Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimized system design for fully integrated fractional-N PLL

In this paper, an optimized method is proposed for the design of fully integrated fractional-N PLL system. The main target is to get relatively small capacitor value for on chip low pass filter while satisfy the system phase noise requirement. The method is implemented in CMMB application whose output frequency of the PLL is from 1.88 to 3.48 GHz. With the VCO tuning gain varying from 50 to 100MHz/V, crystal frequency of some discrete value between 13MHz and 38.4MHz and proper charge pump current, we get the optimized capacitor value less than 120pF over loop parameter variations, which is suitable for on chip realization. The overall phase noises are −81dBc/Hz and −129 dBc/Hz at 1kHz and 1.45MHz respectively in simulation for worst case.
Effect and Process Evaluation of a Cluster Randomized Control Trial on Water Intake and Beverage Consumption in Preschoolers from Six European Countries: The ToyBox-Study

Background Within the ToyBox-study, a kindergarten-based, family-involved intervention was developed to prevent overweight and obesity in European preschoolers, targeting four key behaviours related to early childhood obesity, including water consumption. The present study aimed to examine the effect of the ToyBox-intervention (cluster randomized controlled trial) on water intake and beverage consumption in European preschoolers and to investigate if the intervention effects differed by implementation score of kindergartens and parents/caregivers. Method A sample of 4964 preschoolers (4.7±0.4 years; 51.5% boys) from six European countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Poland, Spain) was included in the data analyses. A standardized protocol was used and parents/caregivers filled in socio-demographic data and a food-frequency questionnaire. To assess intervention effects, multilevel repeated measures analyses were conducted for the total sample and for the six country-specific samples. Based on the process evaluation questionnaire of teachers and parents/caregivers, an implementation score was constructed. To assess differences in water intake and beverage consumption by implementation score in the total sample, multilevel repeated measures analyses were performed. Results Limited intervention effects on water intake from beverages and overall beverage consumption were found. However, important results were found on prepacked fruit juice consumption, with a larger decrease in the intervention group compared to the control group. However, also a decline in plain milk consumption was found. Implementation scores were rather low in both kindergartens and parents/caregivers. Nevertheless, more favorable effects on beverage choices were found in preschoolers whose parents/caregivers and kindergarten teachers had higher implementation scores compared to those with lower implementation scores. Conclusion The ToyBox-intervention can provide the basis for the development of more tailor-made interventions. However, new strategies to improve implementation of interventions should be created.
Investigation of Optimal and Sub-Optimal Margin Adaptation Algorithms in Nakagami-m Fading for Wireless Single and Multiuser OFDMA Systems

In this paper, we introduce the margin adaptation problem for both single and multiuser OFDM systems and illustrate its optimal solution. Due to the high complexity and long execution time of this solution, simple solutions of this problem have been studied by applying algorithms having lesser complexities and hence reduced the execution time of the allocation algorithm. These algorithms where applied in Rayleigh fading channels, we further investigate the performance of these algorithms in Nakagami-m fading channel, and simulation results are presented.
System improvement through collective capacity building

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to outline how collective capacity building is supporting system‐wide reform in one country. It seeks to outline the way in which professional learning communities within, between and across schools are creating an infrastructure for improving professional practice and raising standards.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is both descriptive and analytical. It draws on the international literature pertaining to system‐wide reform and the empirical evidence concerning professional learning.Findings – The paper highlights some of the challenges in building the collective capacity for change throughout an entire system and reflects on progress to date. The paper concludes by arguing that despite the compelling case for collective capacity building, the real test is to make it happen.Research limitations/implications – The professional learning communities (PLC) programme in Wales is gathering evidence about impact but as the programme is just completing its first ye.
Protein acetylation in prokaryotes

Protein acetylation plays a critical regulatory role in eukaryotes but until recently its significance and function in bacteria and the archaea were obscure. It is now clear, however, that prokaryotes have the capacity to acetylate both the α‐amino groups of N‐terminal residues and the ε‐amino groups of lysine side chains. In this review, we bring together information indicating that such acetylation is widespread and that it is likely to regulate fundamental cellular processes. We particularly focus on lysine acetylation, which recent studies show can occur in proteins involved in transcription, translation, pathways associated with central metabolism and stress responses. Intriguingly, specific acetylated lysine residues map to critical regions in the three‐dimensional structures of key proteins, e.g. to active sites or to surfaces that dock with other major cellular components. Like phosphorylation, acetylation appears to be an ancient reversible modification that can be present at multiple sites in proteins, thereby potentially producing epigenetic combinatorial complexity. It may be particularly important in regulating central metabolism in prokaryotes due to the requirement for acetyl‐CoA and NAD+ for protein acetyltransferases and Sir2‐type deacetylases, respectively.
Market Structure and the Flow of Information In Repeated Auctions

There is an ongoing public policy debate regarding vertical integration and its concomitant information flows. Of particular concern is that the information derived by an auctioneer (such as a distributor) will be shared with its integrated bidder (such as a manufacturer), leading to a reduction in competition between the bidders. Similar competitive concerns arise regarding bid revelation policies, such as those used in public sector procurement. Modeling such situations as the repeated auctions introduced in Thomas [1996a], this paper examines the transmission of private information via the auction outcomes, and shows how that transmission is affected by the changes in market structure described above. These concerns are not present in the existing auction literature, because such information transmission is irrelevant both in series of independent auctions and in sequential auctions in which participants desire only a single item. However, when bidders desire multiple items, and when the values of those items to a bidder are correlated, the incentive to learn about opponents' values and to obscure one's own drive equilibria to depart systematically from those in standard models. I examine structural information transmission, created through various policies for conducting auctions, and its effect on strategic information transmission, which arises as an optimal response to given structural policies. I initially model information acquisition in situations where bidders do not see rival bids and learn only the identity of the winner. I then extend this model to show how the desire to conceal information about oneself affects behavior by examining repeated auctions with publicly announced bids. The auctioneers prefer a policy of revealing all bids to revealing only the winner's bid and to revealing no bid information. Finally, I show that a vertical merger between a buyer and a seller can be procompetitive due to both structural and strategic information transmission. I
Assessing prenatal attachment in a sample of Italian women

The term prenatal attachment refers to the affective investment that parents develop towards the unborn baby during the gestation period. Recent research supports the idea that the early relationship between the woman and the child she's bearing is related to the quality of postnatal mother–infant interaction and to the improvement of the woman's health behaviour in pregnancy. This study focuses on the process of the woman's bonding with her foetus and aims to assess the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI). The PAI was translated into Italian and administered to a sample of 214 low‐risk pregnant women. As prenatal attachment is supposed to measure the mother's capability to emotionally invest in the foetus, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale was also administered to assess the pregnant women's alexithymia level. The results illustrate that the Italian version of the PAI maintains the main psychometric characteristics of the original version. Explorative factor analysis suggested a five‐factor structure. The association between low level prenatal attachment and high level alexithymia may be of interest in mother–infant wellbeing promotion programmes.
Vehicle logo recognition using mathematical morphology

This paper presents a method for recognition of the vehicle logos from the vehicle images using mathematical morphology techniques. The gist is to use different morphological operations in such a way so that the logo of the vehicle can be identified accurately. The method makes the extraction of the plate independent of color, size and location of number plate. The proposed approach can be divided into different processes, which are, image enhancement, morphing transformations, filtering resultant images and extracting the logo from the objects that are left in the image. This algorithm can quickly and correctly detect the logo area from the vehicular image.
An evolutionary approach for discovering effective composite features for text categorization

The study of text categorization has assumed special significance in the Internet era in helping us navigate the ocean of web pages and emails that continue to grow in an unrelenting pace. In many previous works on text classifications, it has been shown that composite features consisting of multiple word tokens like statistical phrases can contribute effectively to the classification task. However finding useful composite features through comprehensive search from the vast number of possibilities is often prohibitive in terms of computing resource requirements. In the past, to make the search feasible, we often limit the search space by imposing some parametric constraints like minimum frequency and/or number of words in the composite feature. In this paper we proposed a new evolutionary approach to find effective composite features for classification, an approach that combines probabilistic feature generation with error-biased sampling We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach using the Reuters-21578 test collection.
Correspondence and line field estimation using MAP-based probabilistic diffusion algorithm

This paper proposes the dense correspondence field estimation with the stochastic diffusion based on maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation. MAP-based correspondence field estimation including line field is derived with reflecting the joint probabilistic distribution function (PDF) of the neighborhoods in the Markov random field (MRF) models, and is applied to the stereoscopic images. The exploits of the joint PDF of the neighborhoods is the main difference from the previous MAP-based algorithms. The segmentation field is introduced in the low activity region, where the intensities are uniform, in order to improve the performance of the correspondence estimation. According to the experiments, the proposed algorithm had good estimation performance with fast convergence. Especially, the line field improved the estimation at the object boundaries, and the segmentation field did effectively in the low activity region.
Teachers as mediators between educational policy and practice

Teachers obviously serve as the medium for causing the result of policy as they carry it into schools and classrooms and deliver it to pupils. They mediate between education policy and practice. Knowledge of the exact nature and effects of this vital role is limited. Drawing on a range of research and evaluation of both national and local policy in practice, carried out by the authors in England, this paper illustrates how teachers mediate policy and the resulting outcomes. Further, it proposes a typology of teacher adaptation to education policy. The paper argues that as yet the appropriate professional role for teachers within policy‐making and implementation has not been achieved, and outlines what this might be. Finally, it outlines some implications for teacher education.
The Arabidopsis B-Box Zinc Finger Family[W]

The Arabidopsis thaliana genome encodes >1500 transcription factors, and ∼45% of these belong to families specific to plants ([Riechmann et al., 2000][1]). Comparison of the entire complement of transcription factors of Arabidopsis , Drosophila melanogaster , Caenorhabditis elegans , and
Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

&NA; The radical changes in prosthetic design made in the mid 1980s transformed the historically poorly performing reverse ball‐and‐socket total shoulder prosthesis into a highly successful salvage implant for pseudoparalytic, severely rotator cuff‐deficient shoulders. Moving the center of rotation more medial and distal as well as implanting a large glenoid hemisphere that articulates with a humeral cup in 155° of valgus are the biomechanical keys to sometimes spectacular short‐ to mid‐term results. Use of the reverse total shoulder arthroplasty device allows salvage of injuries that previously were beyond surgical treatment. However, this technique has a complication rate approximately three times that of conventional arthroplasty. Radiographic and clinical results appear to deteriorate over time. Proper patient selection and attention to technical details are needed to reduce the currently high complication rate.
Food-borne pathogens of recent concern.

Etiologie, symptomatologie, epidemiologie des maladies associees a Yersinia enterocolitica, Vibrio cholerae, Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli 0157:H7 et role vecteur des produits alimentaires
Reduced age at first calving: effects on lifetime production, longevity, and profitability

The primary advantages of reducing age at first calving (AFC) include reducing rearing costs as well as reducing time in which the heifer is only a capital drain on farm resources. The primary disadvantage of reducing AFC is that it is frequently associated with a reduction in first-lactation milk yield. Despite this reduction in first-lactation milk yield, production per year of herd life is typically increased by reduced AFC. Furthermore, although the first lactation yield may be influenced by AFC, future lactations are decidedly not. In addition, stayability and health of cows are not influenced by reduced AFC as long as heifers freshen at an adequate weight. Most analyses indicate that the financial advantage afforded from heifers that freshen at a low AFC seems to at the least offset any milk lost during the first lactation. Furthermore, when the time value of money is considered in this analysis, a reduced AFC (~22 months) seems likely to represent a more fiscally sound management decision. When applying these ideas on the farm, a properly managed feeding and breeding program should permit a firstlactation cow to weigh ~1,210 lb after freshening at 22 months of age. The National Research Council recommends a postpartum weight equal to 82% of her mature body weight. This can be achieved with a maximal prepubertal average daily gain (ADG) of 2 lb/day when a traditional preweaning program is employed or 1.8 lb/day when an intensified preweaning program is employed. Because of the well defined link between inadequate body weight at calving and increased mortality and morbidity in first-lactation cows, achieving this target post-calving body weight is of critical importance.
The Effect of Extended Release Niacin on Markers of Mineral Metabolism in CKD.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Niacin downregulates intestinal sodium-dependent phosphate transporter 2b expression and reduces intestinal phosphate transport. Short-term studies have suggested that niacin lowers serum phosphate concentrations in patients with CKD and ESRD. However, the long-term effects of niacin on serum phosphate and other mineral markers are unknown. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS The Atherothrombosis Intervention in Metabolic Syndrome with Low HDL/High Triglycerides: Impact on Global Health Trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial testing extended release niacin in persons with prevalent cardiovascular disease. We examined the effect of randomized treatment with niacin (1500 or 2000 mg) or placebo on temporal changes in markers of mineral metabolism in 352 participants with eGFR<60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 over 3 years. Changes in each marker were compared over time between the niacin and placebo arms using linear mixed effects models. RESULTS Randomization to niacin led to 0.08 mg/dl lower plasma phosphate concentrations per year of treatment compared with placebo (P<0.01) and 0.25 mg/dl lower mean phosphate 3 years after baseline (3.32 versus 3.57 mg/dl; P=0.03). In contrast, randomization to niacin was not associated with statistically significant changes in plasma intact fibroblast growth factor 23, parathyroid hormone, calcium, or vitamin D metabolites over 3 years. CONCLUSIONS The use of niacin over 3 years lowered serum phosphorous concentrations but did not affect other markers of mineral metabolism in participants with CKD.
Retroviral RNA Dimerization and Packaging: The What, How, When, Where, and Why

Retroviral genomic RNAs (gRNAs) are packaged as dimers, joined near their 59 ends in non-covalent linkages that withstand modest heat treatment but dissociate at ,65uC. Determinants of gRNA dimerization and recruitment for packaging map to the same ,100 to ,300 base regions and are, for the most part, physically and genetically inseparable [1]. Synthetic RNAs containing these sequences dimerize in vitro. Because transplanting these sequences onto a cell mRNA confers selective packaging, and ablating them greatly reduces gRNA packaging, these sequences are known as Y (psi), for ‘‘packaging signal’’ (Figure 1A) [2]. Within virions, gRNAs are coated with a basic viral protein called nucleocapsid (NC) at a density of about one NC per five to eight RNA bases [3]. This nucleoprotein complex resides within the mature virion core. Total gRNA length, were it in an A-helix, exceeds the core inner diameter by more than 30-fold [4]. Thus, encapsidated gRNA is highly condensed. The co-packaged gRNAs likely are not aligned along their lengths because they are identical and cannot basepair in register, but the nature of their compaction is unknown. If Y is experimentally removed from gRNA but viral proteins are still expressed, morphologically normal virions can form, which are devoid of gRNA. These contain random samples of host mRNA [5]. Each Y+ or Y2 virion also contains several copies of certain host RNAs such as 7SL, the RNA scaffold of signal recognition particles. Other than the primer tRNA, any roles of these host non-coding RNAs in retroviruses are unknown. Usually, a virion’s two gRNAs are identical. However, if a producer cell contains two distinct dimer-compatible proviruses, virions can contain gRNA heterdimers. Both gRNAs are genetically complete but not intact, as they appear to contain nicks and run as smears on denaturing gels. Accordingly, it has been speculated that retroviruses’ dimeric genome organization may serve in part as defense against antiviral nucleases that would otherwise restrict replication [4]. RNA degradation during reverse transcription further limits provirus synthesis to one or fewer per virion [6]. Transmission of no more than one allele at each locus explains why, although they package two gRNAs, retroviruses are not truly diploid.
Evidence-based approaches to reducing in-patient stress — Part 3: How to reduce in-patient stress

ABSTRACT: Many in-patients have a negative experience of hospitalisation because, in addition to being unwell, they are in unfamiliar surroundings and cannot predict or control what happens to them. Their negative feelings (e.g. fear and frustration) are apparent from their behaviour, which can make clinical work more difficult. It also worries many owners and can have adverse effects on the animals' immunity and recovery. This article concludes a series of three that examine why hospitalisation is stressful and how that stress can be reduced. It reviews the role of environmental enrichment and describes some simple applications for the veterinary ward.
Multimodality Imaging of Alzheimer Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Dementias

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer disease, result in cognitive decline and dementia and are a leading cause of mortality in the growing elderly population. These progressive diseases typically have an insidious onset, with overlapping clinical features early in the disease course that make diagnosis challenging. The neurodegenerative diseases are associated with characteristic, although not completely understood, changes in the brain: abnormal protein deposition, synaptic dysfunction, neuronal injury, and neuronal death. Neuroimaging biomarkers—principally regional atrophy on structural MR imaging, patterns of hypometabolism on 18F-FDG PET, and detection of cerebral amyloid plaque on amyloid PET—are able to evaluate the patterns of these abnormalities in the brain to improve early diagnosis and help predict the disease course. These techniques have unique strengths and synergies in multimodality evaluation of the patient with cognitive decline or dementia. This review discusses the key imaging biomarkers from MR imaging, 18F-FDG PET, and amyloid PET; the imaging features of the most common neurodegenerative dementias; the role of various neuroimaging studies in differential diagnosis and prognosis; and some promising imaging techniques under development.
Role of neutrophils in controlling early stages of a Chlamydia trachomatis infection

Inoculation of mice with the granulocyte-depleting monoclonal antibody RB6-8C5 showed that neutrophils are critical protective effector cells during a Chlamydia trachomatis infection. In addition, administration of monoclonal antibody 2E6 demonstrated that extravasation of neutrophils into the peritoneal cavity in response to inoculation with the C. trachomatis MoPn biovar is dependent on the surface beta-2 integrin molecule CD18.