Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Microwave measurement of wood in principal directions

This paper reports a new method for broadband microwave wood measurement using a focused beam antenna system that allows the determination of propagation factors along the principal directions of the sample. The concept was used previously for wood measurement with modulated scattering technique, but is applied here to a focused beam system. The expressions for two propagation factors are revisited using S parameters representation, allowing the use of free space calibration procedure. The microwave propagation factor obtained by this method can be used to separate the contributions that grain angle, moisture content and density have in the measured signal. In addition, the grain angle, a significant wood quality indicator that is highly correlated to the strength and stiffness of the sample, can be determined.
Mechanisms contributing to the induction and storage of Pavlovian fear memories in the lateral amygdala

The relative contributions of plasticity in the amygdala vs. its afferent pathways to conditioned fear remain controversial. Some believe that thalamic and cortical neurons transmitting information about the conditioned stimulus (CS) to the lateral amygdala (LA) serve a relay function. Others maintain that thalamic and/or cortical plasticity is critically involved in fear conditioning. To address this question, we developed a large-scale biophysical model of the LA that could reproduce earlier findings regarding the cellular correlates of fear conditioning in LA. We then conducted model experiments that examined whether fear memories depend on (1) training-induced increases in the responsiveness of thalamic and cortical neurons projecting to LA, (2) plasticity at the synapses they form in LA, and/or (3) plasticity at synapses between LA neurons. These tests revealed that training-induced increases in the responsiveness of afferent neurons are required for fear memory formation. However, once the memory has been formed, this factor is no longer required because the efficacy of the synapses that thalamic and cortical neurons form with LA cells has augmented enough to maintain the memory. In contrast, our model experiments suggest that plasticity at synapses between LA neurons plays a minor role in maintaining the fear memory.
AN OBJECT ORIENTED APPROACH TO MINING WEB GRAPHS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

Web mining is the application of data mining techniques to extract knowledge from Web. Web mining has been explored to a vast degree and different techniques have been proposed for a variety of applications that includes music, images, books recommendations, query suggestions, etc. In this paper, we highlight the significance of studying the evolving nature of the Web personalization. Web usage mining is used to discover interesting user navigation patterns and can be applied to many real-world problems, such as improving Web sites/pages, making additional topic or product recommendations, user/customer behavior studies, etc. The proposed framework can be utilized in many recommendation tasks on the World Wide Web, including query suggestions, image recommendations, etc. The experimental analysis on large datasets shows the promising future of our work. KeywordsWeb Mining, World wide web, Web Personalization;
Reactive Localization in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we present a novel technique for localizing an event of interest in an underwater environment. The network consists of randomly deployed identical sensor nodes. Instead of proactively localizing every single node in the network as all proposed techniques set out to do, we approach localization from a reactive angle. We reduce the localization problem to the problem of finding 4-Node Coverage, in which we form a subset of nodes such that every node in the original set is covered by four nodes belonging to this special subset – which we call the anchor nodes for simplicity. This subset of anchor nodes behaves like a backbone to the localization process. We show that in terms of energy consumption, this localization technique far surpasses others in terms of energy efficiency.
Characterization of allelic variants at chromosome 15q14 in schizophrenia

Evidence of genetic linkage for schizophrenia at chromosome 15q14 has been reported in nine independent studies, but the molecular variants responsible for transmission of genetic risk are unknown. National Institute of Mental Health Schizophrenia Genetics Initiative families were genotyped for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and dinucleotide repeat markers in the 15q14 linkage region and analyzed based on the presence of particular alleles of the dinucleotide repeat marker D15S165 in the 15q14 region. Two alleles showed both familial transmission disequilibrium and population‐wide association with schizophrenia. The two groups identified by these two D15S165 alleles differ in age of onset, number of hospitalizations and intensity of nicotine abuse, as well as in predominant ethnicity. Variations in the frequency of SNPs in CHRNA7, the α‐7‐nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit gene at 15q14, were found in each group. Further sequencing in these two groups may yield more definitive identification of the molecular pathology.
Effect of hormone replacement therapy on non‐invasive cardiovascular haemodynamics

Objective To determine the detailed effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on non-invasive haemodynamics, including an assessment of the effect on the pulsatile afterload assessed in terms of the augmentation index and pulse-wave velocity. Design A cross-sectional study of healthy postmenopausal women using carotid and radial tonometry and pulse-wave velocity measurements. Setting Community-based ambulatory women attending the menopause centre at a tertiary hospital. Patients Seventy postmenopausal women divided into those not currently being administered HRT (n = 38, aged 46–72 years) and those who were being administered a variety of HRT (n = 32, aged 49–67 years). Methods Central arterial pressure waveforms were measured using carotid applanation tonometry to derive the augmentation index and ejection duration. The arterial pulse-wave velocity was assessed using paired carotid, radial and dorsalis tonometry waveforms. Results Women being administered HRT had a significantly lower augmentation index (20.4 ± 8.6 versus 27.0 ± 10.2%, P = 0.005) and shorter ejection times (320 ± 17 versus 329 ± 18 ms, P = 0.037). There was no significant difference in brachial blood pressure (131/76 versus 129/77 mmHg). Women being administered HRT exhibited a greater reversal in the age-related loss of amplification which occurs owing to arterial stiffening. This amplification between central and peripheral systolic blood pressures was greater among women being administered HRT (5.3 ± 6.2 versus 2.2 ± 4.0 mmHg, P = 0.014). There was no difference in pulse-wave velocity between the two groups. Conclusions HRT appears to improve the pulsatile vascular afterload by decreasing the augmentation of the late systolic blood pressure. This effect is not apparent from routine brachial cuff measurements, which, as a result, may underestimate haemodynamic benefits. Such effects may help to explain a portion of the improvement in cardiovascular morbidity found in other trials.
Multi-stream 2D frequency table computation on dataflow architecture

Frequency table computation is a common procedure used in variety of machine learning algorithms. In this paper we present a parallelized kernel for computing frequency tables. The kernel is targeted for dataflow architecture implemented on field programmable gate array (FPGA). Its performance was evaluated against a parallelized software implementation running on a 6-core CPU. The kernel with six concurrent input data streams running on 300 MHz achieved speedup of up to 6.26×, compared to 6 threaded software implementation running on 3.2 GHz CPU.
Disorders Associated with Multiple Deletions of Mitochondrial DNA

Multiple deletions of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have recently been described in a number of patients with neurological disorders. Most cases have been clinically characterized by autosomal dominant inheritance, adult onset, and a slowly progressive course with external ophthalmoplegia and muscle weakness. Some patients have had evidence of central or peripheral nervous system involvement or episodes of myoglobinuria. Muscle biopsy findings include ragged‐red fibres (RRF), muscle fibres with absent COX‐activity and abundant abnormal mitochondria with paracrystalline inclusions. Biochemically, a generalized reduction in the activities of mtDNA‐encoded enzymes is observed in skeletal muscle. Southern blotting or PCR analysis reveal multiple populations of deleted mtDNA. The deletions occur at multiple sites between the replication initiation sites, involving a large portion of mtDNA, and most deletions seem to be flanked by direct sequence repeats, shown to be “hot spots” in the case of single large deletions. Apparently, a defect in a nuclear gene results in multiple deletions of mtDNA. Both clinical, genetic and molecular genetic observations indicate heterogeneity of this new disease category, apparently based on a disturbance in the “cross‐talk” between the nuclear and the mitochondrial genomes.
Bmc Medical Informatics and Decision Making Physicians' Attitudes towards Eprescribing – Evaluation of a Swedish Full-scale Implementation

Background: The penetration rate of Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems in health care is increasing. However, many different EHR-systems are used with varying ePrescription designs and functionalities. The aim of the present study was to evaluate experienced ePrescribers' attitudes towards ePrescribing for suggesting improvements.
Assessing self-organization using order metrics

Self-organizing maps (SOM) are proving to be useful as data analysis and visualization tools because they can visually render the data analysis results in 2D or 3D, and do not need category information for each input pattern. But this unsupervised nature of the training process makes it difficult to have separate training and test sets to determine the quality of the training process, which is done quite naturally for supervised neural network learning algorithms. In applications like data analysis, where there is little clue as to the way the SOM is supposed to look after training, it is important to be able to assess the quality of the self-organization process independent of the application, and without need for category information. The average unit disorder has been used to assess the quality of the ordering of a self-organized map. It is shown here that this same order metric can be used to assess the quality of the self-organization process itself. Based on this order metric, it can be determined whether the SOM has adequately learned, whether the parameters used to train the SOM have been correctly specified, and whether the SOM variant used is well-suited to the specific problem at hand.
Eosinophilic density in graft biopsies positive for rejection and blood eosinophil count can predict development of post‐transplant digestive tract eosinophilia

EGID is a known post‐transplant complication. Its etiology has been related to antirejection medication, but other factors may also play a role as only few transplant recipients develop EGID despite standardized treatment. This study aimed to determine whether EGID is associated with rejection events and with a specific phenotype of the rejection‐positive graft biopsies in children with solid organ transplant. All patients with liver, heart, and kidney transplant followed at our institution were included in the study. Digestive tract eosinophilia was more common in heart and liver recipients and was a rare event after renal transplantation. Subjects with EGID had higher incidence of rejection and elevated peripheral blood AEC. The first rejection event and high AEC values preceded EGID diagnosis in the majority of patients. Histologically, the initial rejection‐positive graft biopsy revealed accentuated eosinophilia in EGID patients compared with non‐EGID cohort, which correlated with higher blood eosinophil counts at the time of first rejection episode. Prominent graft tissue and peripheral blood eosinophilia prior to EGID diagnosis suggests a predisposition for eosinophil activation in patients with post‐transplant digestive eosinophilic disorder. These parameters can be used as markers for subsequent development of EGID.
Carbonate fabrics in the modern microbialites of Pavilion Lake: two suites of microfabrics that reflect variation in microbial community morphology, growth habit, and lithification

Modern microbialites in Pavilion Lake, BC, provide an analog for ancient non‐stromatolitic microbialites that formed from in situ mineralization. Because Pavilion microbialites are mineralizing under the influence of microbial communities, they provide insights into how biological processes influence microbialite microfabrics and mesostructures. Hemispherical nodules and micrite–microbial crusts are two mesostructures within Pavilion microbialites that are directly associated with photosynthetic communities. Both filamentous cyanobacteria in hemispherical nodules and branching filamentous green algae in micrite–microbial crusts were associated with calcite precipitation at microbialite surfaces and with characteristic microfabrics in the lithified microbialite. Hemispherical nodules formed at microbialite surfaces when calcite precipitated around filamentous cyanobacteria with a radial growth habit. The radial filament pattern was preserved within the microbialite to varying degrees. Some subsurface nodules contained well‐defined filaments, whereas others contained only dispersed organic inclusions. Variation in filament preservation is interpreted to reflect differences in timing and amount of carbonate precipitation relative to heterotrophic decay, with more defined filaments reflecting greater lithification prior to degradation than more diffuse filaments. Micrite–microbial crusts produce the second suite of microfabrics and form in association with filamentous green algae oriented perpendicular to the microbialite surface. Some crusts include calcified filaments, whereas others contained voids that reflect the filamentous community in shape, size, and distribution. Pavilion microbialites demonstrate that microfabric variation can reflect differences in lithification processes and microbial metabolisms as well as microbial community morphology and organization. Even when the morphology of individual filaments or cells is not well preserved, the microbial growth habit can be captured in mesoscale microbialite structures. These results suggest that when petrographic preservation is extremely good, ancient microbialite growth structures and microfabrics can be interpreted in the context of variation in community organization, community composition, and lithification history. Even in the absence of distinct microbial microfabrics, mesostructures can capture microbial community morphology.
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Research Department Staff Report 327 Partial Adjustment without Apology *

Many kinds of economic behavior involve discrete and occasional individual choices. Despite this, econometric partial adjustment models perform relatively well at the aggregate level. Analyzing the classic employment adjustment problem, we show how such micro-economic adjustment is well described by a new form of partial adjustment model that aggregates the actions of heterogeneous producers. We develop a model where individual establishments infrequently alter the sizes of their workforces because such adjustments involve fixed costs. In the market equilibrium, employment responses to aggregate disturbances include changes both in target employments selected by individual establishments and in the measure of establishments actively undertaking adjustment. Yet the model retains a partial adjustment flavor in its aggregate responses. Moreover, in contrast to existing discrete adjustment models, our generalized partial adjustment model is sufficiently tractable to allow general equilibrium analysis, and it naturally extends to accommodate persistent differences in productivity across establishments in general equilibrium. We thank Randall Wright and two anonymous referees for their comments. Any remaining errors are our own. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond or Minneapolis, or the Federal Reserve System.
Student’s Examination Result Mining: A Predictive Approach

— This paper takes into consideration the various factors and their influence on student performance in education and predicts their final examination result whether Pass or Re-appear. Various factors such as previous year results, attendance, financial status of family, parent educational qualification, internet use for study material, parents visits to school, extra classes etc plays an important role in students’ education. A lot of other immeasurable factors such as student motivation level, learning techniques used, strategy for preparing for final examination, student behavior and habits, questions chosen for answering and way of expressing ideas may also be responsible for the final result, but they are beyond the scope of this paper. This paper discusses the most common measurable factors among the students. The data mining methodology while extracting useful, valid patterns from education database environment contribute to proactively ensuring students maximize their academic output [1]. The results of this paper present an idea about these factors and their influence on student performance and may also be used by the educational administrators in making proper decisions for the welfare of the students. Naive Bayes classifier is applied to calculate probabilities. MATLAB is used to get the final outcome which helps in predicting final examination results. The data set is collected from different schools by distributing questionnaires, has been used as input to the algorithm.
Influence of geometry shape factor on trapping and flushing efficiencies

The trap efficiency of a shallow reservoir depends on the characteristics of the inflowing sediments and the retention time of the water in the reservoir, which in turn are controlled by the reservoir geometry. With the purpose of controlling the trapped and flushed sediments in shallow reservoirs, the effects of the geometry on sediment deposition and removal were investigated with systematic physical experiments. The geometry shape factor is an important factor to predict the flow and sediment deposition in the reservoir. The evolution of trap efficiency has an increasing or decreasing effect according to the geometry shape factor and flow patterns. The channel formed during flushing attracts the jet and stabilizes the flow structures over the entire reservoir. Empirical formulas to describe the relationship between the geometry shape factor and sediment trap efficiency as well as flushing efficiency were developed.
Syntrophic growth via quinone-mediated interspecies electron transfer

The mechanisms by which microbial species exchange electrons are of interest because interspecies electron transfer can expand the metabolic capabilities of microbial communities. Previous studies with the humic substance analog anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AQDS) suggested that quinone-mediated interspecies electron transfer (QUIET) is feasible, but it was not determined if sufficient energy is available from QUIET to support the growth of both species. Furthermore, there have been no previous studies on the mechanisms for the oxidation of anthrahydroquinone-2,6-disulfonate (AHQDS). A co-culture of Geobacter metallireducens and G. sulfurreducens metabolized ethanol with the reduction of fumarate much faster in the presence of AQDS, and there was an increase in cell protein. G. sulfurreducens was more abundant, consistent with G. sulfurreducens obtaining electrons from acetate that G. metallireducens produced from ethanol, as well as from AHQDS. Co-cultures initiated with a citrate synthase-deficient strain of G. sulfurreducens that was unable to use acetate as an electron donor also metabolized ethanol with the reduction of fumarate and cell growth, but acetate accumulated over time. G. sulfurreducens and G. metallireducens were equally abundant in these co-cultures reflecting the inability of the citrate synthase-deficient strain of G. sulfurreducens to metabolize acetate. Evaluation of the mechanisms by which G. sulfurreducens accepts electrons from AHQDS demonstrated that a strain deficient in outer-surface c-type cytochromes that are required for AQDS reduction was as effective at QUIET as the wild-type strain. Deletion of additional genes previously implicated in extracellular electron transfer also had no impact on QUIET. These results demonstrate that QUIET can yield sufficient energy to support the growth of both syntrophic partners, but that the mechanisms by which electrons are derived from extracellular hydroquinones require further investigation.
8-Gb/s source-synchronous I/O link with adaptive receiver equalization, offset cancellation, and clock de-skew

A source-synchronous I/O link with adaptive receiver-side equalization has been implemented in 0.13-/spl mu/m bulk CMOS technology. The transceiver is optimized for small area (360 /spl mu/m /spl times/ 360 /spl mu/m) and low power (280 mW). The analog equalizer is implemented as an 8-way interleaved, 4-tap discrete-time linear filter. The equalization improved the data rate of a 102 cm backplane interconnect by 110%. On-die adaptive logic determines optimal receiver settings through comparator offset cancellation, data alignment of the transmitter and receiver, clock de-skew and setting filter coefficients for equalization. The noise-margin degradation due to statistical variation in converged coefficient values was less than 3%.
Mathematical Foundations for Designing and Development of Intelligent Systems of Information Analysis

This article is an attempt to combine different ways of working with sets of objects and their classes for designing and development of artificial intelligent systems (AIS) of analysis information, using object-oriented programming (OOP). This paper contains analysis of basic concepts of OOP and their relation with set theory and artificial intelligence (AI). Process of sets and multisets creation from different sides, in particular mathematical set theory, OOP and AI is considered. Definition of object and its properties, homogeneous and inhomogeneous classes of objects, set of objects, multiset of objects and constructive methods of their creation and classification are proposed. In addition, necessity of some extension of existing OOP tools for the purpose of practical implementation AIS of analysis information, using proposed approach, is shown.
Aging normal and dystrophic mouse muscle: Analysis of myogenicity in cultures of living single fibers

In the early stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, chronic muscle degeneration is counterbalanced by regeneration whose progressive failure beyond the fifth year is attributed to an accelerated senescence associated with excessive myogenic cell division. This idea was tested by counting the numbers of myogenic cells accumulating over 90 h around individual living fibers isolated from muscles of dystrophic (mdx) and normal mice, 14–550 days of age. In cultures of normal muscle fibers, the number of myogenic cells per fiber decreased with increasing age of the animal. Cultures from young mdx mice exhibited an age‐related increase in myogenic cell number, attaining at 50 days three times the number in control cultures. Thereafter, myogenic cell number progressively declined with animal age to control values. Thus, there is no evidence that extensive myoblast proliferation in young dystrophic mice—and, by association, in Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients—depletes their myogenic responsiveness in later life when they become weak and wasted. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 21: 173–183, 1998