Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Scalable NMR spectroscopy with semiconductor chips

Significance The strong application-driven need for portable NMR spectrometers has led to development of spectroscopy-grade permanent magnets. In contrast, NMR spectrometer electronics capable of modern multidimensional spectroscopy remain bulky. Here, we report on 4-mm2 silicon spectrometer electronics chips, and perform various multidimensional NMR spectroscopies by using these chips with a permanent magnet. This combination of semiconductor technology and advanced permanent magnet technology is a step toward portable NMR spectrometers, which can enable in-field, on-demand, or online applications and facilitate co-use of NMR with other analytical methods. Besides the portable application, the spectrometer electronics chips with their cost/size economy can improve other NMR technologies—whether with permanent or superconducting magnet—such as multi-channel spectroscopy, phased-array imaging, microfluidic microscopy, and parallel, high-throughput spectroscopy. State-of-the-art NMR spectrometers using superconducting magnets have enabled, with their ultrafine spectral resolution, the determination of the structure of large molecules such as proteins, which is one of the most profound applications of modern NMR spectroscopy. Many chemical and biotechnological applications, however, involve only small-to-medium size molecules, for which the ultrafine resolution of the bulky, expensive, and high-maintenance NMR spectrometers is not required. For these applications, there is a critical need for portable, affordable, and low-maintenance NMR spectrometers to enable in-field, on-demand, or online applications (e.g., quality control, chemical reaction monitoring) and co-use of NMR with other analytical methods (e.g., chromatography, electrophoresis). As a critical step toward NMR spectrometer miniaturization, small permanent magnets with high field homogeneity have been developed. In contrast, NMR spectrometer electronics capable of modern multidimensional spectroscopy have thus far remained bulky. Complementing the magnet miniaturization, here we integrate the NMR spectrometer electronics into 4-mm2 silicon chips. Furthermore, we perform various multidimensional NMR spectroscopies by operating these spectrometer electronics chips together with a compact permanent magnet. This combination of the spectrometer-electronics-on-a-chip with a permanent magnet represents a useful step toward miniaturization of the overall NMR spectrometer into a portable platform.
Exploring the Performativity Turn in Management Studies

One of the contemporary “turns” in management studies is the “performativity” turn. In this paper, we present a genealogy of the concept of performativity as it has been used in management and organization studies (MOS). Starting with the work of Austin, Bateson, Goffman and Lyotard, we move on to more recent debates surrounding the use of the concept by Butler and the STS researchers Callon, Latour and Law, as well as how their ideas have been further translated within MOS. The focus is on how the concept is defined and on the areas of study where performativity has been used. Taken together, the approach to performativity employed has implications for how the concept is understood and translated. Finally, we discuss the particular ontological position of the performative perspective, and its methodological consequences.
EPIC: Platform-as-a-Service Model for Cloud Networking

Enterprises today face several challenges when hosting line-of-business applications in the cloud. Central to many of these challenges is the limited support for control over cloud network functions, such as, the ability to ensure security, performance guarantees or isolation, and to flexibly interpose middleboxes in application deployments. In this paper, we present the design and implementation of a novel cloud networking system called EPIC. Customers can leverage EPIC to deploy applications augmented with a rich and extensible set of network functions such as virtual network isolation, custom addressing, service differentiation, and flexible interpo sition of various middleboxes. EPIC primitives are directly implemented within the cloud infrastructure itself using high-speed programmable network elements, making EPIC highly efficient. We evaluate an OpenFlowbased prototype of EPIC and find that it can be used to instantiate a variety of network functions in the cloud, and that its performance is robust even in the face of large numbers of provisioned services and link/device failures.
Evaluating Occupational 60-Hertz Electric-Field Exposures for Guideline Compliance

This article examines determination of compliance of 60-Hz electric-field exposures with occupational guideline limits. The guidelines are expressed as a limit on the unperturbed electric field without allowance for the severity of potential spark discharges. A line worker on a 500-kV transmission-line tower provided a practical example of an occupational exposure. In this realistic case, the worker's posture, the uniformity of the field, and the field orientation differed from the guideline exposure scenario of standing erect in a vertical uniform field. An accurate estimate of the unperturbed nonuniform fields in the climbing space of a lattice steel structure was computed using Monte Carlo methods that modeled surface and spatial electric fields on and near standard geometrical elements. Fields were computed at 20 points in a three-dimensional array, simulating the location of the human body on the tower. We estimated the average unperturbed electric field, space potential, induced short-circuit current, induced open-circuit voltage, and the stored charge and energy available for a discharge over a range of capacitances to ground. The on-tower exposure parameters were compared with those from the idealistic guideline exposure scenario. The average electric field of 24.4 kV/m for the on-tower exposure exceeded the limit of 20 kV/m stated in the recently adopted IEEE Standard C95.6 2002. However, the charge available for a spark discharge during the on-tower exposure was less than that for the guideline exposure scenario. Thus, for an exposure limit based on a constant-charge criterion for adverse reaction to spark discharges, guideline on-tower exposure would be below the limit established for the guideline exposure scenario. Evaluation of electric-field exposures in terms of the charge associated with spark discharges provides a means of comparing any electric-field exposure scenario with the ideal guideline scenario in terms of an effects-related physical quantity. This approach is consistent with the exposure limit/basic restriction methodology that employs a basic restriction on a physical quantity as the ultimate determinant of compliance.
Decision Analysis

W hen scoring rules were ﬁrst widely used, they were developed as a way to measure the accuracy of probability forecasts ex post. Ex ante, proper scoring rules encourage honestly reported and sharper probabilities, both of which increase the forecaster’s expected score. Most applications utilize standard off-the-shelf scoring rules. In the spirit of decision analysis, we develop proper scoring rules that are tailored to speciﬁc decision-making problems and to the utility functions of particular decision makers. We show how these rules, which are intended for situations where a decision maker consults an expert to assess a probability, not only encourage honest reporting, but also reward sharpness in a way that aligns the interests of the expert and the decision maker. We also illustrate the generation of tailored scoring rules in numerical form, which is useful when analytical expressions for the tailored rules cannot be obtained or are too complex to be helpful in practice. Finally, we show how these numerical scoring rules can be presented to the expert in graphical or tabular form and suggest that this could be desirable even for standard scoring rules.
Mind, Brain, and Language : Multidisciplinary Perspectives

Contents: Preface. Part I: The Emergence, Influence, and Development of Language. P. Lieberman, Language Evolution and Innateness. G. Bennardo, Language, Mind, and Culture: From Linguistic Relativity to Representational Modularity. P.W. Jusczyk, The Role of Speech Perception Capacities in Early Language Acquisition. Part II: Models of Language and Language Processing. N. Smith, Dissociation and Modularity: Reflections on Language and Mind. G.K. Pullum, B.C. Scholz, Linguistic Models. D.C. Plaut, Connectionist Modeling of Language: Examples and Implications. Part III: The Neurological Bases of Language. M. Kutas, B.M. Schmitt, Language in Microvolts. R.J. Zatorre, Functional and Structural Imaging in the Study of Auditory Language Processes. C. Chiarello, Parallel Systems for Processing Language: Hemispheric Complementarity in the Normal Brain. Part IV: Language Disruption and Loss. E.M. Saffran, Evidence From Language Breakdown: Implications for the Neural and Functional Organization of Language. M.T. Banich, P.E. Scalf, Neurocognitive Bases of Developmental Reading Disorders. Part V: Two Languages, One Brain. M. Mack, The Phonetic Systems of Bilinguals. M. Paradis, Differential Use of Cerebral Mechanisms in Bilinguals.
Key Data Quality Issues for Enterprise Asset Management in Engineering Organisations

Data Quality (DQ) is a critical issue for effective asset management. DQ problems can result in severe negative consequences for an organisation. Several research studies have indicated that most organizations have DQ problems. In response to these problems, organisations have developed various policies (e.g. fair use of data, information privacy, etc). However, it is often difficult to implement these policies at the tacit and operational level, especially identifying the areas or problems to focus on. Through a case study with two state-wide Australian utility companies, this paper tries to present the DQ issues which emerged from a number of asset management processes. The findings are thought to be valuable for practitioners, especially policy implementers, who want to align policy with real-world business.
Shrinkage of experimental benign prostatic hyperplasia and reduction of prostatic cell volume by a gastrin-releasing peptide antagonist

Gastrin releasing-peptide (GRP) is a potent growth factor in many malignancies. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a progressive age-related proliferation of glandular and stromal tissues; various growth factors and inflammatory processes are involved in its pathogenesis. We have demonstrated that potent antagonists of GRP inhibit growth of experimental human tumors including prostate cancer, but their effect on models of BPH has not been studied. Here, we evaluated the effects of GRP antagonist RC-3940-II on viability and cell volume of BPH-1 human prostate epithelial cells and WPMY-1 prostate stromal cells in vitro, and in testosterone-induced BPH in Wistar rats in vivo. RC-3940-II inhibited the proliferation of BPH-1 and WPMY-1 cells in a dose-dependent manner and reduced prostatic cell volume in vitro. Shrinkage of prostates was observed after 6 wk of treatment with RC-3940-II: a 15.9% decline with 25 μg/d; and a 18.4% reduction with 50 μg/d (P < 0.05 for all). Significant reduction in levels of proliferating cell nuclear antigen, NF-κβ/p50, cyclooxygenase-2, and androgen receptor was also seen. Analysis of transcript levels of genes related to growth, inflammatory processes, and signal transduction showed significant changes in the expression of more than 90 genes (P < 0.05). In conclusion, GRP antagonists reduce volume of human prostatic cells and lower prostate weight in experimental BPH through direct inhibitory effects on prostatic GRP receptors. GRP antagonists should be considered for further development as therapy for BPH.
Quantification of metamorphopsia in patients with macular hole.

PURPOSE To describe a novel method for the evaluation of metamorphopsia within the central 10 degrees of the visual field in 55 patients with idiopathic macular hole. The test evaluates the interocular disparity between the two eyes in metamorphopsia. METHODS Semicircular test and reference stimuli of variable diameters were used in a binocular test that measured interocular size disparity between perceptually iseikonic stimuli in subjects with a unilateral macular hole. A group of 11 healthy subjects was used as the reference. RESULTS In 55 patients with a macular hole, interocular disparity demonstrated a mean value of 0.71 degrees with stimuli in the range 1.0 degrees to 2.5 degrees in diameter. This number declined to 0.41 degrees with stimuli in the range of 9.0 degrees to 10.0 degrees in diameter. Both hole diameter and eccentricity had a significant effect on mean disparity (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The level of metamorphopsia declined as a function of eccentricity and affected the central 10 degrees of visual field. Macular hole size had an independent effect on interocular disparity. These results confirm reports that visuospatial distortion in the presence of macular hole is primarily the result of radial displacement of photoreceptors. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00302328.).
Fractal tree plasmonic nanoantenna array for multispectral surface-enhanced spectroscopy

Plasmonic nanoantenna are pushing the sensitivity and detection limits of chemical and biochemical assay technologies. The challenge is to precisely tailor the spectral lineshapes and operational bandwidth and to engineer the localized electromagnetic field enhancements (“hot spots”) optimally for a particular spectroscopic task. Here we present a numerical study of the optical behavior of ternary tree fractal plasmonic gold nanoantenna. Spectral features spanning the visible to mid IR range are seen with the observation of characteristic self-similar features as the fractal order increases. The geometrical regularity of the ternary tree is perturbed and its influence on the optical properties is studied. The nanoantenna is seen to exhibit reduced polarization sensitivity even in highly assymetric structures. The intriguing optical properties of ternary tree fractal nanoantenna are particularly promising for the optimal design of substrates for performing multispectral surface-enhanced spectroscopy.
Formal Models for Ambient Intelligence

This paper is devoted to a recently running project description with a purpose to get some necessary feedback from the AmI community as to the project ambitions. The project intends to study possibilities of several formal approaches towards modeling intelligent environments based on principles of ambient intelligence. The main goal is in contributing towards theoretical foundations of ambient intelligence via modelling of intelligent environments functionality using three basic approaches: multi-agent systems of various kind, algebraic methods, and grammar systems and colonies.
Cognitive MIMO relaying with multiple primary transceivers

We examine the impact of clusters of primary transceivers in cognitive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relay networks with underlay spectrum sharing. In such a network, we propose antenna selection as an interference-aware design to satisfy the power constraints in the primary and secondary networks. To demonstrate this, we consider transmit antenna selection with maximal ratio combining (TAS/MRC) in the primary and secondary networks. With this in mind, we derive new closed-form asymptotic expressions for the outage probability and the symbol error rate (SER) over independent Nakagami-m fading channels. Our results lead to several new fundamental insights. In particular, we highlight that TAS/MRC achieves a full diversity gain when the maximum transmit power in the secondary network is proportional to the peak interference temperature in the primary network.
Performance Degradation Analysis of GPU Kernels

Hardware accelerators (currently Graphical Processing Units or GPUs) are an important component in many existing high-performance computing solutions [5]. Their growth in variety and usage is expected to skyrocket [1] due to many reasons. First, GPUs offer impressive energy efficiencies [3]. Second, when properly programmed, they yield impressive speedups by allowing programmers to model their computation around many fine-grained threads whose focus can be rapidly switched during memory stalls. Unfortunately, arranging for high memory access efficiency requires developed computational thinking to properly decompose a problem domain to gain this efficiency. Our work currently addresses the needs of the CUDA [5] approach to programming GPUs. Two important classes of such rules are bank conflict avoidance rules that pertain to CUDA shared memory and coalesced access rules that pertain to global memory. The former requires programmers to generate memory addresses from consecutive threads that fall within separate shared memory banks. The latter requires programmers to generate memory addresses that permit coalesced fetches from the global memory. In previous work [6], we had, to some extent addressed the former through SMTbased methods. Several other efforts also address bank conflicts [7, 8, 4]. In this work, we address the latter requirement—detecting when coalesced access rules are being violated.
Packing Interactions between Transmembrane Helices Alter Ion Selectivity of the Yeast Golgi Ca2+/Mn2+-ATPase PMR1*

PMR1 is the yeast secretory pathway pump responsible for high affinity transport of Mn2+ and Ca2+ into the Golgi, where these ions are sequestered and effectively removed from the cytoplasm. Phenotypic growth assays allow for convenient screening of side chains important for Ca2+ and Mn2+ transport. Earlier we demonstrated that mutant Q783A at the cytoplasmic interface of M6 could transport Ca2+, but not Mn2+. Scanning mutagenesis of side chains proximal to residue Gln-783 in membrane helices M2, M4, M5, and M6 revealed additional residues near the cytoplasmic interface, notably Leu-341 (M5), Phe-738 (M5), and Leu-785 (M6) that are sensitive to substitution. Importantly, we obtained evidence for a packing interaction between Val-335 in M4 and Gln-783 in M6 that is critical for Mn2+ transport. Thus, mutant V335G mimics the Mn2+ transport defect of Q783A and mutant V335I can effectively suppress the Mn2+-defective phenotype of Q783A. These changes in ion selectivity were confirmed by cation-dependent ATP hydrolysis using purified enzyme. Other substitutions at these sites are tolerated individually, but not in combination. Exchange of side chains at 335 and 783 also results in ion selectivity defects, suggesting that the packing interaction may be conformation-sensitive. Homology models of M4, M5, and M6 of PMR1 have been generated, based on the structures of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase. The models are supported by data from mutagenesis and reveal that Gln-783 and Val-335 show conformation-sensitive packing at the cytoplasmic interface. We suggest that this region may constitute a gate for access of Mn2+ ions.
Nucleotide sequence of the Escherichia coli recJ chromosomal region and construction of recJ-overexpression plasmids

The nucleotide sequence of the recJ gene of Escherichia coli K-12 and two upstream coding regions was determined. Three regions were identified within these two upstream genes that exhibited weak to moderate promoter activity in fusions to the galK gene and are candidates for the recJ promoter. recJ appeared to be poorly translated: the recJ nucleotide sequence revealed a suboptimal initiation codon GUG, no discernible ribosome-binding consensus sequence, and relatively nonbiased synonymous codon usage. Comparison of the sequence of this region of the chromosome with DNA data bases identified the gene immediately downstream of recJ as prfB, which encodes translational release factor 2 and has been mapped near recJ at 62 min. No significant homology between recJ and other previously sequenced regions of DNA was detected. However, protein sequence comparisons with a gene upstream of recJ, denoted xprB, revealed significant homology with several site-specific recombination proteins. Its genetic function is presently unknown. Knowledge of the nucleotide sequence of recJ allowed the construction of a plasmid from which overexpression of RecJ protein could be induced. Supporting the notion that translation of recJ is limiting, a strong T7 bacteriophage promoter upstream of recJ did not, by itself, allow high-level expression of RecJ protein. The addition of a ribosome-binding sequence fused to the initiator GTG of recJ in this construction was necessary to promote expression of high levels of RecJ protein.
Continuity and invariance in hybrid automata

Hybrid automata have been proposed as a language for modelling and analysing the interaction of digital and analogue dynamics in embedded computer systems. In the paper, hybrid automata are studied from a dynamical systems perspective. Extending earlier work on conditions for existence and uniqueness of executions of hybrid automata, we characterise a class of hybrid automata whose executions depend continuously on the initial state. The continuity conditions are subsequently used to derive an extension of LaSalle's principle for studying the stability of invariant sets of states of hybrid automata.
Experimental Approaches to International Relations

A growing number of studies in international relations use experiments. Roth (1995) discusses at least three purposes for experiments: (i) testing theoretically derived models, or “speaking to theorists”; (ii) data generation, which he called “searching for facts,”; and (iii) “searching for meaning,” referring to policy applications, which he described as “whispering in the ears of princes. ” Experiments in international relations have typically focused on the “searching for facts” type of experimental function and on theory (and hypotheses) testing. The main substantive contributions of experiments in international relations have been: (i) Experimental research has tried to shed light on both micro-level and macro-level behavior in international relations, often using different manipulations, samples, and populations, to explore these phenomena; (ii) Experiments, as heuristic devices, have also contributed to the emergence of new theories in international relations and foreign policy analysis, especially poliheuristic models; (iii) Experimental research has also provided cross-validation for findings derived primarily from other methodologies, such as statistical analysis, case studies, formal analysis, simulations, and computational modeling. In this introduction, we distinguish between: 1. Paper-and-pencil experiments, 2. Survey-based experiments, 3. Computerized process-tracing experiments, 4. Field experiments and natural experiments, and 5. Cognitive neuroscience experiments. Here, we provide a brief description of each type for illustrative purposes. These types are neither comprehensive nor mutually exclusive. Although this Symposium does not provide a demonstration of each type of experiment, perhaps reflecting the propensity for scholars in international relations to favor paper-and-pencil experiments for their speed, economy, and efficiency, it is important for scholars to be aware of the vast array of experimental possibilities available to them as they embark on designing a test of their particular hypothesis. The choice of experimental protocol should be driven by whatever variant offers the most appropriate mechanism for isolating the particular variables of interest presented by a given problem or question. …