Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Thermal modelling of switched flux permanent magnet machines

This paper presents the electromagnetic loss and thermal modelling of a switched flux permanent magnet (SFPM) machine. A 2D finite element method is first used to calculate the stator and rotor iron losses as well as PM eddy current losses. Then, 3-D thermal modelling has been performed for analysing the temperature distribution within the SFPM machine, the calculated power losses have been applied to different machine components as heat sources to predict the temperature distributions throughout the SFPM machine. A prototype of 50 kW SFPM machine has been used for thermal tests under both open-circuit and on-load conditions. Good agreement between measured and simulated results has been achieved.
Political economy of infrastructure investment allocation: evidence from a panel of large German cities

This paper proposes a simultaneous-equation approach to the estimation of the contribution of infrastructure accumulation to private production. A political-economy model for the allocation of public infrastructure investment grants is formulated. Our empirical findings, using a panel of large German cities for the years 1980, 1986, and 1988, suggest that cities ruled by a council sharing the State (‘Bundesland’) government's current political affiliation were particularly successful in attracting infrastructure investment grants. With regard to the contribution of infrastructure accumulation to growth, we find that public capital is a significant factor for private production. Moreover, at least for the sample studied, we find that simultaneity between output and public capital is weak; thus, feedback effects from output to infrastructure are negligible. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG - (Politische Okonomie der Allokation von Infrastrukturinvestitionen: Empirische Evidenz von einem Paneldatensatz groser deutscher Stadte) Dieses Papier verwendet ein simultanes Gleichungssystem zur Schatzung des Beitrags von Infrastrukturinvestitionen zu regionalem Wachstum. Ein polit-okonomisches Modell der Allokation von Finanzzuweisungen fur offentliche Investitionen in Infrastruktur wird formuliert. Unsere empirischen Ergebnisse basierend auf einem Paneldatensatz fur grose deutsche Stadte in den Jahren 1980, 1986 und 1988 deuten darauf hin, dass Stadte, deren Mehrheit im Stadtrat die selbe politische "Couleur" wie die Landesregierung hatte, erfolgreicher bei der Zuteilung von Finanzzuweisungen waren. Im Hinblick auf den Beitrag der Infrastrukturakkumulation auf das Wachstum finden wir, dass offentliches Kapital ein wichtiger Faktor fur die private Produktion ist. Weiterhin, zumindest fur den untersuchten Zeitraum, finden wir, dass die Simultanitat zwischen Output und offentlichem Kapital gering ist; daher sind Feedback-Effekte von Output zur Infrastruktur vernachlassigbar.
Influence of receiver position on building penetration loss at 5.0 GHz for high elevation angles

Based on experimental data obtained during an extensive measurement campaign aimed at building penetration loss for satellite services, this paper presents the influence of the receiver position inside three case-study buildings. After a brief description of the measurement system, the corresponding measurement scenarios are described in detail. Finally, results at the frequency of 5.0 GHz are discussed for four different measurement sites.
Robot Mobility Concepts for Extraterrestrial Surface Exploration

Future space missions are directed to robotic precursor missions to nearby celestial objects. Various science experiments are meant to be performed by autonomous robotic vehicles including detection of widely speculated polar-ice in lunar craters and detect signs of past life on Mars. The locomotion subsystem plays a key role in moving a robot on a surface with high performance capabilities, irrespective of the nature of the terrain. Locomotion on extraterrestrial surfaces can be achieved by a wheeled rover, tracked rover, legged walker or a hybrid vehicle. The first three modes can be classified based on the number of wheels, tracks, or legs the robot possesses. Hybrids can be either a wheeled-leg or a legged-track combination. A survey of different locomotion concepts available for lunar, planetary, and other space exploration missions has been performed and discussed. Choosing the right locomotion mode is a difficult task for a particular mission with each having its own pros and cons. Therefore, a comparative assessment of the various modes which could be used as a quick reference tool is also provided.
Comparative Toxicity of Nanoparticulate CuO and ZnO to Soil Bacterial Communities

The increasing industrial application of metal oxide Engineered Nano-Particles (ENPs) is likely to increase their environmental release to soils. While the potential of metal oxide ENPs as environmental toxicants has been shown, lack of suitable control treatments have compromised the power of many previous assessments. We evaluated the ecotoxicity of ENP (nano) forms of Zn and Cu oxides in two different soils by measuring their ability to inhibit bacterial growth. We could show a direct acute toxicity of nano-CuO acting on soil bacteria while the macroparticulate (bulk) form of CuO was not toxic. In comparison, CuSO4 was more toxic than either oxide form. Unlike Cu, all forms of Zn were toxic to soil bacteria, and the bulk-ZnO was more toxic than the nano-ZnO. The ZnSO4 addition was not consistently more toxic than the oxide forms. Consistently, we found a tight link between the dissolved concentration of metal in solution and the inhibition of bacterial growth. The inconsistent toxicological response between soils could be explained by different resulting concentrations of metals in soil solution. Our findings suggested that the principal mechanism of toxicity was dissolution of metal oxides and sulphates into a metal ion form known to be highly toxic to bacteria, and not a direct effect of nano-sized particles acting on bacteria. We propose that integrated efforts toward directly assessing bioavailable metal concentrations are more valuable than spending resources to reassess ecotoxicology of ENPs separately from general metal toxicity.
Managing Sjögren’s Syndrome and non-Sjögren Syndrome dry eye with anti-inflammatory therapy

Dry eye from Sjögren’s syndrome is a multifactorial disease that results in dysfunction of the lacrimal functional unit. Studies have shown changes in tear composition, including inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and metalloproteinase. T-lymphocytes have been shown to increase in the conjunctiva and lacrimal glands in patient and animal models. This inflammation is in part responsible for the pathogenesis of the disease, which results in symptoms of eye irritation, ocular surface epithelial disease, and loss of corneal barrier function. There are a number of anti-inflammatory approaches for treating this disease. The current study reviews details of immune response and anti–inflammatory therapies used to control this disease.
Erosion of functional independence early in the evolution of a microbial mutualism

Significance Nature is full of species that cooperate in mutually beneficial interactions to survive. Some are completely dependent on such relationships. How and why does this specialization evolve? We show that as the bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris evolved for 1,000 generations in conditions forcing cooperation with the archaeon Methanococcus maripaludis, it lost a key metabolic trait that would be required for it to grow alone in most environments. Large subpopulations lacking the capacity to respire sulfate evolved in 13 of 21 replicates. Such striking parallel evolution suggests a trade-off between performance in the mutualistic environment and maintaining the flexibility to survive alone. This result may explain why sulfate reducers share a common ancestor with many species specialized for cooperation with methanogens. Many species have evolved to function as specialized mutualists, often to the detriment of their ability to survive independently. However, there are few, if any, well-controlled observations of the evolutionary processes underlying the genesis of new mutualisms. Here, we show that within the first 1,000 generations of initiating independent syntrophic interactions between a sulfate reducer (Desulfovibrio vulgaris) and a hydrogenotrophic methanogen (Methanococcus maripaludis), D. vulgaris frequently lost the capacity to grow by sulfate respiration, thus losing the primary physiological attribute of the genus. The loss of sulfate respiration was a consequence of mutations in one or more of three key genes in the pathway for sulfate respiration, required for sulfate activation (sat) and sulfate reduction to sulfite (apsA or apsB). Because loss-of-function mutations arose rapidly and independently in replicated experiments, and because these mutations were correlated with enhanced growth rate and productivity, gene loss could be attributed to natural selection, even though these mutations should significantly restrict the independence of the evolved D. vulgaris. Together, these data present an empirical demonstration that specialization for a mutualistic interaction can evolve by natural selection shortly after its origin. They also demonstrate that a sulfate-reducing bacterium can readily evolve to become a specialized syntroph, a situation that may have often occurred in nature.
The Drosophila histone variant H2A.V works in concert with HP1 to promote kinetochore-driven microtubule formation

Unlike other organisms that have evolved distinct H2A variants for different functions, Drosophila melanogaster has just one variant which is capable of filling many roles. This protein, H2A.V, combines the features of the conserved variants H2A.Z and H2A.X in transcriptional control/heterochromatin assembly and DNA damage response, respectively. Here we show that mutations in the gene encoding H2A.V affect chromatin compaction and perturb chromosome segregation in Drosophila mitotic cells. A microtubule (MT) regrowth assay after cold exposure revealed that loss of H2A.V impairs the formation of kinetochore-driven (k) fibers, which can account for defects in chromosome segregation. All defects are rescued by a transgene encoding H2A.V that lacks the H2A.X function in the DNA damage response, suggesting that the H2A.Z (but not H2A.X) functionality of H2A.V is required for chromosome segregation. We also found that loss of H2A.V weakens HP1 localization, specifically at the pericentric heterochromatin of metaphase chromosomes. Interestingly, loss of HP1 yielded not only telomeric fusions but also mitotic defects similar to those seen in H2A.V null mutants, suggesting a role for HP1 in chromosome segregation. We also show that H2A.V precipitates HP1 from larval brain extracts indicating that both proteins are part of the same complex. Moreover, we found that the overexpression of HP1 rescues chromosome missegregation and defects in the kinetochore-driven k-fiber regrowth of H2A.V mutants indicating that both phenotypes are influenced by unbalanced levels of HP1. Collectively, our results suggest that H2A.V and HP1 work in concert to ensure kinetochore-driven MT growth.
Intellectual Capital and Innovative Work Behaviour: Opening the Black Box

Continuous improvement initiatives have proliferated among manufacturing and services organizations. In this context, knowledge has been claimed to play a key role, as a significant antecedent of an organization's ability to continuously improve its performance. At the same time, attempts to implement knowledge management initiatives prove fruitless if employees are not fully motivated and engaged, and our present understanding of how to promote and facilitate such behaviours remains limited. This study introduces and empirically tests a theoretical model that links intellectual capital dimensions to employees innovative work behaviour and specifically suggests knowledge sharing behaviour among employees as a key mediator. A survey was used to collect data from 135 employees in three healthcare organizations. The results of our structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis indeed support the notion that intellectual capital is conducive to innovative behaviour by means of knowledge sharing among employees. These findings contribute to the understanding of how behavioural factors operate in organizations, highlighting the relevance of a micro-foundation of continuous improvement, and also suggesting some preliminary guidelines that managers in healthcare organizations can apply to promote employee innovative work behaviour.
Identifying the Past Urban Signs to Promote Readability (Case Study: Torbat-e Heydarieh, Iran)

A city must have some features and characteristics that provide comfort and convenience for the human. Urban signs have always existed throughout the history. Therefore, it is so good to take a step in promoting the aesthetic of image of the city. Reduction of readability in cities that seriously we are facing today is an important issue, because it causes the lack of understanding the mental map of the city and people won’t have tendency to travel in these cities. The purpose of this study was to continue the promotion of the cities’ readability and find memorable signs. The research method was quantitative. For data collection was used library and field researches by Excel tool as data analysis. The case study was chosen Torbat-e Heydarieh. The purpose of the study was analyzing the signs which do not exist, but they remained in the residents memories. The characteristics of signs were identified among literature review and determined by field research. Results show that location of signs along the length or crossing the main axis of the city enhances their importance for citizens. The most common signs of the city reflect the importance of the old signs and lack of the new appropriate structures to be known as a sign in both terms of application and visual aspects. This study provide recommendations for designing buildings by using the idea of the unknown signs or even putting names on the new structures which are built in the same place to remain in memory.
Connective Tissue Growth Factor Is a Mediator of Angiotensin II–Induced Fibrosis

Background—Angiotensin II (Ang II) participates in the development of fibrosis during vascular damage. Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) is a novel fibrotic mediator. However, the potential link between CTGF and Ang II has not been investigated. Methods and Results—In vivo Ang II effects were studied by systemic infusion into normal rats to evaluate CTGF and extracellular matrix protein (ECM) expression by immunohistochemistry. In aorta of Ang II–infused rats, CTGF staining was markedly increased and ECM overexpression was observed. An AT1 antagonist diminished CTGF and ECM. In growth-arrested vascular smooth muscle cells, Ang II induced CTGF mRNA expression after 1 hour, remained elevated up to 24 hours, and increased CTGF protein production, which was increased up to 72 hours. The AT1 antagonist blocked Ang II–induced CTGF gene and protein expression. Early CTGF upregulation is independent of new protein synthesis. Several intracellular signals elicited by Ang II are involved in CTGF synthesis, including protein kinase C activation, reactive oxygen species, and transforming growth factor-&bgr; endogenous production. Incubation with a CTGF antisense oligonucleotide decreased CTGF and fibronectin upregulation caused by Ang II. Conclusions—Our results show that Ang II, via AT1, increases CTGF in vascular cells both in vivo and in vitro. This novel finding suggests that CTGF may be a mediator of the profibrogenic effects of Ang II in vascular diseases.
Supervising the fold: functional principles of molecular chaperones

Molecular chaperones are a set of conserved protein families that share the remarkable ability to recognize and selectively bind nonnative proteins under physiological and stress conditions. Thus, they prevent irreversible aggregation reactions and keep proteins on the productive folding pathway. Evidence suggests that the cell has developed several functionally distinct chaperone families to support protein folding. The importance of molecular chaperones under stress conditions is highlighted by the finding that all the major heat shock protein families (Hspl04, Hsp90, Hsp70, Hsp60/GroEL, and small Hsps) suppress irreversible unfolding reactions. Under heat shock, only the increased expression of a repertoire of different chaperones seems to convey thermotolerance and guarantee survival. The molecular mechanism by which chaperones in general influence protein folding processes is still far from clear. However, significant progress has been achieved in understanding some of the partial reactions of the chaperone folding cycles and in functionally differentiating between the different chaperone families. —Buchner, J. Supervising the fold: functional principles of molecular chaperones. FASEB J. 10,10‐19 (1996)
Quantifying the Water-Energy-Food Nexus: Current Status and Trends

Water, energy, and food are lifelines for modern societies. The continuously rising world population, growing desires for higher living standards, and inextricable links among the three sectors make the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus a vibrant research pursuit. For the integrated delivery of WEF systems, quantifying WEF connections helps understand synergies and trade-offs across the water, energy, and food sectors, and thus is a critical initial step toward integrated WEF nexus modeling and management. However, current WEF interconnection quantifications encounter methodological hurdles. Also, existing calculation results are scattered across a wide collection of studies in multiple disciplines, which increases data collection and interpretation difficulties. To advance robust WEF nexus quantifications and further contribute to integrated WEF systems modeling and management, this study: (i) summarizes the estimate results to date on WEF interconnections; (ii) analyzes methodological and practical challenges associated with WEF interconnection calculations; and (iii) points out opportunities for enabling robust WEF nexus quantifications in the future.
Analog Computing Using Graphene-based Metalines

We introduce the new concept of "metalines" for manipulating the amplitude and phase profile of an incident wave locally and independently. Thanks to the highly confined graphene plasmons, a transmit-array of graphene-based metalines is used to realize analog computing on an ultra-compact, integrable, and planar platform. By employing the general concepts of spatial Fourier transformation, a well-designed structure of such meta-transmit-array, combined with graded index (GRIN) lenses, can perform two mathematical operations, i.e., differentiation and integration, with high efficiency. The presented configuration is about 60 times shorter than the recent structure proposed by Silva et al. [Science343, 160 (2014)SCIEAS0036-807510.1126/science.1242818]; moreover, our simulated output responses are in better agreement with the desired analytical results. These findings may lead to remarkable achievements in light-based plasmonic signal processors at nanoscale, instead of their bulky conventional dielectric lens-based counterparts.
Integrated Planning and Control for Convex-bodied Nonholonomic Systems using Local Feedback Control Policies

We present a method for defining a hybrid control system capable of simultaneously addressing the global navigation and control problem for a convex-bodied wheeled mobile robot navigating amongst obstacles. The method uses parameterized continuous local feedback control policies that ensure safe operation over local regions of the free configuration space; each local policy is designed to respect nonholonomic constraints, bounds on velocities (inputs), and obstacles in the environment. The hybrid control system makes use of a collection of these local control policies in concert with discrete planning tools in order to plan, and replan in the face of changing conditions, while preserving the safety and convergence guarantees of the underlying control policies. This work is validated in simulation and experiment with a convex-bodied wheeled mobile robot. The approach is one of the first that combines formal planning with continuous feedback control guarantees for systems subject to nonholonomic constraints, input bounds, and non-trivial body shape.
Rho Kinases in Health and Disease: From Basic Science to Translational Research

Rho-associated kinases ROCK1 and ROCK2 are key regulators of actin cytoskeleton dynamics downstream of Rho GTPases that participate in the control of important physiologic functions, S including cell contraction, migration, proliferation, adhesion, and inflammation. Several excellent review articles dealing with ROCK function and regulation have been published over the past few years. Although a brief overview of general molecular, biochemical, and functional properties of ROCKs is included, an effort has been made to produce an original work by collecting and synthesizing recent studies aimed at translating basic discoveries from cell and experimental models into knowledge of human physiology, pathophysiological mechanisms, and medical therapeutics. This review points out the specificity and distinct roles of ROCK1 and ROCK2 isoforms highlighted in the last few years. Results obtained from genetically modified mice and genetic analysis in humans are discussed. This review also addresses the involvement of ROCKs in human diseases and the potential use of ROCK activity as a biomarker or a pharmacological target for specific inhibitors.
Intelligent Tutoring Systems : Prospects for Guided Practice and Efficient Learning

Rapid technological advances and compounding complexities of the modern world have profound implications for all levels of education and training in the United States and around the world. Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) represent an important class of educational technology poised to play particularly critical role helping learners acquire the skills needed to succeed. This paper argues why this is the case, describes existing ITS technologies and functionalities, summarizes current research streams, and highlights underrepresented areas of research that (in the author’s opinion) will be essential to the training and education of the Soldiers and leaders of tomorrow.
A design of a dual-band circle polarization microstrip antenna

A dual-band circle polarization microstrip antenna at 1.57GHz and 2.45GHz is presented. We adopt double patch model and feed the top patch through the coaxial feed. Cutting angle and choosing appropriate feeding point was adopted to realize circular polarization of the two patches. The down patch can obtain a good match by moving the top patch. The performance change of the antenna by moving the top patch is the key analyze of this paper. The simulated and measured results show that the proposed antenna has a good circularly polarized radiations.
Guidelines for the management of hospital-acquired pneumonia in the UK: Report of the Working Party on Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

Abstract These evidence-based guidelines have been produced after a systematic literature review of a range of issues involving prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP). Prevention is structured into sections addressing general issues, equipment, patient procedures and the environment, whereas in treatment, the structure addresses the use of antimicrobials in prevention and treatment, adjunctive therapies and the application of clinical protocols. The sections dealing with diagnosis are presented against the clinical, radiological and microbiological diagnosis of HAP. Recommendations are also made upon the role of invasive sampling and quantitative microbiology of respiratory secretions in directing antibiotic therapy in HAP/ventilator-associated pneumonia.