Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Boucherot Bridge based zero reactive power inductive power transfer topologies with a single phase transformer

High reliability and cost effectiveness of power electronics components has resulted in very high interest in inductive power transfer techniques among academic and industrial professionals. Since the major interest is directed towards automotive industry for battery charging, a special transformer with a large gap and relatively large leakage inductance is used. In order to achieve desired voltage levels high frequencies in the order of 20 to 100 kHz are preferred, producing high levels of reactive power which if not compensated limits power and efficiency. Thus, there is a need to tune or compensate the significant inductance of the windings. There are four basic transformer tuning topologies reported in literature, each one being a combination of series and/or parallel. This paper presents all four topologies and associated input to output dependences based on a Boucherot Bridge model of a transformer.
Orientation of Membrane Vesicles from Escherichia coli as Detected by Freeze-Cleave Electron Microscopy

The application of freeze-cleave electron microscopy to whole cells of Escherichia coli revealed that the particles exposed on the resulting two inner membrane faces are asymmetrically distributed. This method can therefore be used to determine the orientation of membrane vesicles from E. coli. Membrane vesicles freshly prepared in potassium phosphate buffer (K+-vesicles) by osmotic lysis of spheroplasts consisted almost entirely of right-side-out vesicles. Their size suggested that each cell gives rise to one vesicle. When the membrane vesicles were subjected to one cycle of freezing and thawing, the number of inside-out vesicles rose to about 25%. However, due to the small size of most of the inside-out vesicles, these contribute only 2 to 3% of the total membrane surface area of the preparation. The inside-out vesicles appear to arise from infoldings of the membrane of right-side-out vesicles. They also accumulate within the latter, thus producing multivesicular membrane sacs. Na+-vesicles (vesicles prepared in sodium phosphate buffer) subjected to freezing and thawing appeared to lose structural rigidity more than did K+-vesicles. In contrast to the membrane vesicles prepared by the osmotic lysis of spheroplasts, those obtained by breaking intact cells by a single passage through a French pressure cell were uniformly very small (only 40 to 110 nm in diameter); approximately 60 to 80% were inside-out. To reconcile the polarity of the membrane vesicles with the enzymic activities of such preparations, we propose that “dislocation” of membrane proteins occurs during osmotic lysis of spheroplasts.
Breast feeding in Israel: maternal factors associated with choice and duration.

STUDY OBJECTIVES--To determine the influence of maternal characteristics on the incidence and duration of breast feeding. DESIGN--All the women who delivered in three obstetric wards within a two year period were surveyed. These three wards cover 93% of all births in the Jerusalem district. Women were interviewed on breast feeding of the previous child on the first or second day post partum by a research nurse. PARTICIPANTS--Altogether 8486 women whose previous pregnancy had resulted in a live born singleton who survived for at least one year. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS--Breast feeding information was linked to demographic and health information from hospital records. Using logistic regression analysis, failure to start breast feeding was best predicted (p < 0.001) by caesarean delivery, infant's birth weight, maternal smoking habits, and mother being non-immigrant. Maternal age (< 24 or > 40 years) and father being an ultraorthodox Jew were also positively (p < 0.05) associated with the decision to breast feed. Long term breast feeding (three months or more) was strongly affected (p < 0.001) by maternal education level, with both women with the fewest and the greatest number of years of schooling more likely to breast feed. A similar association was observed in all ethnic groups. Primipara and grandmultipara (parity > 4), new immigrants, ultraorthodox Jews, and non-smokers breast fed their babies for longer. CONCLUSIONS--The importance of maternal characteristics in relation to breast feeding was shown. Caesarean delivery and the infant's birth weight were strongly related to the decision to breast feed as were the demographic characteristics of mother's age and her country of birth. Education was not related to this decision but was strongly associated with the duration of breast feeding, as was parity. The behavioural characteristics of smoking and being ultraorthodox were related to both the decision to start and the duration of breast feeding. Efforts to encourage breast feeding ought to be targeted during the hospital stay and post partum period towards women identified as being at increased risk.
Cortisol response in relation to the severity of stress and illness.

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to compare the adrenal response, the course of the ACTH/cortisol ratio, as well as the variance and the diagnostic performance of different cutoffs after 1 and 250 microg ACTH stimulation in different stress situations. METHODS We investigated three groups with increasing stress levels: ambulatory controls (group A; n = 20), hospitalized medical patients (group B; n = 25), and patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (group C; n = 29). All subjects underwent four consecutive ACTH stimulation tests and were randomized to either a 1- or 250-microg dose. RESULTS Stimulated cortisol levels in group A were similar to basal cortisol levels under maximal stress (C3; P = 0.8). Peak cortisol concentrations were higher after 250 microg compared with 1 microg ACTH in group B (P = 0.006) and under maximal stress after extubation (group C3; P = 0.027), whereas there were no differences in group A. The ACTH/cortisol ratio was lower in surgical patients after extubation compared with unstressed conditions (P < or = 0.03) The within-subject variance was similar in ambulatory controls and medical patients and after both ACTH doses (all 17-36% of total variance). Cutoff dependent, the diagnosis of relative adrenal insufficiency would have been made in 0-58.3%, respectively. CONCLUSION In moderate and major stress situations, cortisol concentrations in patients without hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal disease were higher after stimulation with 250 microg compared with 1 mug ACTH. Data from our study give insight into the physiological adaptations of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis to stress.
Diagnosis of mild chronic pancreatitis (Cambridge classification): comparative study using secretin injection-magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography and endoscopic retrograde pancreatography.

AIM To investigate the usefulness of secretin injection-MRCP for the diagnosis of mild chronic pancreatitis. METHODS Sixteen patients having mild chronic pancreatitis according to the Cambridge classification and 12 control subjects with no abnormal findings on the pancreatogram were examined for the diagnostic accuracy of secretin injection-MRCP regarding abnormal branch pancreatic ducts associated with mild chronic pancreatitis (Cambridge Classification), using endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for comparison. RESULTS The sensitivity and specificity for abnormal branch pancreatic ducts determined by two reviewers were respectively 55%-63% and 75%-83% in the head, 57%-64% and 82%-83% in the body, and 44%-44% and 72%-76% in the tail of the pancreas. The sensitivity and specificity for mild chronic pancreatitis were 56%-63% and 92%-92%, respectively. Interobserver agreement (kappa statistics) concerning the diagnosis of an abnormal branch pancreatic duct and of mild chronic pancreatitis was good to excellent. CONCLUSION Secretin injection-MRCP might be useful for the diagnosis of mild chronic pancreatitis.
Naïve (CD4+CD45RA+) T Cell Subpopulation is Susceptible to Various Types of Hazardous Substances in the Workplace

To find the most susceptible lymphocyte subpopulation with exposure to various occupational hazardous substances, we reanalyzed our previous data. We measured T, B and natural killer (NK) cell subpopulations by means of flowcytometry among workers who were exposed to aromatic amines, chromate, mercury lead and organic-solvents. The exposed/non-exposed ratio was defined as the mean value of the absolute number of lymphocyte subpopulations in the exposed workers divided by the corresponding value of the non-exposed control group in 5 studies reported previously by us. The ratio of CD4+CD45RA+ T cells in all the exposed groups examined in this study was less than 1.0, and the mean of these ratio was 0.77, which was the lowest among lymphocyte subpopulations examined. The mean ratio was 1.06 for CD4+CD29+ T cells, 0.91 for CD4+ T cells, 0.99 for CD8+ T cells, 0.93 for CD3+ T cells, 0.99 for CD19+ B cells, 0.96 for CD57-CD16+ NK cells, 0.82 for CD57+CD16+ NK cells, 1.25 for CD57+CD16- NK cells and 0.89 for total lymphocytes. With regard to the difference between exposed and non-exposed workers The estimated overall difference in the mean absolute number of CD4+CD45RA+ T cell subpopulation between exposed and non-exposed workers among five studies was −135 (99% confidence interval, CI:(−194, −75)) cells/mm3 (p<0.01). In conclusion, naïve (CD4+CD45RA+) T cell subpopulation was the most susceptible to the effects of various toxic substances as compared with other lymphocyte subpopulations. This lymphocyte subpopulation may be useful for monitoring immune system of workers exposed to various types of substances in the workplace.
The Politics of Starvation Deaths in West Bengal

This article examines the local socio-political causes behind a sudden wave of starvation deaths that swept across the West Bengali village of Amlashol during the summer of 2004. Following the new paradigm of famine analysis where focus is placed on political failures, the article addresses three groups of political dynamics that together contributed to the starvation deaths: (i) political triggering mechanisms; (ii) underlying political dynamics; and (iii) village specific political dynamics. The article finds that the government’s escalating conflict with the Maoists turned a situation of chronic food insecurity into an acute hunger crisis, which was not mitigated by effective public policies at the local level due to extensive political patronage and a politicisation of the bureaucracy. Amlashol suffered disproportionally from this due to the village’s affiliation with a weak and politically marginalised panchayat. Within Amlashol, the casualties of starvation came primarily from one particular Scheduled tribe, the Sabars, due to issues of social stigmatisation, political exclusion and eroding livelihoods. The article provides a testament to the importance of addressing disaggregated political dynamics in contemporary starvation analysis.
Resistance training and arterial compliance: keeping the benefits while minimizing the stiffening

Objectives This study aimed to determine the effects of moderate resistance training as well as the combined resistance and aerobic training intervention on carotid arterial compliance. Background Resistance training has become a popular mode of exercise, but intense weight training is shown to stiffen carotid arteries. Methods Thirty-nine young healthy men were assigned either to the moderate-intensity resistance training (MODE), the combined resistance training and endurance training (COMBO) or the sedentary control (CONTROL) groups. Participants in the training groups underwent three training sessions per week for 4 months followed by four additional months of detraining. Results All training groups increased maximal strength in all the muscle groups tested (P < 0.05). Carotid arterial compliance (via simultaneous carotid ultrasound and applanation tonometry) decreased approximately 20% after MODE training (from 0.20 ± 0.01 to 0.16 ± 0.01 mm2/mmHg, P < 0.01). No significant changes in carotid arterial compliance were observed in the COMBO (0.20 ± 0.01 to 0.23 ± 0.01 mm2/mmHg) and CONTROL (0.20 ± 0.01 to 0.20 ± 0.01 mm2/mmHg) groups. Following the detraining period, carotid arterial compliance returned to the baseline level. Peripheral (femoral) artery compliance did not change in any groups. Conclusions We concluded that simultaneously performed aerobic exercise training could prevent the stiffening of carotid arteries caused by resistance training in young healthy men.
Détection de flux de contrôle illégaux dans les Smartphones

La securite dans les systemes embarques tels que les smartphones exige une protection des donnees privees manipulees par les applications tierces. Certains mecanismes utilisent des techniques d’analyse dynamique basees sur le « data-tainting » pour suivre les flux d’informations dans le programme. Mais ces techniques ne peuvent pas detecter les flux de controles qui utilisent des instructions conditionnelles pour transferer implicitement les informations. En particulier, les applications malveillantes peuvent contourner le systeme Android et obtenir des informations sensibles a travers les flux de controles. Nous proposons une amelioration de l’analyse dynamique qui propage la teinte tout au long des dependances de controles en utilisant les donnees fournies par l’analyse statique dans les systemes Android. Notre approche reussit a detecter des attaques de controle de flux sur les smartphones.
An advanced architecture with low complexity of partially parallel polar encoder

The polar codes are one of the most approving error-correcting codes due to channel achieving property. Even though polar codes achieves the property, in order to have good error correcting performance the length of the polar code should be long enough. In previous work, a fully parallel architecture was presented which is instinctive and easy to implement however it is not applicable for long polar code on account of huge hardware complexity. A partially parallel architecture was proposed in order to encode long polar code efficiently. The proposed encoder achieves high throughput encoding and applied to polar code of any length.
Organizational Innovation Mortality : From the Population Ecology and Institutional Perspectives

The objectives of this conceptual paper are to explain the mortality of organizational innovation and to identify factors related to the research question of “Why some organizational innovations fail to survive in organizations? ”. By integrating population ecology and institutional theories, a framework on innovation mortality suggested in the paper considers the interaction of innovation, organization, and environment, together with three aspects of innovation: culture, technique, and economics. To bring innovation and organizational factors into the framework will help to reduce the determinism of population ecology and emphasize more on organization adaptation. The implication of this research will provide a basis for the prevention of the mortality of highly advantageous innovations and increase the success rate of organization innovation implementation.
Relationship between repeated measures of hemodynamics, muscle sympathetic nerve activity, and their spectral oscillations.

BACKGROUND We determined the intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) of repeated measures of the mean levels and variability of RR and muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) in 7 normal subjects. We examined whether spontaneous fluctuations in RR and MSNA over repeated measurements were mirrored by changes in spectral components of RR and MSNA. METHODS AND RESULTS Twenty-minute recordings of respiration, RR, blood pressure (BP), and MSNA were performed at day 1, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months and divided into two 10-minute periods for the analysis of short-term reliability. Comparison between these recordings also determined the long-term reliability. Linear regressions examined the relationship between changes in these measurements and changes in spectral components of RR and MSNA. All analyses were carried out blinded to subject and session. Short-term ICC of RR, BP, MSNA and of the variabilities of RR and MSNA (in % of total power) ranged between . 98 and . 70 and indicated a good short-term reliability. The long-term reliability of RR variability was comparable to MSNA variability (range of ICC, .34 to .52). Spontaneous decreases in RR during the repeated recordings were accompanied by increases in sympathetic drive, as evidenced by increases in the ratio of low-frequency to high-frequency variability (LF/HF ratio) of RR interval (r=-.43, P<.01) and by increases in MSNA (r= -.36, P=.01). The changes in the LF/HF ratio of RR were mirrored by parallel changes in the LF/HF ratio of MSNA (r=+.30, P<.05). Spontaneous decreases in BP were accompanied by increases in the LF/HF ratio of MSNA (r=-.52; P=.0001). CONCLUSIONS Heart rate, MSNA, and their variability are stable in the short-term, but less so over the long term. Spontaneous changes in repeated measurements of RR interval and blood pressure over the long term are accompanied by parallel changes in the normalized spectral components of RR and MSNA variability. Thus even over an extended period, there is a synchrony between changes in absolute cardiovascular measures and changes in their spectral components.
Contribution of postsynaptic T‐type calcium channels to parallel fibre‐Purkinje cell synaptic responses

At the parallel fibre‐Purkinje cell glutamatergic synapse, little or no Ca2+ entry takes place through postsynaptic neurotransmitter receptors, although postsynaptic calcium increases are clearly involved in the synaptic plasticity. Postsynaptic voltage‐gated Ca2+ channels therefore constitute the sole rapid postsynaptic Ca2+ signalling mechanism, making it essential to understand how they contribute to the synaptic signalling. Using a selective T‐type calcium channel antagonist, we describe a T‐type component of the EPSC that is activated by the AMPA receptor‐mediated depolarization of the spine and thus will contribute to the local calcium dynamics. This component can amount up to 20% of the EPSC, and this fraction is maintained even at the high frequencies sometimes encountered in sensory processing. Modelling based on our biophysical characterization of T‐type calcium channels in Purkinje cells suggests that the brief spine EPSCs cause the activated T‐type channels to deactivate rather than inactivate, enabling repetitive activation.
Computation of fractal features based on the fractal analysis of surface Electromyogram to estimate force of contraction of different muscles

This research study investigates the fractal properties of surface Electromyogram (sEMG) to estimate the force levels of contraction of three muscles with different cross-sectional areas (CSA): m. quadriceps–vastus lateralis, m. biceps brachii, andm. flexor digitorum superficialis. The fractal features were computed based on the fractal analysis of sEMG, signal recorded while performing sustained muscle contraction at different force levels. A comparison was performed between the fractal features and five other features reported in the literature. Linear regression analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between the force of contraction (20–100%) and features of sEMG. The results from the coefficients of regression () show that the new fractal feature, maximum fractal length of the signal has highest correlation (range 0.88–0.90) when compared with other features which ranges from 0.34 to 0.74 for the three different muscles. This study suggests that the estimation of various levels of sustained contraction of muscles with varied CSA will provide a better insight into the biomechanics model that involves muscle properties and muscle activation.
Diversity and activity of sulphur‐oxidizing bacteria and sulphate‐reducing bacteria in landfill cover soils

Sulphur bioconversion in landfill cover soils, including the metabolism of sulphur‐oxidizing bacteria (SOB) and sulphate‐reducing bacteria (SRB), is one of the important processes affecting H2S emission from landfills. In this study, two landfills with or without landfill gas collection and utilization system were investigated to characterize the role of biotic and abiotic factors affecting diversity and activity of SOB and SRB in the landfill cover soils. The results revealed that the potential sulphur oxidation rates (SORs) and sulphate reduction rates (SRRs) varied with landfill sites and depths. SOR was significantly correlated with pH and SO42−, while SRR was significantly related with pH. The populations of both SOB and SRB were low in the acidic landfill cover soils (pH = 4·7–5·37). Cloning and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism profiles of soxB and dsrB showed that SOB including Halothiobacillus, Thiobacillus, Thiovirga and Bradyrhizobium, and SRB including Desulfobacca, Desulforhabdus and Syntrophobacter dominated in the landfill cover soils, and their distributions were affected mainly by pH value and organic matter contents of soils.
Differential Distribution and Regulation of OX1 and OX2 Orexin/Hypocretin Receptor Messenger RNA in the Brain upon Fasting

To further understand the functions of the orexin/hypocretin system, we examined the expression and regulation of the orexin/hypocretin receptor (OX1R and OX2R) mRNA in the brain by using quantitative in situ hybridization. Expression of OX1R and OX2R mRNA exhibited distinct distribution patterns. Within the hypothalamus, expression for the OX1R mRNA was largely restricted in the ventromedial (VMH) and dorsomedial hypothalamic nuclei, while high levels of OX2R mRNA were contained in the paraventricular nucleus, VMH, and arcuate nucleus as well as in mammilary nuclei. In the amygdala, OX1R mRNA was expressed throughout the amygdaloid complex with robust labeling in the medial nucleus, while OX2R mRNA was only present in the posterior cortical nucleus of amygdala. High levels of OX2R mRNA were also observed in the ventral tegmental area. Moreover, both OX1R and OX2R mRNA were observed in the hippocampus, some thalamic nuclei, and subthalamic nuclei. Furthermore, we analyzed the effect of fasting on levels of OX1R and OX2R mRNA in the hypothalamic and amygdaloid subregions. After 20 h of fasting, levels of OX1R mRNA were significantly increased in the VMH and the medial division of amygdala. An initial decrease (14 h) and a subsequent increase (20 h) in OX1R mRNA levels after fasting were observed in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus and lateral division of amygdala. Levels of OX2R mRNA were augmented in the arcuate nucleus, but remained unchanged in the dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus, paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, and amygdala following fasting. The time-dependent and region-specific regulatory patterns of OX1R and OX2R suggest that they may participate in distinct neural circuits under the condition of food deprivation.
Building a private cloud with Eucalyptus

Scientists very often have specific requirements regarding the IT services to support their research and very often standardized offerings of their service providers do not fit. At KIT we aim to build a private Cloud to offer flexible infrastructure services that can easily be utilized and managed by end users according to their needs. With Eucalyptus, an open source solution exists that is fully compatible with Amazon EC2, S3 and EBS. This paper compares the performance of a cloud computing infrastructure implemented with Eucalyptus to Amazon EC2/S3/EBS and includes the lessons learned while building up a private cloud with Eucalyptus.