Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An interleaved high step‐up DC‐DC converter with double boost paths

This paper proposed a novel high step‐up converter with double boost paths. The circuit uses two switches and one double‐path voltage multiplier cell to own the double boost and interleaved effects simultaneously. The voltage gain ratio of the proposed DC‐DC converter can be three times the ratio of the conventional boost converter such that the voltage stress of the switch can be lower. The high step‐up performance is in accordance with only one double‐path voltage multiplier cell. Therefore, the number of diodes and capacitors in the proposed converter can be reduced. Furthermore, the interleaved property of the proposed circuit can reduce the losses in the rectifier diode and capacitor. The prototype circuit with 24‐V input voltage, 250‐V output voltage, and 150‐W output power is experimentally realized to verify the validity and effectiveness of the proposed converter. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The Size of the Giant Component of a Random Graph with a Given Degree Sequence

Given a sequence of nonnegative real numbers λ0, λ1, … that sum to 1, we consider a random graph having approximately λin vertices of degree i. In [12] the authors essentially show that if [sum ]i(i−2)λi>0 then the graph a.s. has a giant component, while if [sum ]i(i−2)λi<0 then a.s. all components in the graph are small. In this paper we analyse the size of the giant component in the former case, and the structure of the graph formed by deleting that component. We determine ε, λ′0, λ′1 … such that a.s. the giant component, C, has εn+o(n) vertices, and the structure of the graph remaining after deleting C is basically that of a random graph with n′=n−[mid ]C[mid ] vertices, and with λ′in′ of them of degree i.
Validity and reliability of an activity monitor to quantify arm movements and activity in adults following distal radius fracture

Abstract Purpose: To examine the validity and reliability of an activity monitor to estimate upper limb activity. Methods: Thirty-two adults after distal radial fracture were recruited. 15 adults performed five upper limb activities during two testing sessions, one week apart to investigate criterion validity against the criterion reference of three-dimensional motion analysis, convergent validity, and test–retest reliability. 17 adults in two therapy groups wore monitors for three consecutive days at baseline and six weeks post-intervention. Hypothesis testing (noninferiority) assessed comparison of group differences. Results: There were large, significant positive correlations between monitor counts and motion analysis for affected/unaffected wrists during the grocery shelving [r = 0.82, r = 0.73, respectively] and floor sweeping activities [r = 0.54, r = 0.59, respectively]. Large confidence intervals relative to means suggests the monitor could not accurately predict motion analysis distance or acceleration. Relative reliability was excellent in affected/unaffected wrists for crank ergometer [ICC(2,1) = 0.91, ICC(2,1) = 0.88, respectively], grocery shelving [ICC(2,1) = 0.83, ICC(2,1) = 0.89, respectively], and table dusting activities [ICC(2,1) = 0.77, ICC(2,1) = 0.83, respectively]. Correlations and reliability for typing were poor; hypothesis testing of group equivalence was not confirmed. Conclusions: There is preliminary evidence that an activity monitor is a valid and reliable tool to measure gross arm activity after distal radial fracture. Implications for Rehabilitation Distal radius fractures are one of the most common upper limb fractures that cause activity limitations and participation restrictions. After a distal radius fracture patients are often referred to therapy (physiotherapy, occupational therapy, hand therapy) for rehabilitation to return to pre-injury function and activity levels. Activity monitors may be a valid and reliable measurement tool that therapists can use with their patients to quantify gross arm activity to enable monitoring of injury recovery and rehabilitation adherence. Activity monitors may not be sufficiently reliable and valid to monitor fine movements of the wrist and hand after distal radius fracture.
Diabetes as an independent predictor of left ventricular longitudinal strain reduction at rest and during dobutamine stress test in patients with significant coronary artery disease

Aims Diabetes (DM) is a strong cardiovascular risk factor modifying also the left ventricular (LV) function that may be objectively assessed with echocardiographic strain analysis. Although the impact of isolated DM on myocardial deformation has been already studied, few data concern diabetics with coronary artery disease (CAD), especially in all stages of dobutamine stress echocardiography (DSE). We compared LV systolic function during DSE in CAD with and without DM using state-of-the art speckle-tracking quantification and assessed the impact of DM on LV systolic strain. Methods and results DSE was performed in 250 patients with angina who afterwards had coronarography with ≥50% stenosis in the left main artery and ≥70% in other arteries considered as significant. In this analysis, we included 127 patients with confirmed CAD: 42 with DM [DM(+); mean age 64 ± 9 years] and 85 patients without DM [DM(-); mean age 63 ± 9 years]. The severity of CAD and LV ejection fraction (EF) were similar in both groups. Global and regional LV peak systolic longitudinal strain (PSLS) revealed in all DSE phases lower values in DM(+) group: 14.5 ± 3.6% vs. 17.4 ± 4.0% at rest; P = 0.0001, 13.8 ± 3.9% vs. 16.7 ± 4.0% at peak stress; P = 0.0002, and 14.2 ± 3.1% vs. 15.5 ± 3.5% at recovery; P = 0.0432 for global parameters, although dobutamine challenge did not enhance further resting differences. LV EF, body surface area, and diabetes were independent predictors for strain in 16-variable model (R2 = 0, 51, P < 0.001). Conclusion PSLS although diminished in both groups with CAD was lower in diabetics at all DSE stages, and DM was an independent predictor of this impairment. However, the dobutamine challenge did not deepen the resting differences, suggesting that the direct impact of coronary stenoses effaces the influence of DM during DSE. The comparison with our previous data revealed synergistic, detrimental effect of coexisting CAD and DM on myocardial strain.
A domain sequence approach to pangenomics: applications to Escherichia coli

The study of microbial pangenomes relies on the computation of gene families, i.e. the clustering of coding sequences into groups of essentially similar genes. There is no standard approach to obtain such gene families. Ideally, the gene family computations should be robust against errors in the annotation of genes in various genomes. In an attempt to achieve this robustness, we propose to cluster sequences by their domain sequence, i.e. the ordered sequence of domains in their protein sequence. In a study of 347 genomes from Escherichia coli we find on average around 4500 proteins having hits in Pfam-A in every genome, clustering into around 2500 distinct domain sequence families in each genome. Across all genomes we find a total of 5724 such families. A binomial mixture model approach indicates this is around 95% of all domain sequences we would expect to see in E. coli in the future. A Heaps law analysis indicates the population of domain sequences is larger, but this analysis is also very sensitive to smaller changes in the computation procedure. The resolution between strains is good despite the coarse grouping obtained by domain sequence families. Clustering sequences by their ordered domain content give us domain sequence families, who are robust to errors in the gene prediction step. The computational load of the procedure scales linearly with the number of genomes, which is needed for the future explosion in the number of re-sequenced strains. The use of domain sequence families for a functional classification of strains clearly has some potential to be explored.
Biophysical characterisation of the recombinant human frataxin precursor

Friedreich's ataxia is a disease caused by a decrease in the levels of expression or loss of functionality of the mitochondrial protein frataxin (FXN). The development of an active and stable recombinant variant of FXN is important for protein replacement therapy. Although valuable data about the mature form FXN81‐210 has been collected, not enough information is available about the conformation of the frataxin precursor (FXN1‐210). We investigated the conformation, stability and function of a recombinant precursor variant (His6‐TAT‐FXN1‐210), which includes a TAT peptide in the N‐terminal region to assist with transport across cell membranes. His6‐TAT‐FXN1‐210 was expressed in Escherichia coli and conditions were found for purifying folded protein free of aggregation, oxidation or degradation, even after freezing and thawing. The protein was found to be stable and monomeric, with the N‐terminal stretch (residues 1–89) mostly unstructured and the C‐terminal domain properly folded. The experimental data suggest a complex picture for the folding process of full‐length frataxin in vitro: the presence of the N‐terminal region increased the tendency of FXN to aggregate at high temperatures but this could be avoided by the addition of low concentrations of GdmCl. The purified precursor was translocated through cell membranes. In addition, immune response against His6‐TAT‐FXN1‐210 was measured, suggesting that the C‐terminal fragment was not immunogenic at the assayed protein concentrations. Finally, the recognition of recombinant FXN by cellular proteins was studied to evaluate its functionality. In this regard, cysteine desulfurase NFS1/ISD11/ISCU was activated in vitro by His6‐TAT‐FXN1‐210. Moreover, the results showed that His6‐TAT‐FXN1‐210 can be ubiquitinated in vitro by the recently identified frataxin E3 ligase RNF126, in a similar way as the FXN1‐210, suggesting that the His6‐TAT extension does not interfere with the ubiquitination machinery.
MIRIAM: a multimodal chat-based interface for autonomous systems

We present MIRIAM (Multimodal Intelligent inteRactIon for Autonomous systeMs), a multimodal interface to support situation awareness of autonomous vehicles through chat-based interaction. The user is able to chat about the vehicle's plan, objectives, previous activities and mission progress. The system is mixed initiative in that it pro-actively sends messages about key events, such as fault warnings. We will demonstrate MIRIAM using SeeByte's SeeTrack command and control interface and Neptune autonomy simulator.
Predicting explorative motor learning using decision-making and motor noise

A fundamental problem faced by humans is learning to select motor actions based on noisy sensory information and incomplete knowledge of the world. Recently, a number of authors have asked whether this type of motor learning problem might be very similar to a range of higher-level decision-making problems. If so, participant behaviour on a high-level decision-making task could be predictive of their performance during a motor learning task. To investigate this question, we studied performance during an explorative motor learning task and a decision-making task which had a similar underlying structure with the exception that it was not subject to motor (execution) noise. We also collected an independent measurement of each participant’s level of motor noise. Our analysis showed that explorative motor learning and decision-making could be modelled as the (approximately) optimal solution to a Partially Observable Markov Decision Process bounded by noisy neural information processing. The model was able to predict participant performance in motor learning by using parameters estimated from the decision-making task and the separate motor noise measurement. This suggests that explorative motor learning can be formalised as a sequential decision-making process that is adjusted for motor noise, and raises interesting questions regarding the neural origin of explorative motor learning.
Quantitative and volume, conductivity and scatter changes in leucocytes of patients with acute undifferentiated febrile illness: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND A single diagnostic test for acute undifferentiated febrile illnesses (AUFI) is elusive. This pilot study was undertaken on the premise that leucocytes, being the main cells of defence, undergo quantitative, structural and functional changes in AUFI. We evaluated the potential of volume, conductivity and scatter (VCS) parameters of leucocytes, generated with the haemogram report by the Coulter auto-analyzer, in differentiating the common etiologies of AUFI. METHODS The haematological and VCS data obtained from 800 controls and 200 cases of AUFI (50 cases each of acute malaria, dengue, scrub typhus and enteric fever) were retrieved for analysis. RESULTS The cases and controls differed significantly with respect to relative numbers and the VCS parameters of neutrophils, lymphocytes and monocytes (p<0.05). The neutrophil and lymphocyte were significantly voluminous in acute malaria and scrub typhus as compared to dengue and enteric fevers (p<0.05). Enteric fever significantly enhanced the conductivity of neutrophils as compared to other subgroups while lymphocyte conductivity significantly differed from dengue and scrub typhus. Lymphocyte and neutrophil scatter values in malaria and scrub typhus were comparable but differed significantly from that in enteric fever. CONCLUSIONS Etiology-specific changes occur in leucocytes, both in numbers and their VCS properties which can be identified without additional cost.
SAIC: Identifying Configuration Files for System Configuration Management

Systems can become misconfigured for a variety of reasons such as operator errors or buggy patches. When a misconfiguration is discovered, usually the first order of business is to restore availability, often by undoing the misconfiguration. To simplify this task, we propose the Statistical Analysis for Identifying Configuration Files (SAIC), which analyzes how the contents of a file changes over time to automatically determine which files contain configuration state. In this way, SAIC reduces the number of files a user must manually examine during recovery and allows versioning file systems to make more efficient use of their versioning storage. The two key insights that enable SAIC to identify configuration files are that configuration state must persist across executions of an application and that configuration state changes at a slower rate than other types of application state. SAIC applies these insights through a set of filters, which eliminate non-persistent files from consideration, and a novel similarity metric, which measures how similar a file's versions are to each other. Together, these two mechanisms enable SAIC to identify all 72 configuration files out of 2363 versioned files from 6 common applications in two user traces, while mistaking only 33 non-configuration files as configuration files, which allows a versioning file system to eliminate roughly 66% of non-configuration file versions from its logs, thus reducing the number of file versions that a user must try to recover from a misconfiguration.
Bio-Nano Interfaces: Enzyme Immobilization for Biomimetic Energy Harvesting

In the face of today’s rapidly growing energy demands accompanied by limited, non-renewable supplies, development of novel energy alternatives that are both renewable and inexpensive has become more important than ever. Development of 3D structures exploring the properties of nano-materials and biological molecules has been shown through the years as an effective path forward for the design of advanced bio-nano architectures for enzymatic fuel cells (EFCs). Despite advantages over conventional fuel cells, EFCs still suffer from several problems including low efficiency and stability. Overcoming these limitations in order to make them more viable for real world application is an ongoing challenge for researchers. Functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were covalently bonded to diazonium salt modified gold surfaces through carbodiimide chemistry creating a brush-type nanotube alignment. Having CNTs ordered in this nature developed a highly ordered structure with markedly high surface area that allowed for the attachment of protein/DNA assembly. The specificity of the enzyme immobilization was controlled by small protein structural motifs, iv called zinc fingers (ZnF) that bind to specific dsDNA sequences and may be genetically bound to small laccase (SLAC-3ZnF) or other redox enzymes. Utilizing scaffolds with gold nanoclusters (AuNC) for mediated electron transfer (MET), we test the capabilities for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) by SLAC-3ZnF. Direct absorption on SWNT results in poor ORR while using DNA results in slowed reaction kinetics. With the addition of AuNC, ORR and electron transfer are improved. Analytical techniques such as x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and enzymatic activity analysis, allowed characterization at each stage of development. Additionally, two methods for co-immobilization on consecutive tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) enzymes were investigated. Encapsulation using deacylated chitosan (chit) and tethering through amide bond linkage with 1-pyrenebutanoic acid, succinimidyl ester (PBSE) were used to immobilize porcine heart malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and citrate synthase (CS) on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs). The effects of each method on the oxidation of L-malate (M) by MDH in the presence of CS are reported. Poly(methylene green)-modified MWNT “buckypaper” (PMG-BP) was used to reduce cell overpotential through regeneration of oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) from reduced form (NADH).
Water Cycle and Climate Signals in Africa Observed by Satellite Gravimetry

The availability of hydrologic data is an important step for hydrological modeling and water resource management in the world. Unfortunately, the in situ observations with the right characteristics are very sparse globally, particularly in Africa. Understanding the climate variability of Africa and its prominent role as the heat engine of the global climate system is one of the key goals in climate research. Also, studies show that the time varying of terrestrial water storage contributes significantly to regional climate. In this paper, we have analyzed terrestrial water storage variations from GRACE satellite mission and from GLDAS model over the whole Africa for the period of August 2002 till April 2012. Amplitudes of water storage and rainfall data over some large river basins in Africa have been studied at seasonal and interannual scales. Comparison with the GLDAS model outputs is performed and discussed. Terrestrial Water Storage (TWS) estimates from GRACE and GLDAS show comparable patterns, however GRACE is better to detect interannual variation in water storage. Comparing TWS with rainfall data shows a phase lag of around one month between the maximum of the rainfall over a region and the maximum of TWS over the same region.
Influence of individual psychological support on the severity of psychopathological symptoms in patients with paranoid schizophrenia

Bogumila Witkowska1: 1Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology, Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland. Correspondence email: bogumila.witkowska@ujk.edu. pl Summary Aim. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between psychological therapeutic interactions and the severity of psychopathological symptoms in patients diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia during their hospitalisation. Sample and method. The study involved 60 patients hospitalised for paranoid schizophrenia. They were divided into two groups of 30. The first group consisted of patients actively using psychological assistance and the second group of patients not benefiting from such aid. The PANSS and the author’s own questionnaire were used to conduct the assessment. In the survey, patients were asked to determine the frequency and quality of contact with a psychologist. Results. The results show that at the beginning of hospitalisation, patients in both groups did not differ significantly from one another in terms of the severity of psychopathological symptoms measured with PANSS. The group actively using psychological support during hospitalisation received significantly lower scores in general PANSS. Also, all subscales of PANSS indicate a significant decrease in scores. This means that in patients of the first group there was a significant weakening of positive, negative and general symptoms as compared with the second group. Discussion. The results confirm the validity of the inclusion of psychotherapy in treatment of people with paranoid schizophrenia. Conclusions. Patients in the group actively using psychological support during hospitalisation achieved significantly greater reduction in the severity of psychopathological symptoms compared with patients in the group not participating in therapy. Persons in contact with therapists became significantly healthier (symptomatic improvement) than those in the second group.
Astigmatism and Refractive Outcome After Late In-The-Bag Intraocular Lens Dislocation Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Purpose To compare surgically induced astigmatism (SIA) and refractive outcomes between two operation methods for late in-the-bag IOL dislocation. Methods In this prospective, randomized, parallel-group clinical trial, 104 patients (eyes) were assigned to IOL repositioning by scleral suturing 1.5- to 2-mm posterior to limbus (n = 54) or IOL exchange with a retropupillar iris-claw IOL using a 5.5-mm scleral pocket incision (n = 50). The SIA was determined by vector analysis through conversion of corneal cylinders to Cartesian coordinates, and is presented as magnitude in diopters @ direction in degrees (D @ °). Follow-up was 6 months. Results The SIA was 0.24 D @ 8° for IOL repositioning and 0.65 D @ 171° for IOL exchange, which was a nonsignificant group difference (X coordinate: P = 0.08; Y coordinate: P = 0.16). Mean SIA magnitude was 0.60 ± 0.50 D and 1.12 ± 0.85 D, respectively (P < 0.001). Mean postoperative spherical equivalent was -1.6 ± 1.6 D after IOL repositioning and -0.5 ± 1.0 D after IOL exchange (P < 0.001). For IOL repositioning, this represented a mean myopic shift of -0.7 ± 1.1 D compared with before the IOL dislocation (P < 0.001). For IOL exchange, it was within ±1 D of target refraction in 83% of the patients. Conclusions Surgically induced astigmatism was modest in both operation groups, albeit with a tendency of being more pronounced for IOL exchange. Repositioning surgery led to a myopic shift, whereas exchange surgery provided good refractive predictability.
Adsorption of o-nitrophenol onto nano iron oxide and alginate microspheres: Batch and column studies

In the present study, the adsorption behavior of o-nitrophenol from aqueous medium, using nano iron oxide loaded calcium alginate beads were studied using equilibrium batch and column flow techniques. The effect of pH, adsorbent dose, contact time and temperature on adsorption capacity of the magnetic beads was investigated. The optimum pH value was defined to be 2 at temperature 30°C. The equilibrium data were fitted to Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. Batch adsorption data was better described by Freundlich isotherm model than Langmuir model. In column experiments the effect of the initial concentration, bed height and flow rate on o- nitrophenol adsorption were studied. The bed depth service time (BDST) model was used to analyze the experimental data. The sorption capacity per unit bed volume (N0) and rate constant (Ka) were calculated to be 578.4 mg/L and 1.18 L/mg/min, respectively. The characterization of the prepared magnetic beads has been accomplished by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. Key words: Adsorption isotherm, magnetic beads, o- nitrophenol.