Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Ionizing Stars of Extragalactic H II Regions

Medium-resolution spectra from 3650 to 10000 Å are presented for 96 giant H II regions distributed in 20 spiral galaxies. In order to interpret the data, we have calculated two separate grids of photoionization models, adopting single-star atmospheres (Kurucz) and star clusters synthesized with different initial mass functions (IMFs) as ionizing sources. Additional models were computed with more recent non-LTE stellar atmospheres, in order to check the effects of different stellar ionizing fluxes. We use the radiation softness parameter η'=([O II]/[O III])/([S II]/[S III]) of Vílchez & Pagel to test for a metallicity dependence of the effective temperatures of the ionizing stars. Our results are consistent with a significant decrease in mean stellar temperatures of the ionizing stars with increasing metallicity. The magnitude of the effect, combined with the behavior of the He I λ5876/Hβ ratio, suggest a smaller upper mass limit for star formation at abundances higher than solar, even when considering the effects of metallicity on stellar evolution and atmospheric line blanketing. However, the exact magnitudes of the stellar temperature and IMF variations are dependent on the choice of stellar atmosphere and evolution models used, as well as on uncertainties in the nebular abundance scale at high metallicities. Our results also constrain the systematic behavior of the ionization parameter and the N/O ratio in extragalactic H II regions. The observed spectral sequences are inconsistent with current stellar evolution models, which predict a luminous, hot W-R stellar population in evolved H II regions older than 2-3 Myr. This suggests either that the hardness of the emitted Lyman continuum spectrum has been overestimated in the models or that some mechanism disrupts the H II regions before the W-R phases become important.
Plague immunization. IV. Clinical reactions and serologic response to inoculations of Haffkine and freeze-dried plague vaccine.

In several independently conducted potency tests in mice, a sample of the new type of formalin-killed Haffkine vaccine, manufactured in Bombay from caseinate broth cultures of virulent Yersinia pestis (strain 195/P), appeared to be immunogenically identical to the old type of Haffkine vaccine. Antigenic differences, however, became evident during trials in man. A significant booster effect on the mouse protection index of serum antibody was imparted by the new vaccine, which contained fourfold more Fraction I than the old vaccine. The serologic responses, including markedly elevated indirect HA titers and local reactions resembling delayed hypersensitivity, were striking in individuals whose immunity had been primed by previous inoculations with relatively small doses of live, attenuated, but invasive Y. pestis E.V. 76 daughter strains. A freeze-dried, USP (Cutter) vaccine suspended in cryoprotective chemicals (assayed and proven potent in terms of its capacity, as compared with a standard vaccine, to protect mice and guinea pigs against a standard challenge with virulent Y. pestis) proved to be only moderately antigenic in man. As a booster antigen, it stimulated a significant humoral response. Antigenic and immunogenic inadequacies of killed plague vaccines were overcome by reinoculation at three- to six-month intervals.
Therapeutic Plateletpheresis in a Case of Symptomatic Thrombocytosis in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Abstract: Extreme thrombocytosis is a frequent feature in myeloproliferative disorders which can predispose a person to thrombotic complications. As opposed to other myeloproliferative disorders, symptomatic thrombocytosis is rare in chronic myeloid leukemia. We describe a second case report of chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph chromosome positive) in a patient in chronic phase on hydroxyurea who presented with sudden onset digital cyanosis of the left hand, giddiness, headache and malaise due to extreme thrombocytosis. A 67% global reduction in the platelet count from 1553 × 109/L to 513 × 109/L after two therapeutic plateletpheresis procedures was seen. There was simultaneous improvement in all symptoms except cyanosis on the tip of the middle finger that progressed to dry gangrene. Dramatic reduction in the platelet count and ablation of symptoms by therapeutic plateletpheresis is an effective therapy and should begin as soon as possible.
Evaluation of a Viscoelastic Ankle-Foot Prosthesis at Slow and Normal Walking Speeds on an Able-Bodied Subject

Objectives: This paper describes further improvement and preliminarily evaluation of a novel viscoelastic ankle-foot prosthesis prototype. The objective was to control the ankle hysteresis at slow and normal walking speeds. Methods: Inspired by the ankle biomechanics, in which the hysteresis differs based on the gait speeds, a manually damping control mechanism imbedded in the prosthesis for adjusting the ankle damping at slow and normal walking speeds. The prototype was then preliminarily tested on an able-bodied subject wearing an adaptor which simulates the amputee walking. The ankle joint kinetics and kinematics were measured in a gait analysis lab at different walking speeds. Results: The results suggest that the viscoelastic ankle foot prosthesis prototype could provide a smooth normal-like walking for most of the measured gait characteristics in slow and normal speeds. Discussion: Therefore, it is suggested to apply a controllable damping mechanism based on the gait speeds in the design of new prosthetic feet.
Recent advances in biometric person authentication

Biometrics is an emerging topic in the field of signal processing. While technologies (e.g. audio, video) for biometrics have mostly been studied separately, ultimately, biometric technologies could find their strongest role as interwined and complementary pieces of a multi-modal authentication system. In this paper, a short overview of voice, fingerprint, and face authentication algorithms is provided.
A cognitive approach to fictive motion of mental activity in English and Chinese

In view of Talmy′s Fictive Motion Theory,this research aims at a cognitive analysis about fictive motion of mental activity in Chinese and English.The semantic conceptualization for fictive motion of mental activity is a dynamic cognitive processing and its process can be understood as a dynamic metaphorical mechanism with a mapping from the factive representation onto the static mental representation.Fauconnier′s Conceptual Blending Theory helps to integrate the static "heart" with the motion events.Fictive motion of "heart" is constructed into three categories: cognition,emotion,and volition.It is found that Chinese and English languages have the dynamic tendency to represent mental activity.
Aggregate changes in severe cognitive impairment among older Americans: 1993 and 1998.

OBJECTIVES This study explored whether improvements in cognitive functioning occurred during the 1990s among older Americans and investigated several possible explanations for such changes. METHODS Using the 1993 Asset and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old study (N = 7,443) and 1998 Health and Retirement Survey (N = 7,624), this study examined aggregate changes in the proportion of the noninstitutionalized population aged 70 and older with severe cognitive impairment. Impairment was measured for self-respondents using a modified version of the Telephone Interview Cognitive Screen; for proxy respondents, ratings of memory and judgment were used. Logistic regression was used to investigate potential explanations for aggregate changes. RESULTS The percentage of older Americans with severe cognitive impairment declined from 6.1% in 1993 to 3.6% in 1998 (p < .001). The decline was statistically significant among self-respondents but not among those with proxy interviews. Improvements between 1993 and 1998 were not explained by shifts in demographic and socioeconomic factors or by changes in the prevalence of stroke, vision, or hearing impairments. DISCUSSION As a group, older persons, especially those well into their 80s, appear to have better cognitive functioning today than they did in the early 1990s.
Nash equilibrium design and price-based coordination in hierarchical systems

This paper deals with the problem of designing Nash equilibrium points in noncooperative games in which agents anticipate values of Lagrange multipliers coordinating their payoff functions. The addressed model of agents’ interactions, referred to as the price-anticipation game, is studied within the framework of coordination and mechanism design theory for hierarchical systems. Sufficient conditions are formulated for Nash implementation of a regular and isolated solution to a coordination problem. An equilibrium design procedure is proposed and applied as an analytic tool in a study of mechanism design games. In the setting considered the well-known fact is demonstrated that gains from reaching a desired solution to a coordination problem in a Nash equilibrium point need not balance the overall costs of its implementation. However, it is also demonstrated how these costs can be distributed among the agents and related to the particular organization of interactions in the system. Finally, application of the developed framework in the field of Internet traffic engineering is presented.
700–960MHz MIMO antenna for picocell applications

This article presents the design and simulation of a MIMO antenna dedicated to picocell applications. Satisfying the compactness of a mini-residential gateway, the proposed concept is made up of two folded IFAs with PI matching circuits on a FR4 epoxy substrate. The antenna operates in the frequency range of 700 to 960 MHz with a S11 lower than -10 dB. It can be integrated in a picocell base station which has a total size of 175×140×35 mm3 and exhibits in this case, efficiencies greater than 81%.
What Do We Know about Health Care Team Effectiveness? A Review of the Literature

This review of health care team effectiveness literature from 1985 to 2004 distinguishes among intervention studies that compare team with usual (nonteam) care; intervention studies that examine the impact of team redesign on team effectiveness; and field studies that explore relationships between team context, structure, processes, and outcomes. The authors use an Integrated Team Effectiveness Model (ITEM) to summarize research findings and to identify gaps in the literature. Their analysis suggests that the type and diversity of clinical expertise involved in team decision making largely accounts for improvements in patient care and organizational effectiveness. Collaboration, conflict resolution, participation, and cohesion are most likely to influence staff satisfaction and perceived team effectiveness. The studies examined here underscore the importance of considering the contexts in which teams are embedded. The ITEM provides a useful framework for conceptualizing relationships between multiple dimensions of team context, structure, processes, and outcomes.
Waterborne exposure to microcystin‐LR causes thyroid hormone metabolism disturbances in juvenile Chinese rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus)

Microcystin‐LR (MC‐LR) has the potential to disturb thyroid hormone homeostasis, but little is known about the underlying mechanisms of MC‐LR in fish. In the present study, juvenile Chinese rare minnows (Gobiocypris rarus) were exposed to various concentrations of MC‐LR (0 µg/L, 50 µg/L, 100 µg/L, and 500 µg/L) for 7 d. The whole‐body thyroid hormone content, the histology of thyroid follicle epithelial cells, the activities of hepatic iodothyronine deiodinases, and the transcription of selected genes associated with thyroid hormone synthesis, transport, and metabolism were analyzed. Following exposure to MC‐LR, whole‐body concentrations of both thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) were significantly decreased. The levels of messenger RNA for sodium/iodide symporter, transthyretin, thyroid hormone receptor‐α, iodothyronine deiodinase2, and iodothyronine deiodinase3 were significantly down‐regulated after exposure to 500 µg/L MC‐LR. A significant decrease in ID2 activity was also observed in the 500‐µg/L MC‐LR exposure group. Moreover, hypertrophy of thyroid follicle epithelial cells was observed after exposure to MC‐LR. The results indicate that acute MC‐LR exposure has the potential to disturb the homeostasis of thyroid hormone metabolism, leading to a hypothyroidism state in the juvenile Chinese rare minnow. Environ Toxicol Chem 2015;34:2033–2040. © 2015 SETAC
Efficient HetNet implementation using broadband wireless access with fiber-connected massively distributed antennas architecture

We introduce a novel HetNet architecture employing fiber-connected distributed antenna systems, named broadband wireless access with fiber-connected massively distributed antennas (BWA-FMDA), which facilitates coordination of resource allocation and interference management. Among various opportunities realized by the proposed approach, our focus in this article is on CoMP for UMTS LTE femto- and picocells, to which we refer as femto-CoMP. Through extensive simulation results we demonstrate the superior performance gain of a femto-CoMP HetNet over independent femto- and picocell operation in traditional HetNet scenarios. We analyze both link- and system-level feasible throughput as well as scheduling delay for round-robin and proportional fair schedulers.
Artificial Markets and Adaptive Agents

The Problem: The project aims to understand the problem-solving power, efficiency, and accuracy of double-auction markets with real human agents. Armed with this knowledge, we hope to gain a greater understanding of markets as a generalized problem-solving mechanism (for both financial and non-financial domains) as well as a better concept of how humans interact via a market, in order to make more realistic artificial trading agents.
Knowledge management for enterprises (Wissensmanagement fuer Unternehmen)

Although knowledge is one of the most valuable resource of enterprises and an important production and competition factor, this intellectual potential is often used (or maintained) only inadequate by the enterprises. Therefore, in a globalised and growing market the optimal usage of existing knowledge represents a key factor for enterprises of the future. Here, knowledge management systems should engage facilitating. Because geographically far distributed establishments cause, however, a distributed system, this paper should uncover the spectrum connected with it and present a possible basic approach which is based on ontologies and modern, platform independent technologies. Last but not least this attempt, as well as general questions of the knowledge management, are discussed.
Knowledge brokering initiatives in education – a systematic map of the Nordic countries

The international trend of evidence-based practice has led to the establishment of a new type of organisation, knowledge brokering initiatives, to strengthen the link between research-based knowledge and policy and practice. Policymakers in many countries, among them the Nordic countries, have increasingly paid attention in grounding decisions on the best evidence, for example, to addressing declining learning outcomes among students. Even though the Nordic countries share a long tradition of lifelong learning and valuing research in policy-making, the establishment of such initiatives in education is a relatively new phenomenon. Applying a systematic mapping approach, our purpose is to portray existing initiatives in the five Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, by describing similarities and differences in their main characteristics, organisation, mandate and conceptions of knowledge and methods. In general, we find different patterns of initiatives across the Nordic countries, with the highest number and variation in Denmark, in contrast to Finland with a less varied pattern and a broader concept of evidence-informed practice. By discussing the findings in light of context differences in the link between teacher education and research, we provide some implications for further research.
The application of the EOQ model in the health services inventory management using WinQSB software

In our paper, we emphasize a concrete manner to solve an EOQ problem associated to inventory management practice in a consulting room. In the first part of the paper, we focus on the analysis of the health care management system in Romania, revealing the significant evolutions in this direction. The second part of the paper is dedicated to the EOQ model presentation and interpretation, by taking into account the mathematical equations which allow the determination of the ordering and holding costs, the economic ordering quantity and the length of an order cycle. In the last part of the paper, we applied the EOQ model to a real situation from a consulting room, making both mathematical calculations and also implementing the problem's data into Inventory Theory and System module of the WinQSB software, which provides quickly the expected results.
Modeling the distribution and abundance of the non-native parasite, canine heartworm, in California coyotes

We applied a habitat-modeling approach using logistic regression to predict the distribution and abundance of canine heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) in coyotes (Canis latrans) throughout California. Heartworm is an arthropod-borne parasite of considerable economic and ecological importance. In California, coyotes serve as the primary sylvatic maintenance host and represent a useful sentinel for this parasite. To develop the model, we used a large collection of coyote blood specimens and carcasses collected from spatially broad, yet nonrandom, locations in California. Survey data were useful in refining previous coarser models that predicted uniformly high prevalence of heartworm throughout the coastal and Sierra-Nevada foothills, by indicating variability within this broadly defined plant-climate zone. Due to the non-random nature and large spatial scale of our data-set, we restricted variables to those thought to be most generally important. Modeling indicated that woodlands with a relatively dense canopy, suitable breeding and host-seeking habitat of the western treehole mosquito (Ochlerotatus sierrensis), were a good predictor of heartworm prevalence. Within this habitat, prevalence increased with precipitation, which likely affected mosquito abundance. The distribution of heartworm was limited to areas with average cumulative temperatures high enough to enable larval development of heartworms within their mosquito vectors. The prediction accuracy of our model was supported by goodness-of-fit tests, cross-validation tests and external validation tests. The model provided a useful guide to the relative risk of heartworm exposure in California, although the resolution was necessarily coarse and prevalence estimates related to risk in an ordinal manner only.
Entertainment Robot : Learning from Observation Paradigm for Humanoid Robot Dancing

This paper describes how to enable a humanoid robot to imitate human dance. The robotics-oriented approach for generating dance motions is a challenging topic due to dynamic and kinematic differences between humans and robots. In order to overcome these differences, we have been developing a paradigm, Learning From Observation (LFO), in which a robot observes human actions, recognizes what the human is doing, and maps the recognized actions to robot actions for the purpose of mimicking them. We extend this paradigm to enable a robot to perform classic Japanese folk dances. Our system recognizes human actions through abstract task models, and then maps recognized results to robot motions. Through this indirect mapping, we can overcome the physical differences between human and robot. Since the legs and the upper body have different purposes when performing a dance, support by the legs and dance representation by the upper body, our design strategies for the task models reflects these differences. We use a top-down analytic approach for leg task models and a bottomup generative approach for keypose task models. Human motions are recognized through these task models separately, and robot motions are also generated separately through these models. Then, we concatenate those separately generated motions and adjust them according to the dynamic body balance of a robot. Finally, we succeed in having a humanoid robot dance with an expert dancer at the original music tempo.
Acute chest syndrome is associated with single nucleotide polymorphism‐defined beta globin cluster haplotype in children with sickle cell anaemia

Genetic diversity at the human β‐globin locus has been implicated as a modifier of sickle cell anaemia (SCA) severity. However, haplotypes defined by restriction fragment length polymorphism sites across the β‐globin locus have not been consistently associated with clinical phenotypes. To define the genetic structure at the β‐globin locus more thoroughly, we performed high‐density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mapping in 820 children who were homozygous for the sickle cell mutation (HbSS). Genotyping results revealed very high linkage disequilibrium across a large region spanning the locus control region and the HBB (β‐globin gene) cluster. We identified three predominant haplotypes accounting for 96% of the βS‐carrying chromosomes in this population that could be distinguished using a minimal set of common SNPs. Consistent with previous studies, fetal haemoglobin level was significantly associated with βS‐haplotypes. After controlling for covariates, an association was detected between haplotype and rate of hospitalization for acute chest syndrome (ACS) (incidence rate ratio 0·51, 95% confidence interval 0·29–0·89) but not incidence rate of vaso‐occlusive pain or presence of silent cerebral infarct (SCI). Our results suggest that these SNP‐defined βS‐haplotypes may be associated with ACS, but not pain or SCI in a study population of children with SCA.