Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
In Vivo Evidence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Nutrient Acquisition and Pathogenesis in the Lungs of Cystic Fibrosis Patients

ABSTRACT One of the hallmarks of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is very-high-cell-density (HCD) replication in the lung, allowing this bacterium to induce virulence controlled by the quorum-sensing systems. However, the nutrient sources sustaining HCD replication in this chronic infection are largely unknown. Here, we performed microarray studies of P. aeruginosa directly isolated from the lungs of CF patients to demonstrate its metabolic capability and virulence in vivo. In vivo microarray data, confirmed by real-time reverse transcription-PCR, indicated that the P. aeruginosa population expressed several genes for virulence, drug resistance, and utilization of multiple nutrient sources (lung surfactant lipids and amino acids) contributing to HCD replication. The most abundant lung surfactant lipid molecule, phosphatidylcholine (PC), induces key genes of P. aeruginosa pertinent to PC degradation in vitro as well as in vivo within the lungs of CF patients. The results support recent research indicating that P. aeruginosa exists in the lungs of CF patients as a diverse population with full virulence potential. The data also indicate that there is deregulation of several pathways, suggesting that there is in vivo evolution by deregulation of a large portion of the transcriptome during chronic infection in CF patients. To our knowledge, this is the first in vivo transcriptome analysis of P. aeruginosa in a natural infection in CF patients, and the results indicate several important aspects of P. aeruginosa pathogenesis, drug resistance, nutrient utilization, and general metabolism within the lungs of CF patients.
Openness and Human Capital as Sources of Productivity Growth: An Empirical Investigation from the MENA Countries

Openness and Human Capital as Sources of Productivity Growth: An Empirical Investigation from the MENA Countries This paper investigates the impact of openness to trade and higher levels of human cap ital on the economies of some MENA countries. To answer the question: whether either human capital or openness can be shown to cause productivity, we use panel data on 16 countries spanning the 1965-2000 period. Controlling for fixed effects as well as endogeneity, the results show a significant impact of openness on productivity growth. We find also an effect, significant at the ten per cent level, of the level of human capital on the level of income but no effect on underlying productivity growth. Our pre ferred estimator combines high and low frequency differences of the data. We discuss reasons why this estimator is well suited for empirical analysis of economic growth. JEL Classification: F43, O11, O53
Multi-image super-resolution using a dual weighting scheme based on Voronoi tessellation

Increasing spatial resolution is often required in many applications such as entertainment systems or video surveillance. Apart from using higher resolution sensors, it is also possible to apply superresolution algorithms to realize an increased resolution. Those methods can be divided into approaches that rely on only a single low resolution image or on multiple low resolution video frames. While incorporating more frames into the super-resolution is beneficial for the resolution enhancement in principle, it is also likely to introduce more artifacts from inaccurate motion estimation. To alleviate this problem, various weightings have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we propose an extended dual weighting scheme for an interpolation-based super-resolution method based on Voronoi tessellation that relies on both a motion confidence weight and a distance weight. Compared to non-weighted super-resolution, the proposed method yields an average gain in luminance PSNR of up to 1.29 dB and 0.61 dB for upscaling factors of 2 and 4, respectively. Visual comparisons substantiate the objective results.
Structural changes in bacteriorhodopsin in response to alternate illumination observed by high-speed atomic force microscopy.

The membrane protein, bacteriorhodopsin (bR), found in Halobacterium salinarum , functions as a light-driven proton pump transferring protons across the membrane from the cytoplasmic side to the extracellular side. [1] bR is comprised of seven transmembrane α -helices (named A-G) surrounding the retinal chromophore covalently bound to Lys216 via a protonated Schiff base. [2] bR assembles into trimers, which are packed into two-dimensional hexagonal lattices, the so-called purple membrane. [3] Upon absorption of light, photoisomerization from all-trans to 13-cis conformation of the retinal takes place, followed by the primary proton transfer from the Schiff base to Asp85 that triggers a cascade of changes in the bR structure. A series of intermediates designated J, K, L, M, N, and O are defined by spectroscopy, and M (M 410 ) is the only intermediate containing a deprotonated Schiff base. [1] The light-induced conformational changes in bR have been studied by various methods, [4-8] and particularly crystallographic structures in the frozen activated state of the wild type (WT) and bR mutants were solved at the atomic resolution. [6] The common understanding regarding the bR structure during the photocycle is that the proton channel on the cytoplasmic surface is opened by the tilting of helix F away from the protein center. [6] This alteration is followed by rearrangement of the interhelix E-F loop, resulting in large-scale conformational changes in the M and N intermediates. [5, 7, 8] Atomic force microscopy (AFM) which can visualize nanometer-scale objects in various environments [9] has also been used for structural studies of bR under aqueous conditions and faithful high-resolution images capable of distinguishing the individual interhelix loops
Paradigm Uniformity and the Phonetics-Phonology Boundary

This is a study of paradigmatic relations and of their significance for the link between phonology and phonetics *. A paradigm is a set of words sharing a morpheme of phrases sharing a word (e.g.{bomb, the bomb, .}). The main component of the analyses presented here is the preference for uniform paradigms, that is paradigms sharing contextually invariant morphemes. A Paradigm Uniformity (PU) condition is a statement of the type shown in (1), which promotes invariance of some sound property within a given paradigm: (1) All surface realizations of µ, where µ is the morpheme shared by the members of paradigm x, must have identical values for property P. Examples of uniform and non-uniform paradigms appear in (2). In both cases, the shared morpheme is a root: it alternates in (2.a), but is invariant in (2.b). (2) a. {bAm, bAmb-Ard, bAmb-Ard-i " }: not uniform wrt stem final C quality b. {bAm, bAm-IN, bAm-" , bAm-z}: uniform wrt stem final C quality I discuss here the phenomenon of paradigm levelling, which represents the systematic generalization of one allomorph to positions where it is phonologically unjustified or unexpected, as a means of satisfying a PU condition. The degree of phonological invariance of shared morphemes stands in direct relation to the paradigm's productivity and to the transparency of the derivative's relation to its base (Bybee 1988): the paradigms like (2.b) that are generated by productive word formation processes involve less contextual variability than the unproductive paradigm (2.a). Bearing this in mind we concentrate here on highly productive and compositional paradigms. Paradigm levelling is a staple of the phonological literature. Different aspects of it have been studied under
Fetal microchimeric cells in autoimmune thyroid diseases

Autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) show a female predominance, with an increased incidence in the years following parturition. Fetal microchimerism has been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of AITD. However, only the presence of fetal microchimeric cells in blood and in the thyroid gland of these patients has been proven, but not an actual active role in AITD. Is fetal microchimerism harmful for the thyroid gland by initiating a Graft versus Host reaction (GvHR) or being the target of a Host versus Graft reaction (HvGR)? Is fetal microchimerism beneficial for the thyroid gland by being a part of tissue repair or are fetal cells just innocent bystanders in the process of autoimmunity? This review explores every hypothesis concerning the role of fetal microchimerism in AITD.
Local Movement Control with Neural Networks on Autonomous Robots

In the RoboCup small-size league, the positions of the robots are commonly calculated via a camera mounted above the field and different kinds of artificial intelligence methods hosted on a PC outside the field. In this case, the robot's position must be predicted because of the various time delays until the position data arrived at the robot. This paper focuses on the use of local sensors attached to the robot, and a neural network to estimate the actual robot position. This paper shows how local sensors can compensate for the effect of latency times and how the actual robot position can be estimated. Slip and friction effects that cannot be measured with local sensors can be adjusted by a neutral network, for which the implementation is adapted to the low resources available on the robot.
Velocardiofacial syndrome: are structural changes in the temporal and mesial temporal regions related to schizophrenia?

OBJECTIVE Velocardiofacial syndrome results from a microdeletion on chromosome 22 (22q11.2). Clinical studies indicate that more than 30% of children with the syndrome will develop schizophrenia. The authors sought to determine whether neuroanatomical features in velocardiofacial syndrome are similar to those reported in the literature on schizophrenia by measuring the volumes of the temporal lobe, superior temporal gyrus, and mesial temporal structures in children and adolescents with velocardiofacial syndrome. METHOD Twenty-three children and adolescents with velocardiofacial syndrome and 23 comparison subjects, individually matched for age and gender, received brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Analysis of covariance models were used to compare regional brain volumes. Correlations between residualized brain volumes and age were standardized and compared with the Fisher r-to-z transformation. RESULTS Children with velocardiofacial syndrome had significantly smaller average temporal lobe, superior temporal gyrus, and hippocampal volumes than normal comparison children, although these differences were commensurate with a lower overall brain size in the affected children. In a cross-sectional analysis, children with velocardiofacial syndrome exhibited aberrant volumetric reductions with age that were localized to the temporal lobe and left hippocampal regions. CONCLUSIONS Abnormal temporal lobe and hippocampal development in velocardiofacial syndrome is potentially concordant with MRI findings in the schizophrenia literature. Temporal lobe and mesial temporal structures may represent a shared substrate for the effects of the 22q11.2 deletion and for the complex etiological pathways that lead to schizophrenia. Longitudinal research may help determine which children with velocardiofacial syndrome are at risk for serious psychiatric illness in adulthood.
Up from the Rubble: Lessons Learned about HRI from Search and Rescue

The Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue has collected data at three responses (World Trade Center, Hurricane Charley, and the La Conchita mudslide) and nine high fidelity field exercises. Our results can be distilled into four lessons. First, building situation awareness, not autonomous navigation, is the major bottleneck in robot autonomy. Most of the robotics literature assumes a single operator single robot (SOSR), while our work shows that two operators working together are nine times more likely to find a victim. Second, human-robot interaction should not be thought of how to control the robot but rather how a team of experts can exploit the robot as an active information source. The third lesson is that team members use shared visual information to build shared mental models and facilitate team coordination. This suggests that high bandwidth, reliable communications will be necessary for effective teamwork. Fourth, victims and rescuers in close proximity to the robots respond to the robot socially. We conclude with observations about the general challenges in human-robot interaction.
Interaction between the current controller and the injection of alternating carriers in sensorless drives

The injection of an alternating voltage carrier, which is generated by the inverter, allows to detect the rotor position in PM synchronous motors by evaluation of the anisotropies. There are however some limitations on the carrier frequency. On one hand, it must be much lower than the inverterpsilas switching frequency. On the other hand it must be high enough in order to avoid being attenuated by the current controller. As the current controllers are usually designed to reach the highest possible bandwidth, in the proposals for carrier-based position detection methods their bandwidth are limited. In this paper, the interaction between the current controller and the injected carrier is studied. A method to keep the highest bandwidth for the current controller while maximizing the carrier path gain is proposed in order to optimize the position detection.
A Plane-based Calibration for Multi-camera Systems

In this paper, a plane-based calibration algorithm with use for calibrating large complexes of linear projective cameras of varying intrinsic and extrinsic parameters is proposed. A planar pattern with known reference points placed at a few different locations is only required as a calibration object. All the cameras do not have to see this planar pattern at all locations simultaneously, and only reasonable overlap between them is necessary. We divide these cameras into groups according to their positions and orientations, to make sure cameras in each group have a common field of view, and estimate the intrinsic parameters of each camera via a plane-based technique. Common views of planes are used to represent each camera in the world coordinate system of its own group and determine the relationships between these world coordinate systems. Rodrigues formula is adopted to deal with the inconsistency when recovering the rigid displacements between cameras. At last, all these cameras can be completely calibrated in a uniform world coordinate system robustly and accurately.
Corporate Objectives Corporate Objectives

This very preliminary paper presents a first attempt at researching corporate objectives. paper reviews the sparse literature on corporate objectives and derives some hypotheses which are tested on a data set covering questionaries on other data on 71 Danish firms. The findings are found to be broadly compatible with agency theory. Corporate objectives vary substantially across firms. They are significantly influenced by ownership and industry structure. In particular, ownership diversification leads to greater emphasis on market based objectives (shareholder value). However, in general volatile market-based objectives are given relatively low priority perhaps because stock prices are more volatile (low signal noise ratio). In contrast R&D is emphasized more in companies that are active in research presumably because R&D matters more in these firms so that R&D objectives are more informative. Objectives that are highly correlated with other measures (and therefore presumably add less new information) are also given lower priority. 1 Paper prepared for presentation at the link-workshop October 26-27 2000, Copenhagen Business School. I am grateful to Carsten Vissing for research assistance with the questionary employed in this paper. The paper has benefited from helpful comments and discussions at the Danish Corporate Governance workshop October 9, 2000. 2 Professor. Depertment of Marketing, Copenhagen Business School, Solbjerg Plads 3, 2000 F, Denmark. Telephone (+45) 38152129. Fax (+45) 38152101. E-mail st.marktg@cbs.dk.
Coexistence results for a spatial stochastic epidemic model

We introduce a spatial stochastic model for infectious diseases, such as influenza, that do not confer immunity and from which one usually recovers. We prove the existence of an endemic state in any dimension for any strictly positive value of the recovery rate. This is in sharp contrast with what happens for the model with no recovery in d = 1 for which it is known that the disease dies out for all parameters values. AMS 1991 subject classifications: 60K35
Approximate nearest neighbor and its many variants

This thesis investigates two variants of the approximate nearest neighbor problem. First, motivated by the recent research on diversity-aware search, we investigate the k-diverse near neighbor reporting problem. The problem is defined as follows: given a query point q, report the maximum diversity set S of k points in the ball of radius r around q. The diversity of a set S is measured by the minimum distance between any pair of points in S (the higher, the better). We present two approximation algorithms for the case where the points live in a d-dimensional Hamming space. Our algorithms guarantee query times that are sub-linear in n and only polynomial in the diversity parameter k, as well as the dimension d. For low values of k, our algorithms achieve sub-linear query times even if the number of points within distance r from a query q is linear in n. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first known algorithms of this type that offer provable guarantees. In the other variant, we consider the approximate line near neighbor (LNN) problem. Here, the database consists of a set of lines instead of points but the query is still a point. Let L be a set of n lines in the d dimensional euclidean space R. The goal is to preprocess the set of lines so that we can answer the Line Near Neighbor (LNN) queries in sub-linear time. That is, given the query point q ∈ R, we want to report a line ` ∈ L (if there is any), such that dist(q, `) ≤ r for some threshold value r, where dist(q, `) is the euclidean distance between them. We start by illustrating the solution to the problem in the case where there are only two lines in the database and present a data structure in this case. Then we show a recursive algorithm that merges these data structures and solve the problem for the general case of n lines. The algorithm has polynomial space and performs only a logarithmic number of calls to the approximate nearest neighbor subproblem. Thesis Supervisor: Piotr Indyk Title: Professor
Deflation and Economic Growth in Long-Term Perspective

This paper deals with the relationship between deflation and economic growth. Although there are numerous theories on the potential effects of deflation on real output, empirical evidence in this field is still scarce and partial. In order to explore the relationship between prices and output in a more comprehensive way, I use a large panel data set of 19 countries over roughly 150 years, which contains frequent deflationary episodes. I employ the fixed effects model to look at both contemporaneous and lagged correlation between prices and output, and I include control variables to remove potential bias. There are several important results. First, there is no general relationship between prices and output. The lagged negative effect of deflation on output growth, alleged by some authors, disappears after adding a control variable. Second, monetary regimes seem to affect the relationship. Deflation appears to become associated with output slightly negatively with the advent of the fiat money system, while it was benign under the classical gold standard. Third, well-known episodes of deflation differ a lot. The Great Depression is the only period where deflation seems to be strongly associated with recession. By contrast, Japan in the 1990s and 2000s bears no resemblence to it. Here, both empirically and theoretically, deflation is highly unlikely to have caused economic stagnation.
The politics presidents make : leadership from John Adams to Bill Clinton

Preface, 1997 I. PLACES IN HISTORY 1. Rethinking Presidential History 2. Power and Authority 3. Structure and Action II. RECURRENT AND EMERGENT PATTERNS 4. Jeffersonian Leadership: Patrician Prototypes Part One: Thomas Jefferson's Reconstruction Part Two: James Monroe's Articulation Part Three: John Quincy Adams's Disjunction 5. Jacksonian Leadership: Classic Forms Part One: Andrew Jackson's Reconstruction Part Two: James Polk's Articulation Part Three: Franklin Pierce's Disjunction 6. Republican Leadership: Stiffening Crosscurrents Part One: Abraham Lincoln's Reconstruction Part Two: Theodore Roosevelt's Articulation Part Three: Herbert Hoover's Disjunction 7. Liberal Leadership: Fraying Boundaries Part One: Franklin Roosevelt's Reconstruction Part Two: Lyndon Johnson's Articulation Part Three: Jimmy Carter's Disjunction III. THE WANING OF POLITICAL TIME 8. Reagan, Bush, and Beyond Afterward Notes Index
On a High-Performance and Balanced Method of Hardware Implementation for AES

Hardware implementation provides a higher level of security and cryptography speed at some lower resource cost, compared to software implementation of AES. In this paper, we present a balanced hardware design and implementation for AES, considering several existing implementations. FPGA implementation offers higher speed solution and can be easily adapted to protocol changes, although the AES can be implemented with software or pure hardware. So, this implementation is equipped with regard to FPGA. Optimized and Synthesizable Verilog HDL is developed as the design entry to Quartus II 10.0 software. After obtaining gate-level netlists, timing simulations are performed using ModelSim SE 6.1f. Both 128 bits data block encryption and decryption processes are tested. The major part of an AES design is the realization of substitute boxes (S-boxes). S-boxes in our design are compared between two main existing implementations. With Quartus II device family of Stratix, throughput of up to 2.33 Gb/s is received.