Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Broadband Monopole Antenna with Wideband Circular Polarization

A novel broadband monopole antenna design with wideband circular polarization (CP) characteristic is presented. This antenna consists of a feed line and a step-shaped ground plane which is formed by cutting a notch in the upper left corner of an asymmetric ground plane. The asymmetric ground plane is capable of exciting two orthogonal electric fleld vectors with equal amplitude and 90 - phase difierence (PD) for CP. By cutting a notch, the 10-dB impedance- bandwidth can be enhanced greatly and the 3-dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth is also improved meanwhile. The measured impedance- bandwidth is about 5.96GHz (84.7%) from 4.06 to 10.02GHz, and the measured AR-bandwidth is about 2.64GHz (36.5%) from 5.91 to 8.55GHz. The results show that the antenna can achieve wide impedance-bandwidth and wide AR-bandwidth simultaneously.
Does Thromboelastography Predict Postoperative Thromboembolic Events? A Systematic Review of the Literature

BACKGROUND: Since thromboelastography (TEG) can detect hypercoagulable states, it is a potentially useful test for predicting postoperative thromboembolic complications. Therefore, we performed a systematic review of the literature to evaluate the accuracy of TEG in predicting postoperative thromboembolic events. METHODS: PUBMED and EMBASE electronic databases were searched by two independent investigators to identify prospective studies involving adult patients undergoing operative procedures in which a TEG test was performed perioperatively and outcomes were measured by reference standards. The quality of included studies was assessed and measures of diagnostic test accuracy were estimated for each included study. RESULTS: Ten studies (with a total of 1056 patients) were included in this analysis; however, only five reported measures of TEG test accuracy. The overall quality of the studies and level of diagnostic evaluation of the studies were highly variable, from poor to good. As there were variations in the definition of hypercoagulability, TEG methodology and patient characteristics, reference standards used and outcomes measured, a meta-analysis was not undertaken. The sensitivity and specificity ranged from 0% to 100% and 62% to 92%, respectively. The diagnostic odds ratio ranged from 1.5 to 27.7; area under the curve ranged from 0.57 to 0.91. Of the TEG variables, maximum amplitude seems to be the best parameter to identify hypercoagulable states and to predict thromboembolic events. CONCLUSIONS: The predictive accuracy of TEG for postoperative thromboembolic events is highly variable. To determine if the TEG is a clinically useful screening test in high-risk surgical populations, more prospective studies are needed.
Prevention of Malaria Resurgence in Greece through the Association of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) to Immigrants from Malaria-Endemic Regions and Standard Control Measures

Greece was declared malaria-free in 1974 after a long antimalarial fight. In 2011–2012, an outbreak of P. vivax malaria was reported in Evrotas, an agricultural area in Southern Greece, where a large number of immigrants from endemic countries live and work. A total of 46 locally acquired and 38 imported malaria cases were detected. Despite a significant decrease of the number of malaria cases in 2012, a mass drug administration (MDA) program was considered as an additional measure to prevent reestablishment of the disease in the area. During 2013 and 2014, a combination of 3-day chloroquine and 14-day primaquine treatment was administered under direct observation to immigrants living in the epicenter of the 2011 outbreak in Evrotas. Adverse events were managed and recorded on a daily basis. The control measures implemented since 2011 continued during the period of 2013–2014 as a part of a national integrated malaria control program that included active case detection (ACD), vector control measures and community education. The MDA program was started prior to the transmission periods (from May to December). One thousand ninety four (1094) immigrants successfully completed the treatment, corresponding to 87.3% coverage of the target population. A total of 688 adverse events were recorded in 397 (36.2%, 95% C.I.: 33.4–39.1) persons, the vast majority minor, predominantly dizziness and headache for chloroquine (284 events) and abdominal pain (85 events) for primaquine. A single case of primaquine-induced hemolysis was recorded in a person whose initial G6PD test proved incorrect. No malaria cases were recorded in Evrotas, Laconia, in 2013 and 2014, though three locally acquired malaria cases were recorded in other regions of Greece in 2013. Preventive antimalarial MDA to a high-risk population in a low transmission setting appears to have synergized with the usual antimalarial activities to achieve malaria elimination. This study suggests that judicious use of MDA can be a useful addition to the antimalarial armamentarium in areas threatened with the reintroduction of the disease.
Helping out : children's labor in ethnic businesses

The growing body of literature on ethnic businesses has emphasized the importance of small family-based businesses as a key form of immigrant adaptation. Although there have been numerous references to the importance of 'family labor' as a key ethnic resource, few studies have examined the work roles and family dynamics entailed in various kinds of ethnic businesses. "Helping Out" addresses the centrality of children's labor participation in such family enterprises. Discussing the case of Chinese families running take-out food shops in Britain, Miri Song examines the ways in which children contribute their labor and the context in which children come to understand and believe in 'helping out' as part of a 'family work contract'. Song explores the implications of these children's labor participation for family relationships, cultural identity, and the future of the Chinese community in Britain. While doing so, she argues that the practical importance and the broader meanings of children's work must be understood in the context of immigrant families' experiences of migration and ethnic minority status in Western, white-majority societies. Miri Song is Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Kent at Canterbury.
An imaging target tracking software for a precision guided missile application

Detection and tracking are the critical problems of computer vision. It is essential pre-processing for other algorithms. In this paper, we present an efficient and robust detection and tracking algorithm which is based on morphological operation and dynamic filtering (HPDAF: Highest Probability Data Association Filter). In airborne IR imagery, objects are usually obscure and too small to recognize their shape. Therefore dynamic filtering approach can be the best solution for tracking. Several experimental results show that our proposed algorithm efficiently detects and tracks the object regardless of size and their shape consistency. Temporarily occluded targets can be handled track-termination and re-detect sequence of the proposed algorithm.
Why So Many Coinhibitory Receptors?

Receptors that display negative signalling functions on lymphocytes and other cells of the reticuloendothelial system now number about 30. These negative receptors are transmembrane glycoproteins activated by phosphorylation of a tyrosine residue in immunoreceptor tyrosine‐based inhibitory motifs that bind various phosphatases to induce dominant negative signals. Since these receptors are armed by the action of activating receptors and inhibit signalling by activating receptors, we have termed them coinhibitory receptors and the negative outcome is coinhibition. Coinhibitory receptors and some inhibitory mediators include FcγRIIB, CTLA‐4, CD5, CD22, p58/70/140 KIR, gp49B1/gp91, PIRB1‐5, LAIR‐1, NKB1, Ly49 A/C/E/F/G, NKG2‐A/B APC‐R, CD66, CD72, PD‐1, SHPS‐1, SIRP‐α1, ILT1‐5, MIR7,10, hMIR(HM18), hMIR(HM9), LIR1‐3,5,8, Fas (CD95), TGFβ‐R, TNF‐R1, IFNγ‐R (α and β chains), mast cell function Ag, H2‐M, HLA‐DM, CD1, CD1‐d, CD46, c‐cbl, Pyk2/FADK2, P130 Ca rel prot, PGDF‐R, LIF, LIF‐R, CIS, SOCS13 and 5, and others are being defined regularly. This long list suggests that coinhibitors are needed not only for self–nonself discrimination, but also for control of ongoing responses to foreign antigens so that infectious agents are ideally dealt with by an appropriate level of immune responses to nonself and an appropriate amount of immunopathology and sickness behaviour.
Metastability in interacting nonlinear stochastic differential equations: I. From weak coupling to synchronization

We consider the dynamics of a periodic chain of N coupled overdamped particles under the influence of noise. Each particle is subjected to a bistable local potential, to a linear coupling with its nearest neighbours, and to an independent source of white noise. The system shows a metastable behaviour, which is characterized by the location and stability of its equilibrium points. We show that as the coupling strength increases, the number of equilibrium points decreases from 3N to 3. While for weak coupling, the system behaves like an Ising model with spin-flip dynamics, for strong coupling (of the order N2), it synchronizes, in the sense that all particles assume almost the same position in their respective local potential most of the time. We derive the exponential asymptotics for the transition times, and describe the most probable transition paths between synchronized states, in particular for coupling intensities below the synchronization threshold. Our techniques involve a centre-manifold analysis of the desynchronization bifurcation, with a precise control of the stability of bifurcating solutions, allowing us to give a detailed description of the system's potential landscape.
Morphological Computation of Multi-Gaited Robot Locomotion Based on Free Vibration

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the study of gait patterns in both animals and robots, because it allows us to systematically investigate the underlying mechanisms of energetics, dexterity, and autonomy of adaptive systems. In particular, for morphological computation research, the control of dynamic legged robots and their gait transitions provides additional insights into the guiding principles from a synthetic viewpoint for the emergence of sensible self-organizing behaviors in more-degrees-of-freedom systems. This article presents a novel approach to the study of gait patterns, which makes use of the intrinsic mechanical dynamics of robotic systems. Each of the robots consists of a U-shaped elastic beam and exploits free vibration to generate different locomotion patterns. We developed a simplified physics model of these robots, and through experiments in simulation and real-world robotic platforms, we show three distinctive mechanisms for generating different gait patterns in these robots.
Sarcopenia in an Overweight or Obese Patient Is an Adverse Prognostic Factor in Pancreatic Cancer

Purpose: The average weight-losing pancreatic cancer patient undergoing palliative therapy is frequently overweight rather than underweight, and this can confound conventional measures used for risk stratification. The aim of this study was to evaluate if weight and body composition, specifically sarcopenia, assessed from diagnostic computed tomography (CT) scans, is of prognostic value in patients with pancreatic cancer. The nature and extent of tissue loss over subsequent months was also evaluated. Experimental Design: A total of 111 patients entering a palliative therapy program, who had CT images and had undergone nutritional screening, were studied. In patients for whom follow-up scans were available (n = 44), longitudinal changes in body composition were studied at a mean of 230 62 and 95 60 days prior to demise. Results: Sixty-two patients (55.9) were sarcopenic, 44 (39.6) were overweight/obese, and 18 (16.2) were both. Age 59 years (hazard ratio, 1.71; 95 confidence interval, 1.10-2.66; P = 0.018), and overweight/obese sarcopenia (hazard ratio, 2.07; 95 confidence interval, 1.23-3.50; P = 0.006) were identified as independent predictors of survival on multivariate analysis. Longitudinal analysis revealed that total fat-free mass index decreased from 15.5 2.5 kg/m2 to 14.5 2.0 kg/m2 (P = 0.002), and total fat mass index decreased from 7.5 2.0kg/m2 to 6.0 1.5kg/m2 (P < 0.0001) over 135 days. Conclusions: Sarcopenia in overweight/obese patients with advanced pancreatic cancer is an occult condition but can be identified using CT scans. This condition is an independent adverse prognostic indicator that should be considered for stratification of patients' entering clinical trials, systemic therapy, or support care programs. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(22):69739)
Effect of Ankle Taping on Mechanical Laxity in Chronic Ankle Instability

Background: The high percentage of re-injury after an initial ankle sprain necessitates examination of preventative methods. The purpose of this project was to investigate the effect ankle tape has on mechanical laxity in subjects with CAI. Materials and Methods: Twenty subjects with unilateral CAI (seven males and 13 females; age, 20.6 ± 1.8 years; mass, 69.9 ± 13.7 kg; height, 172.3 ± 9.3 cm) and 20 healthy subjects (seven males and 13 females; age, 21.9 ± 4.3 years; mass, 72.0 ± 14.6 kg; height, 171.1 ± 6.7 cm) participated in the study. Both ankles of each subject were tested under two conditions: 1) before the application of tape; and 2) immediately after 30 minutes of exercise with the ankle taped. Mechanical laxity was measured with an instrumented ankle arthrometer. Two (group) x two (time) repeated measures ANOVA analysis was used for analysis. Results: There were significant group by time interactions (p = 0.014) for anterior displacement with significantly increased anterior displacement in the involved ankle of the CAI group relative to the matched control limb both before and after tape application. Similarly, there were significant time main effects for posterior displacement (p = 0.004), inversion (p = 0.001) and eversion (p = 0.043) rotation. Specifically, tape application decreased posterior displacement, inversion and eversion rotation only in the CAI group. Additionally, a significant group main effect for inversion rotation (p = 0.001) was also noted. Followup testing indicated significantly greater inversion rotation for the CAI ankle compared to the matched healthy ankle before tape application. Conclusion: Mechanical laxity significantly decreased in CAI subjects after tape application. Although there was still a significant difference in mechanical laxity between the involved ankle vs. the uninvolved ankle of the CAI group, as well as the matched healthy group, laxity decreased in the CAI ankle after the application of tape. Clinical Relevance: Ankle taping may be able to improve mechanical instability in those with CAI.
Organizational Commitment of Social Workers: An Exploratory Study

This study explored organizational and individual predictors of organizational commitment in a sample of social workers employed in a variety of different settings. The results revealed that investiture socialization tactics, role conflict, and the type of organization were significant predictors of organizational commitment. Those social workers who experienced lower levels of role conflict and who were socialized into an organization using the investiture tactics that emphasize newcomers' capabilities and build upon their values and perceptions had higher levels of organizational commitment. Additionally, the results suggest that organizational commitment is related to the type of organization. Social workers in mental health settings were most highly committed to their organizations. Based on the findings of this study, implications for social work practice and research are discussed.
Everyday Creativity in Language: Textuality, Contextuality, and Critique

This paper starts by examining recent work by applied linguists who argue that creativity is not only a property of especially skilled and gifted language users, but is pervasive in routine everyday practice. Also variously addressing literariness, language play and humour, this apparent democratization of creativity contributes to a more general refocusing within applied linguistics on language users as creative designers of meaning. Alongside the textual analysis of poetic form, there has been an increasing interest in the interactional functions of creativity, suggesting the need for a more dynamic model which can address the dialogical nature of everyday creativity, its sociohistorical dimensions and processes of contextualization. In order to suggest how such a model could be developed, the authors draw on Russian sociohistorical conceptions of the evaluative function of language as social sign and bring together the applied linguistic research with work from linguistic anthropology on contextualization, framing, and reflexivity within performance. While linguistic anthropologists have focused mainly on traditional oral art, the authors argue that the framing and critical potential of performance is also keyed by more fleeting uses of poetic language in everyday interaction. In relation to four contrasting examples of data, they suggest how an integrated analytical framework might be developed which addresses textual, contextual, and critical dimensions of creativity.
Gifts, Loans and Intergenerational Support for Young Adults

Young adults in the UK are increasingly dependent on family support to offset the costs of living independently. This article explores these complex intergenerational exchanges from the perspective of a group of single young adults in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties who had been in receipt of various forms of financial and material support from family members since leaving the parental home. We outline the nature of this support and then consider how these forms of assistance are understood by those in receipt of them. We conclude that the co-existence of a sense of both gratitude and discomfort which is often generated by these exchanges is managed but by no means resolved by a blurring of the boundaries between gifts and loans, a set of negotiations which may not even be an option amongst less advantaged young adults.
A Discussion by Any other Name: Disentangling Words and Practice in Online Conferencing

It is possible that the pedagogical benefits of a discussion board or any asynchronous communicative tool may not be realised as inscribed in terms like ‘collaborative learning environment’ or ‘discussion board’ due to two things: first, as instructors, we focus on what the technology can do and should do and ignore what is done when the technology is used in practice; and second, as researchers, we focus on coding messages into categories and mapping online activities into models that causes us, again, instead of seeing what is done, to try to fit our practices in situ into codes. As both instructors and researchers, we try to adhere to a constructivist view of teaching and learning. This article is about what is happening – the practice of blended/online learning and communication environment and tool (i.e. discussion board) as the technology-in-situ. It disentangles the word ‘collaborative’ from ‘technology’ and, in particular, the word ‘discussion’ from ‘board’. Our very notions of discussion or collaboration and our understanding of the so-called collaborative learning environments define the ways in which we plan for an online activity. The author argues that constructivism has become a byword influencing pedagogy, its methodologies including designing so-called learning environments in ways that hide what is really happening when we are online. The case of the discussion board is described to illustrate that the board online can be other things too.
Recent Changes in the Clinicopathologic Features of Korean Men with Prostate Cancer: A Comparison with Western Populations

Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the recent changes in the clinicopathologic features of prostate cancer in Korea and to compare these features with those of Western populations. Materials and Methods We retrospectively reviewed the data of 1582 men undergoing radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer between 1995 and 2007 at 10 institutions in Korea for comparison with Western studies. The patients were divided into two groups in order to evaluate the recent clinicopathological changes in prostate cancer: Group 1 had surgery between 1995 and 2003 (n=280) and Group 2 had surgery between 2004 and 2007 (n=1302). The mean follow-up period was 24 months. Results Group 1 had a higher prostate-specific antigen level than Group 2 (10.0 ng/mL vs. 7.5 ng/mL, respectively; p<0.001) and a lower proportion of biopsy Gleason scores ≤6 (35.0% vs. 48.1%, respectively; p<0.001). The proportion of patients with clinical T1 stage was higher in Group 2 than in Group 1. Group 1 had a lower proportion of organ-confined disease (59.6% vs. 68.6%; p<0.001) and a lower proportion of Gleason scores ≤6 (21.3% vs. 33.0%; p<0.001), compared to Group 2. However, the relatively higher proportion of pathologic Gleason scores ≤6 in Group 2 was still lower than those of Western men, even though the proportion of organ-confined disease reached to that of Western series. Conclusion Korean men with prostate cancer currently present better clinicopathologic parameters. However, in comparison, Korean men still show relatively worse pathologic Gleason scores than Western men.
An Optimal Maximum Power Point Tracking Algorithm for PV Systems With Climatic Parameters Estimation

This paper presents a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method for photovoltaic (PV) systems with reduced hardware setup. It is realized by calculating the instantaneous conductance and the junction conductance of the array. The first one is done using the array voltage and current, whereas the second one, which is a function of the array junction current, is estimated using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy (ANFIS) solar cell model. Knowing the difficulties of measuring solar radiation and cell temperature, since those require two extra sensors that will increase the hardware circuitry and measurement noise, an analytical model is proposed to estimate them with a denoising-based wavelet algorithm. The proposed MPPT technique helps to reduce the hardware setup using only one voltage sensor, while increases the array power efficiency and MPPT response time. The simulation and experimental results are provided to validate the MPPT algorithm operation as well as the climatic parameters estimation capabilities.
Localization of an Inert Region in the Brain using Modified Levenberg Marquarts Neural Network

We tested the localization accuracy of electroencephalograph (EEG) for an inert region in a simulation at sizes ranging from 1 to 8 cm at 1 cm intervals. We used international 10-20 system electrodes placements and three concentric shell model to calculate forward problems. From using the data, neural network could be used to solve inverse problems. In this case, we estimate the localization of inert region. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the method, we perform simulations on location of inert region from EEG data, consists of training and test data. Based on the results of extensive studies, we conclude that neural network are high feasible as localization of inert region. These EEG estimation tasks were created by using a set of calculated, artificial EEG signals based on a number of current dipoles. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method has several attractive features. 1) The size of inert region is becoming more large and more the RMS values low. 2) The following the distance is closer, the RMS values is low. That could be considered inert region exists near by the electrode which has low RMS potential. 3) The more larger inert region were, the more small estimation error become.