed, does not support a scenario of steady spin-down.
Asymptotic Attainment for Quantum Relative Entropy

In this paper I proved that the quantum relative entropy $D( \sigma||\rho)$ can be asymptotically attained by Kullback Leibler divergences of probabilities given by a certain sequence of measurements. The sequence of measurements depends on $ \rho$ , but is independent of the choice of $ \sigma$ .
A novel GaN-based high frequency varactor diode

GaN Schottky Varactor diodes with potential applications in high frequency multipliers and circuit tuning were designed, fabricated and characterized. The turn-on voltage of the diodes is ~0.5V, while a modulation ratio of ~1.5 was achieved. Equivalent circuit model extraction using measured S-parameters, confirmed the low-frequency extracted data and showed a weak bias dependent series resistance. Diodes with a thickness of 0.3 µm and a diameter of 4 µm had a breakdown voltage of 20 V and a cut-off frequency of 360 GHz.
Infinite Speed of Propagation and Regularity of Solutions to the Fractional Porous Medium Equation in General Domains

We study the positivity and regularity of solutions to the fractional porous medium equations ut+(−Δ)sum=0 in (0,∞)×Ω for m > 1 and s ∈ (0,1), with Dirichlet boundary data u = 0 in (0,∞)×(ℝN∖Ω) and nonnegative initial condition u(0,⋅)=u0≥0 .
FISIP: A Distance and Correlation Preserving Transformation for Privacy Preserving Data Mining

This paper devises a transformation scheme to protect data privacy in the case that data have to be sent to the third party for the analysis purpose. Most conventional transformation schemes suffer from two limits, i.e., the algorithm dependency and the information loss. In this work, we propose a novel privacy preserving transformation scheme without these two limitations. The transformation is referred to as FISIP. Explicitly, by preserving three basic properties, i.e., the first order sum, the second order sum and inner products, of the private data, mining algorithms which depend on these three properties can still be applied to public data. Specifically, any distance-based or correlation-based algorithm has the same performance on the transformed public data as on the original private data. Special perturbation can be added into FISIP transformations to increase the protection level. In the experimental results, FISIP attains data usefulness and data robustness at the same time. In summary, FISIP is able to provide a privacy preserving scheme that preserves the distance and the correlation of the private data after the transformation to the public data.
DNA Sequence of a ColV Plasmid and Prevalence of Selected Plasmid-Encoded Virulence Genes among Avian Escherichia coli Strains

ABSTRACT ColV plasmids have long been associated with the virulence of Escherichia coli, despite the fact that their namesake trait, ColV production, does not appear to contribute to virulence. Such plasmids or their associated sequences appear to be quite common among avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) and are strongly linked to the virulence of these organisms. In the present study, a 180-kb ColV plasmid was sequenced and analyzed. This plasmid, pAPEC-O2-ColV, possesses a 93-kb region containing several putative virulence traits, including iss, tsh, and four putative iron acquisition and transport systems. The iron acquisition and transport systems include those encoding aerobactin and salmochelin, the sit ABC iron transport system, and a putative iron transport system novel to APEC, eit. In order to determine the prevalence of the virulence-associated genes within this region among avian E. coli strains, 595 APEC and 199 avian commensal E. coli isolates were examined for genes of this region using PCR. Results indicate that genes contained within a portion of this putative virulence region are highly conserved among APEC and that the genes of this region occur significantly more often in APEC than in avian commensal E. coli. The region of pAPEC-O2-ColV containing genes that are highly prevalent among APEC appears to be a distinguishing trait of APEC strains.
The Calar Alto lunar occultation program: update and new results

We present an update of the lunar occultation program which is routinely carried out in the near-IR at the Calar Alto Observatory. A total of 350 events were recorded since our last report (Fors et al. 2004). In the course of eight runs we have observed, among others, late-type giants, T-Tauri stars, and infrared sources. Noteworthy was a passage of the Moon close to the galactic center, which produced a large number of events during just a few hours in July 2004. Results include the determinations of the angular diameter of RZ Ari, and the projected separations and brightness ratios for one triple and 13 binary stars, almost all of which representing first time detections. Projected separations range from 0. '' 09 to 0. '' 007. We provide a quantitative analysis of the performance achieved in our observations in terms of angular resolution and sensitivity, which reach about 0. '' 003 and K � 8.5mag, respectively. We also present a statistical discussion of our sample, and in particular of the frequency of detection of binaries among field stars.
Utilisation of microsystems technology in radio frequency and microwave applications

The market trends of the rapidly growing communication systems require new product architectures and services that are only realisable by utilising technologies beyond that of planar integrated circuits. Microsystems technology (MST) is one such technology which can revolutionise radio frequency (RF) and microwave applications. This article discusses the enabling potential of the MST to meet the stringent requirements of modern communication systems. RF MST fabrication technologies and actuation mechanisms empower conventional processes by alleviating the substrate effects on passive devices and provide product designers with high quality versatile microscale components which can facilitate system integration and lead to novel architectures with enhanced robustness and reduced power consumption. An insight on the variety of components that can be fabricated using the MST is given, emphasizing their excellent electrical performance and versatility. Research issues that need to be addressed are also discussed. Finally, this article discusses the main approaches for integrating MST devices in RF and microwave applications together with the difficulties that need to be overcome in order to make such devices readily available for volume-production.
Phase III Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Subcutaneous Versus Intravenous Tocilizumab Monotherapy in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

To evaluate the efficacious noninferiority of subcutaneous tocilizumab injection (TCZ‐SC) monotherapy to intravenous TCZ infusion (TCZ‐IV) monotherapy in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with an inadequate response to synthetic and/or biologic disease‐modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).
Temperature Anisotropies and Distortions Induced by Hot Intracluster Gas on the Cosmic Microwave Background

The power spectrum of temperature anisotropies induced by hot intracluster gas on the cosmic background radiation is calculated. For low multipoles it remains constant, while at multipoles above l>2000 it is exponentially damped. The shape of the radiation power spectrum is almost independent of the average intracluster gas density profile, gas evolution history, or cluster core radii, but the amplitude depends strongly on those parameters. Its exact value depends on the global properties of the cluster population and the evolution of the intracluster gas. The distortion on the cosmic microwave background blackbody spectra varies in a similar manner. The ratio of the temperature anisotropy to the mean Comptonization parameters is shown to be almost independent of the parameters of the cluster model, and at first approximation depends only on the number density of clusters. An independent determination of the contribution of clusters to the distortion of the blackbody spectrum and the temperature fluctuations of the cosmic microwave background would determine the number density of clusters that contribute to the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect.
An Ecological Economist’s View on “Is Economics in Violation of International Law? Remaking Economics as a Social Science”

Is mainstream economics with its many theories and recommendations compatible with international law, such as the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP, 2007) or the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 1992 (UN Rio Declaration, 1992)? Are globally renowned universities teaching economics in ways that violate international law? Can economics as a discipline be questioned in this way and held legally accountable? If so, who are the responsible persons or organizations to be prosecuted? Asking questions of this kind seems to be extremely relevant and timely. As an ecological economist who has questioned the neoclassical mainstream, I find David Lempert’s challenge to contemporary economics to be thought-provoking in more ways than one. Lempert highlights that consumers and firms are the only entities in neoclassical theory while aspects of society and ‘culture’ are missing. Indigenous peoples (and cultures) are just one example of those public interests that are excluded. As economists, whether neoclassical or heterodox, we need to acknowledge that the neoclassical “allocation of scarce resources” and its ideas about rationality and efficiency can cause local and regional cultures to suffer. As a heterodox economist focusing on issues of sustainable development I share Dr. Lempert’s call for scrutiny of mainstream economics in relation to ethical and legal principles. My subjective judgment is that the near monopoly position of neoclassical theory in economics education is dangerous to various communities and the global society at large. It is a threat not only to local cultures but also to humankind. It is the monopoly and the protection of this monopoly that is at fault. Neoclassical theory is not wrong when it preaches competition but what is needed is competition and pluralism as a challenge to neoclassical theory, itself.
Biogas Production by Co-Digestion of Goat Manure with Three Crop Residues

Goat manure (GM) is an excellent raw material for anaerobic digestion because of its high total nitrogen content and fermentation stability. Several comparative assays were conducted on the anaerobic co-digestion of GM with three crop residues (CRs), namely, wheat straw (WS), corn stalks (CS) and rice straw (RS), under different mixing ratios. All digesters were implemented simultaneously under mesophilic temperature at 35±1 °C with a total solid concentration of 8%. Result showed that the combination of GM with CS or RS significantly improved biogas production at all carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratios. GM/CS (30:70), GM/CS (70:30), GM/RS (30:70) and GM/RS (50:50) produced the highest biogas yields from different co-substrates (14840, 16023, 15608 and 15698 mL, respectively) after 55 d of fermentation. Biogas yields of GM/WS 30:70 (C/N 35.61), GM/CS 70:30 (C/N 21.19) and GM/RS 50:50 (C/N 26.23) were 1.62, 2.11 and 1.83 times higher than that of CRs, respectively. These values were determined to be the optimal C/N ratios for co-digestion. However, compared with treatments of GM/CS and GM/RS treatments, biogas generated from GM/WS was only slightly higher than the single digestion of GM or WS. This result was caused by the high total carbon content (35.83%) and lignin content (24.34%) in WS, which inhibited biodegradation.
Distributed Real-Time Fault Tolerance on a Virtualized Multi-Core System

This paper presents different approaches for real-time fault tolerance using redundancy methods for multi-core systems. Using hardware virtualization, a distributed system on a chip is created, where the cores are isolated from one another except through explicit communication channels. Using this system architecture, redundant tasks that would typically be run on separate processors can be consolidated onto a single multi-core processor while still maintaining high confidence of system reliability. A multi-core chip-level distributed system could therefore offer an alternative to traditional automotive systems, for example, which typically use a controller area network such as CAN bus to interconnect multiple electronic control units. Using memory as the explicit communication channel, new recovery techniques that require higher bandwidths and lower latencies than those of traditional networks, now become viable. In this work, we discuss several such techniques we are considering in our chip-level distributed system called Quest-V.
Assessing Trust by Disclosure in Online Social Networks

Knowing about trust between members of an online social network (OSN) is essential for many applications. In this paper we propose and discuss methods for deriving information about trust within a social network by analyzing disclosure of personal information items. A formal model of trust and disclosure is presented and possible trust functions were analysed. We distinguish different types of information and assess their privacy value. A methodology for calculating privacy values and trust functions is provided.
Edge Preserving Lossy Image Compression with Wavelets and Contourlets

In this paper an edge preserving lossy image coder is presented. An edge image is obtained from the original with a digital image processing module using four different filters: Canny, Sobel, Roberts and Prewitt, then the original image is domain transformed with wavelets or contourlets, and a pixel mapping from original domain to transformed is done. For the compression, the edges points and the approximation image (which determines the compression factor) are selected; finally the image is decompressed in order to observe the reconstruction quality and edge preserving. The stages of the compression system are: a) Image selection, b) Digital image processing, c) Feature vector extraction, d) Domain Transformation, e) Pixel mapping, f) Image compression and g) Image decompression. Additionally, the results obtained from comparisons of error measures between original and decompressed images are shown and finally conclusions about the coder are presented.
Deep submicron implementation of gating transistor power saving technique for power optimized code book SRAM

Embedded SRAM has plentiful of applications in signal processing as an on chip RAM. The prime benefit is its speed compared to DRAM. The threat of dissipation is targeted here. This dissipation in code book SRAM in vector quantizers for image compression is reduced. The dissipation is measured at various combinations of supply voltage and precharge voltage of SRAM array. The optimized combination for minimum dissipation and speed is computed. These voltages are 620mV and 300mV for supply and precharge respectively. Additionally the power dissipation is also reduced by 7% to 13% by additional gating transistor and at different precharge levels. The access time is reduced to 2 ns. The reliability is improved by adding redundant rows and columns. The CMOS layout is done at 0. 25µm technology for an array size of 256×8 and 16 such arrays.
A comparison of multivariate methods for thedetection of Differential Item Functioning

This thesis focuses on the comparison of three, recently developed, methods for the detection of differential item functioning (DIF) in the measurement of latent traits, such as abilities or attitudes in psychological or educational research. Identifying group differences is crucial for the correct and unbiased assessment of questionnaires. Over time, various methods have been proposed in literature to identify test items where DIF is present, which range from test statistics to modeling approaches. Most of these methods have some drawbacks in terms of usability or underlying assumptions, e.g. that they cannot deal with multi-categorical variables or that they focus on the global test level and do not identify DIF on the item level. The methods presented in this thesis, however, represent an advancement in the sense, that they try to overcome these problems and limitations. A commonality of the methods, that are described in the following, is, that they can cope with both multiple, potentially DIF-inducing, variables and any form of predictor variables, either metric or categorical. The advantage is a flexible and less restricted approach for the detection of DIF. The first considered method is called DIFlasso and is based on an extension of the widelyknown Rasch model, that involves additional group-specific parameters to incorporate group differences. DIF-detection is performed using a penalized estimation approach. The second method, DIFboost, uses boosting techniques to determine additional group-specific parameters in the extended Rasch model by means of iterative updating of so-called base learners. The third approach called DIFtree relies on model based recursive partitioning resulting in a decision tree for every item that carries out DIF. The aim of this thesis is to compare the three methods regarding their methodological approaches and by means of both an extensive simulation study and an applied example.
Finiteness of cominuscule quantum K-theory

The product of two Schubert classes in the quantum K-theory ring of a homogeneous space X = G/P is a formal power series with coefficients in the Grothendieck ring of algebraic vector bundles on X. We show that if X is cominuscule, then this power series has only finitely many non-zero terms. The proof is based on a geometric study of boundary Gromov-Witten varieties in the Kontsevich moduli space, consisting of stable maps to X that take the marked points to general Schubert varieties and whose domains are reducible curves of genus zero. We show that all such varieties have rational singularities, and that boundary Gromov-Witten varieties defined by two Schubert varieties are either empty or unirational. We also prove a relative Kleiman-Bertini theorem for rational singularities, which is of independent interest. A key result is that when X is cominuscule, all boundary Gromov-Witten varieties defined by three single points in X are rationally connected.
JVM versus CLR: a comparative study

We present empirical evidence to demonstrate that there is little or no difference between the Java Virtual Machine and the . NET Common Language Runtime, as regards the compilation and execution of object-oriented programs. Then we give details of a case study that proves the superiority of the Common Language Runtime as a target for imperative programming language compilers (in particular GCC).