Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Spatial Spectrum Estimation Algorithm based on Minimum Redundancy Linear Array: A Performance Analysis

A performance analysis for minimum redundancy linear array (MRLA) in Moffet, A. T. (1968), one of optimal non- uniform linear array, is provided. After a brief back-ground introduction, we exam typical spatial spectrum estimation algorithms such as conventional multiple signal classification (MUSIC) in Schmit, R.O. , (1986), maximum entropy MUSIC (MEM) in Burg, J.P. (1989), minimum norm MUSIC (MNM) in Ng, B. P. (1990), and minimum variance MUSIC (MVM) in Capon, J. (1969) and Hirakawa, M. , et al, 2001, etc. with the direction of arrival (DOA) problem by comparing their statistical performances according to the theoretically perfect covariance, Cramer-Rao bound (CRB) in Stoica, P. et al, (1989). Based on the analysis, we further take the MUSIC, which is the most accurate candidate, as an example to do the comparison between MRLA and uniform linear array (ULA) on the statistical performance and resolution. By checking the results, we show that the MRLA beats the ULA on both the statistical accuracy and resolving power, moreover, we document the predominance for the MRLA on the sensor saving.
Regulation of Insulin Exocytosis by Munc13-1*

The slower kinetics of insulin release from pancreatic islet beta cells, as compared with other regulated secretory processes such as chromaffin granule secretion, can in part be explained by the small number of the insulin granules that are docked to the plasma membrane and readily releasable. In type-2 diabetes, the kinetics of insulin secretion become grossly distorted, and, to therapeutically correct this, it is imperative to elucidate the mechanisms that regulate priming and secretion of insulin secretory granules. Munc13-1, a synaptic protein that regulates SNARE complex assembly, is the major protein determining the priming of synaptic vesicles. Here, we demonstrate the presence of Munc13-1 in human, rat, and mouse pancreatic islet beta cells. Expression of Munc13-1, along with its cognate partners, syntaxin 1a and Munc18a, is reduced in the pancreatic islets of type-2 diabetes non-obese Goto-Kakizaki and obese Zucker fa/fa rats. In insulinoma cells, overexpressed Munc13-1-enhanced green fluorescent protein is translocated to the plasma membrane in a temperature-dependent manner. This, in turn, greatly amplifies insulin exocytosis as determined by patch clamp capacitance measurements and radioimmunoassay of the insulin released. The potentiation of exocytosis by Munc13-1 is dependent on endogenously produced diacylglycerol acting on the overexpressed Munc13-1 because it is blocked by a phospholipase C inhibitor (U73122) and abrogated when the diacylglycerol binding-deficient Munc13-1H567K mutant is expressed instead of the wild type protein. Our data demonstrate that Munc13-mediated vesicle priming is not restricted to neurotransmitter release but is also functional in insulin secretion, where it is subject to regulation by the diacylglycerol second messenger pathway. In view of our findings, Munc13-1 is a potential drug target for therapeutic optimization of insulin secretion in diabetes.
Safety and Efficacy of Intravenous Zanamivir in Preventing Experimental Human Influenza A Virus Infection

ABSTRACT Zanamivir is a potent inhibitor of influenza A and B virus neuraminidases and is active topically in experimental and natural human influenza. We conducted this double-blinded, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intravenously administered zanamivir. Susceptible volunteers were randomized to receive either saline or zanamivir (600 mg) intravenously twice daily for 5 days beginning 4 h prior to intranasal inoculation with ∼105 50% tissue culture infectious doses (TCID50) of influenza A/Texas/36/91 (H1N1) virus. Reductions in the frequency of viral shedding (0% versus 100% in placebo, P < 0.005) and seroconversion (14% versus 100% in placebo, P < 0.005) and decreases in viral titer areas under the curve (0 versus 11.6 [median] log10 TCID50 · day/ml in placebo,P < 0.005) were observed in the zanamivir group, as were reductions in fever (14% versus 88% in placebo,P < 0.05), upper respiratory tract illness (0% versus 100% in placebo, P < 0.005), total symptom scores (1 versus 44 [median] in placebo, P < 0.005), and nasal-discharge weight (3.9 g versus 17.5 g [median] in placebo, P < 0.005). Zanamivir was detectable in nasal lavage samples collected on days 2 and 4 (unadjusted median concentrations, 10.5 and 12.0 ng/ml of nasal wash, respectively). This study demonstrates that intravenously administered zanamivir is distributed to the respiratory mucosa and is protective against infection and illness following experimental human influenza A virus inoculation.
CommandBoard: Creating a General-Purpose Command Gesture Input Space for Soft Keyboard

CommandBoard offers a simple, efficient and incrementally learnable technique for issuing gesture commands from a soft keyboard. We transform the area above the keyboard into a command-gesture input space that lets users draw unique command gestures or type command names followed by execute. Novices who pause see an in-context dynamic guide, whereas experts simply draw. Our studies show that CommandBoard's inline gesture shortcuts are significantly faster (almost double) than markdown symbols and significantly preferred by users. We demonstrate additional techniques for more complex commands, and discuss trade-offs with respect to the user's knowledge and motor skills, as well as the size and structure of the command space.
Synergistic effects of homocysteine, S‐adenosylhomocysteine and adenosine on apoptosis in BV‐2 murine microglial cells

Homocysteine (Hcy), S‐adenosylhomocysteine (SAH) and adenosine (Ado) are methionine metabolism intermediates that may act synergistically in certain disease. In this study, we examined whether HCy, SAH and Ado may synergistically induce neuronal apoptosis of BV‐2 microglial cells. We found that an incubation of BV‐2 cells with 1 mM Hcy, 1 μM SAH and 100 μM Ado (SAH + Hcy + Ado) led to marked apoptosis of BV‐2 cells, as evidenced by several markers of apoptosis. A synergistic effect of SAH + Hcy + Ado on apoptosis (2.55‐fold, P <0.05) was obtained, as calculated using the data of Annexin V‐positive cells. This combination markedly induced intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) starting at 6 h and significantly decreased the mitochondrial potential starting at 12 h. The combination significantly elevated caspase‐9 and caspase‐3 activities at 24 and 48 h. The combination also induced hypomethylation (at 24 and 48 h), as indicated by significantly decreased 5‐methyldeoxycytidine levels and SAM/SAH ratios. Pre‐incubation of cells with α‐tocopherol (30 μM) reduced the increase of ROS (at 6 h) and significantly restored cell viability (at 24 and 48 h) in the SAH + Hcy + Ado group. Overall, the present study demonstrates that SAH, Hcy and Ado synergistically induce BV‐2 apoptosis, possibly by generation of ROS and induction of intracellular hypomethylation.
Demo: Cloud-Based Vehicular Data Analytics Platform

A cloud based, Vehicular Data Analytics Platform (VDAP) to identify unusual driving behaviors, evaluate driving habits, monitor health status of vehicles, and track fleets of vehicles is presented. The platform is capable of ingesting data from multiple sources such as On Board Diagnostics (OBD) port, GPS, sensor units, and smart phones. Initial system consists of an OBD port to Bluetooth dongle, an app running on a smartphone, and a cloud-based backend. Based on OBD data, Complex Event Processors (CEPs) at both the smartphone and backend detect and notify unsafe and anomalous events in real time.
Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocytic Stage Parasites Require the Putative Autophagy Protein PfAtg7 for Normal Growth

Analysis of the Plasmodium falciparum genome reveals a limited number of putative autophagy genes, specifically the four genes involved in ATG8 lipidation, an essential step in formation of autophagosomes. In yeast, Atg8 lipidation requires the E1-type ligase Atg7, an E2-type ligase Atg3, and a cysteine protease Atg4. These four putative P. falciparum ATG (PfATG) genes are transcribed during the parasite’s erythrocytic stages. PfAtg7 has relatively low identity and similarity to yeast Atg7 (14.7% and 32.2%, respectively), due primarily to long insertions typical of P. falciparum. Excluding the insertions the identity and similarity are higher (38.0% and 70.8%, respectively). This and the fact that key residues are conserved, including the catalytic cysteine and ATP binding domain, we hypothesize that PfAtg7 is the activating enzyme of PfAtg8. To assess the role of PfAtg7 we have generated two transgenic parasite lines. In one, the PfATG7 locus was modified to introduce a C-terminal hemagglutinin tag. Western blotting reveals two distinct protein species, one migrating near the predicted 150 kDa and one at approximately 65 kDa. The second transgenic line introduces an inducible degradation domain into the PfATG7 locus, allowing us to rapidly attenuate PfAtg7 protein levels. Corresponding species are also observed in this parasite line at approximately 200 kDa and 100 kDa. Upon PfATG7 attenuation parasites exhibit a slow growth phenotype indicating the essentiality of this putative enzyme for normal growth.
Designing of Linear Regulator and Switching Regulator with Double-Gate MOSFET

The Linear Regulators with traditional MOSFET are used for low noise, low ripple, and fast transient applications. The Switching Regulators have low power dissipation, high efficiency and high power density. Both of the regulators properties can be improved with the help of improvement in the traditional MOSFET. In this research I have been designed the Linear Regulator and Switching Regulator with Double-Gate MOSFET. This Double-gate MOSFET will provide twice the current flow, which improves the above parameters of linear regulator and switching regulator.
Marketing of value-added products from silver carp and involvement of rural people in the production and marketing chain

Cost-profit analysis and market testing of some value-added products from silver carp such as fish mince block, fish sausage, fish ball, fish stick and fish burger were analyzed during April 2001 to March 2002. The study also explored the possibility to involve rural low-income people in the production and marketing of such products. The production of silver carp was higher in greater Jessore and Mymensingh districts but the price remained low during the peak-harvesting season in October to November. The price varied with size of the fish, season, market characteristics and effective demand of the buyers. Price of about 500 g size fish was found to be Tk. 20-25/kg in the rural markets. The average size of fish in the rural markets was 3S0-550 g while that in the urban markets it was 700-1,200 g. The cost of production of the value added products and profit margin were assessed on the basis of market price of the raw material as well as that of the finished products, transportation, storage and marketing costs. The profit margins of 34%, 39%, 81% and 31% of their sales price were obtained for fish sausage, fish ball, fish stick and fish burger, respectively. Actual production cost could be minimized if the fish is purchased directly from the farmers. Consumer's acceptance and marketability tests showed that both rural and urban people preferred fish ball than fish sausage. However, response towards the taste, flavor and color of fish ball and fish sausage was found to vary with occupations and age of the consumers. A correlation was observed between age group and acceptance of new products. Fish ball, fish stick and fish burger were found to be the most preferable items to the farmers because of easy formulation process with common utensils. Good marketing linkage and requirement of capital had been identified as the prerequisites for operating small-scale business on value-added fish products.
A new method for direct signal recover in non-cooperative bistatic radar

The direct signal which includes noise and multipath clutter greatly declines the performance of the non-cooperation bistatic radar system. To mitigate this problem, a new method based on three-sensor array for direct signal recover in non-cooperation bistatic radar is proposed. The expression of recovering direct signal from white noise and multipath clutter is analyzed in detail. Statistical performances of the method are provided by computer simulation. The theoretical analysis and simulation result shows that the new method can recover the direct signal effectively from noise and multipath clutter.
Grid Computing Workloads

In the mid 1990s, the grid computing community promised the "compute power grid," a utility computing infrastructure for scientists and engineers. Since then, a variety of grids have been built worldwide, for academic purposes, specific application domains, and general production work. Understanding grid workloads is important for the design and tuning of future grid resource managers and applications, especially in the recent wake of commercial grids and clouds. This article presents an overview of the most important characteristics of grid workloads in the past seven years (2003-2010). Although grid user populations range from tens to hundreds of individuals, a few users dominate each grid's workload both in terms of consumed resources and the number of jobs submitted to the system. Real grid workloads include very few parallel jobs but many independent single-machine jobs (tasks) grouped into single "bags of tasks. "
Antisense oligonucleotide pharmacokinetics and metabolism.

BACKGROUND The use of oligonucleotides as therapeutic agents has elicited a great deal of interest. Basic understanding and evaluation of the pharmacokinetic properties of oligonucleotides is foundational to their appropriate design and application. OBJECTIVE To review the primary pharmacokinetic properties that drive successful use and delivery of oligonucleotides. METHODS The primary data set available in the published literature for summarizing the pharmacokinetic properties of oligonucleotides exists for single strand phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides and their chimeric chemical modifications (second generation). Where possible, data from other classes of compounds are contrasted with this base class. RESULTS/CONCLUSION Although there are several different classes of oligonucleotides being developed as therapeutic agents, their pharmacokinetic properties by class are primarily a function of their backbone chemistry and the resulting chemical relationship to biological stability and plasma protein binding properties.
Characterization of an essential Orc2p-associated factor that plays a role in DNA replication

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae Orc2 protein is a subunit of the origin recognition complex, ORC, which binds in a sequence-specific manner to yeast origins of DNA replication. With screens for orc2-1 synthetic lethal mutations and Orc2p two-hybrid interactors, a novel Orc2p-associated factor (Oaf1p) was identified. OAF1 is essential, its gene product is localized to the nucleus, and an oaf1 temperature-sensitive mutant arrests as large budded cells with a single nucleus. The mutant oaf1-2, isolated in the synthetic lethal screen, loses plasmids containing a single origin of DNA replication at a high rate, but it maintains plasmids carrying multiple potential origins of DNA replication. In addition, the OAF1 gene product tagged with the hemagglutinin antigen epitope binds to a DNA affinity column containing covalently linked tandem repeats of an essential origin element. These results suggest a role for OAFI in the initiation of DNA replication. Mutant alleles of cdc7 and cdc14 were also isolated in the orc2-1 synthetic lethal screen. Cdc7p, like Oaf1p, also interacts with Orc2p in two-hybrid assays.
Repeated treatment with amitriptyline reduces immobility in the behavioural ‘despair’ test in rats by activating dopaminergic and β‐adrenergic mechanisms

Seven days of treatment with amitriptyline 10 mg kg−1 day−1, reduced the immobility time in the behavioural ‘despair’ test in rats. 0.5, but not 0.25 mg kg−1 haloperidol significantly counteracted the reduction of immobility caused by amitriptyline. Its anti‐immobility effect was reduced by 50 and 100 mg kg−1 sulpiride, another blocker of dopamine receptors, and 5 mg kg−1 (±)‐propranolol, a β‐adrenolytic drug. Prazosin, 3 mg kg−1, an antagonist of post‐synaptic α‐adrenoceptors, had no effect. It is suggested that dopaminergic and β‐adrenoceptors mediate the anti‐immobility effect of repeated amitriptyline treatment in rats.
Interactive Chan-Vese Approach with Random Walk for Medical Images Segmentation

In this paper, we present a novel interactive variational approach to image segmentation within a Chan-Vese framework. We propose a parameterized energy function that can be modified based on user input, and also incorporate in it a probabilistic term that defines reachability of a pixel from a user-selected `internal’ object pixel. The proposed approach shows promising improvement over automatic segmentation methods when applied to medical images.
Automated synthesis of phase shifters for built-in self-testapplications

This paper presents novel systematic design techniques for the automated register transfer level synthesis of phase shifters-circuits used to remove effects of structural dependencies featured by pseudorandom test pattern generators driving parallel scan chains. Using a concept of linear feedback shift register (LFSR) duality this paper relates the logical states of LFSRs and circuits spacing their inputs to each of the output channels. Consequently, the method generates a phase-shifter network satisfying criteria of channel separation and circuit complexity by taking advantage of simple logic simulation of the LFSRs. It is shown that it is possible to synthesize in a time-efficient manner very large and fast phase shifters for built-in self-test applications with guaranteed minimum phaseshifts between scan chains, and very low delay and area of virtually one two-way XOR gate/channel.
Chemical and biological processes for multi-metal extraction from waste printed circuit boards of computers and mobile phones

E-waste printed circuit boards (PCB) of computers, mobile-phones, televisions, LX (LongXiang) PCB in LED lights and bulbs, and tube-lights were crushed to ≥250 µm particle size and 16 different metals were analysed. A comparative study has been carried out to evaluate the extraction of Cu–Zn–Ni from computer printed circuit boards (c-PCB) and mobile-phone printed circuit boards (m-PCB) by chemical and biological methods. Chemical process showed the extraction of Cu–Zn–Ni by ferric sulphate was best among the studied chemical lixiviants. Bioleaching experiments were carried out with the iron oxidising consortium, which showed that when E-waste and inoculum were added simultaneously in the medium (one-step process); 60.33% and 87.50% Cu, 75.67% and 85.67% Zn and 71.09% and 81.87% Ni were extracted from 10 g L-1 of c-PCB and m-PCB, respectively, within 10–15 days of reaction time. Whereas, E-waste added after the complete oxidation of Fe2+ to Fe3+ iron containing medium (two-step process) showed 85.26% and 99.99% Cu, 96.75% and 99.49% Zn and 93.23% and 84.21% Ni extraction from c-PCB and m-PCB, respectively, only in 6–8 days. Influence of varying biogenerated Fe3+ and c-PCB concentrations showed that 16.5 g L-1 of Fe3+ iron was optimum up to 100 g L-1 of c-PCB. Changes in pH, acid consumed and redox potential during the process were also studied. The present study shows the ability of an eco-friendly process for the recovery of multi-metals from E-waste even at 100 g L-1 printed circuit boards concentration.
The Quest for Public Trust: The Limits of Information Access Reforms Based on the New Institutional Economics. The Case of Mexico

ABSTRACT Mexico undertook a bold transparency reform 13 years back. This reform promised one objective: to increase citizens’ trust in the government. However, trust in the Mexican government is still extremely low (and decreasing). In order to understand this situation the article argues that the contradiction is created by the logics of the New Institutional Economics (NIE) assumptions, the analytical base for this reform. NIE oversimplifies the social and political dynamics of public organizations, producing a paradox: in order to increase trust in government, citizens must have a structural distrust on their public organizations. The article proposes to go beyond NIE in order to actually increase trust in governments.
The effectiveness of a construction worksite prevention program on work ability, health, and sick leave: results from a cluster randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a prevention program on work ability, health, and sick leave targeted at construction worksites. METHODS A total of 15 departments (N = 297 workers) from 6 construction companies participated in this cluster randomized controlled trial and were randomly allocated to the intervention (8 departments; N = 171 workers) or control (7 departments; N = 122 workers) group. The intervention consisted of two individual training sessions with a physical therapist aimed at lowering the physical workload, a rest-break tool to improve the balance between work and recovery, and two empowerment training sessions to increase the worker's influence at the worksite. Data on work ability, physical and mental health status, and musculoskeletal symptoms were collected at baseline, and at 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up. Sick leave data were obtained from the companies. RESULTS Overall, no differences in work ability [β 0.02, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) -0.34-0.37] or physical and mental health status (β -0.04, 95% CI -1.43-1.35, and β 0.80 95% CI -0.51-2.11, respectively) were found between the intervention and control group. The intervention showed an overall decline in musculoskeletal symptoms (ranging from OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.34-1.33, to OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.47-1.57) and long-term sick leave (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.13-1.26) among construction workers. Both reductions were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION The prevention program seemed to result in a beneficial but not statistically significant decline in the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms and long-term sick leave among construction workers, but showed no effects with regard to work ability, physical health, and mental health.