Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Research of Influence of Nanotubes Created by Mechanical Activation of Amorphous Carbon on Sprouting of Seeds

Demonstrated the possibility of using multiwalled carbon nanotubes formed by means of mechanical activation of amorphous carbon for the stimulation of crop growth. By the example of pepper cultivar Golden Rain and tomato cultivar Bull Heart showed the efficacy of introducing microadditives in the form of carbon nanotubes to the ground.
Analysis of LDPC Codes for Compression of Nonuniform Sources with Side Information Using Density Evolution

In this paper, we explore the use of LDPC codes for nonuniform sources under distributed source coding paradigm. Our analysis reveals that several capacity approaching LDPC codes indeed do approach the Slepian-Wolf bound for nonuniform sources as well. The Monte Carlo simulation results show that highly biased sources can be compressed to 0.049 bits/sample away from Slepian-Wolf bound for moderate block lengths.
[Chronic bacterial infection and echocardiographic parameters indicative of pulmonary hypertension in patients with cystic fibrosis].

OBJECTIVES To examine the relationship between chronic bacterial infection and pulmonary hypertension, using Doppler echocardiography, in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). METHODS A prospective cross-sectional study involving CF patients (>16 years of age) admitted to a program for adults with the disease. The study included 40 patients with a mean age of 23.7 +/- 6.3 years. Patients were submitted to clinical evaluation, Doppler echocardiography, pulmonary function tests, chest X-rays and sputum cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cepacia. RESULTS In terms of the following variables, no significant differences were found between P. aeruginosa-positive patients and P. aeruginosa-negative patients: clinical score (p = 0.472); forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1; p = 0.693), radiological score (p = 0.760); tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity (TRV, p = 0.330); diameter of the right ventricle (DRV, p = 0.191); and right ventricular/pulmonary artery (RV/PA) systolic acceleration time (SAT, p = 0.330). B. cepacia-positive patients presented significantly lower FEV1 than did B. cepacia-negative patients (p = 0.011). No significant differences were found between B. cepacia-positive patients and B. cepacia-negative patients regarding the following variables: clinical score (p = 0.080); radiological score (p = 0.760); TRV (p = 0.613); DRV (p = 0.429); and RV/PA SAT (p = 0.149). CONCLUSIONS Chronic infection with P. aeruginosa or B. cepacia presented no association with pulmonary hypertension in adult CF patients. Pulmonary function was worse in B. cepacia-positive patients than in P. aeruginosa-positive patients.
Elastic properties of silicate melts: Implications for low velocity zones at the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary

New model for seismic velocity reductions indicates melts in textural equilibrium consistent with strong coupling at the LAB. Low seismic velocity regions in the mantle and crust are commonly attributed to the presence of silicate melts. Determining melt volume and geometric distribution is fundamental to understanding planetary dynamics. We present a new model for seismic velocity reductions that accounts for the anomalous compressibility of silicate melt, rendering compressional wave velocities more sensitive to melt fraction and distribution than previous estimates. Forward modeling predicts comparable velocity reductions for compressional and shear waves for partially molten mantle, and for low velocity regions associated with the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB), melt present at <5% distributed in near-textural equilibrium. These findings reconcile seismic observations for the LAB regionally and locally and favor models of strong coupling across the LAB rather than melt channeling due to shear deformation.
Subjective Cognitive Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis Depends on Task Length

Objective: The objective of this paper is to investigate the interrelationship between subjective and objective cognitive fatigue, information processing domain [processing speed (PS) vs. working memory (WM)], cognitive load (high vs. low), and time on task in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Methods: Thirty-two MS participants and 24 healthy controls completed experimental tasks in both the PS and WM domains with different levels of cognitive load. Subjective cognitive fatigue was measured using a visual analog scale at baseline and at multiple time points throughout the experiment. Results: A mixed model ANOVA revealed that subjective cognitive fatigue was higher for the PS task, increased across time, and was higher in the MS group. These findings were qualified by an interaction demonstrating that the MS group showed a steeper increase in subjective cognitive fatigue over time than the healthy control group. Subjective and objective (i.e., performance) cognitive fatigue were not correlated. Conclusion: In this study, subjective and objective cognitive fatigue appears to be independent and cognitive fatigue does not depend on cognitive load. Subjective cognitive fatigue increased with time on task and subjective cognitive fatigue increased more steeply for the MS group. These data suggest that cognitive fatigue in MS is a function of time, that is, the longer participants were engaged in a cognitive task, the more likely it was for them to report increases in cognitive fatigue.
Quantum oscillations and black hole ringing

We show that strongly coupled field theories with holographic gravity duals at finite charge density and low temperatures can undergo de Haas-van Alphen quantum oscillations as a function of an external magnetic field. Exhibiting this effect requires computation of the one-loop contribution of charged bulk fermions to the free energy. The one-loop calculation is performed using a formula expressing determinants in black hole backgrounds as sums over quasinormal modes. At zero temperature, the periodic nonanalyticities in the magnetic susceptibility as a function of the inverse magnetic field depend on the low energy scaling behavior of fermionic operators in the field theory, and are found to be softer than in weakly coupled theories. We also obtain numerical and WKB results for the quasinormal modes of charged bosons in dyonic black hole backgrounds, finding evidence for nontrivial periodic behavior as a function of the magnetic field.
Therapeutics , Targets , and Chemical Biology An NQO 1 Substrate with Potent Antitumor Activity That Selectively Kills by PARP 1-Induced Programmed Necrosis

Agents, such as b-lapachone, that target the redox enzyme, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), to induce programmed necrosis in solid tumors have shown great promise, but more potent tumor-selective compounds are needed. Here, we report that deoxynyboquinone kills a wide spectrum of cancer cells in anNQO1dependent manner with greater potency than b-lapachone. Deoxynyboquinone lethality relies on NQO1dependent futile redox cycling that consumes oxygen and generates extensive reactive oxygen species (ROS). Elevated ROS levels cause extensive DNA lesions, PARP1 hyperactivation, and severe NADþ/ATP depletion that stimulate Ca2þ–dependent programmed necrosis, unique to this new class of NQO1 "bioactivated" drugs. Shortterm exposure of NQO1þ cells to deoxynyboquinone was sufficient to trigger cell death, although genetically matched NQO1 cells were unaffected. Moreover, siRNA-mediated NQO1 or PARP1 knockdown spared NQO1þ cells from short-term lethality. Pretreatment of cells with BAPTA-AM (a cytosolic Ca2þ chelator) or catalase (enzymatic H2O2 scavenger) was sufficient to rescue deoxynyboquinone-induced lethality, as noted with b-lapachone. Investigations in vivo showed equivalent antitumor efficacy of deoxynyboquinone to b-lapachone, but at a 6-fold greater potency. PARP1 hyperactivation and dramatic ATP loss were noted in the tumor, but not in the associated normal lung tissue. Our findings offer preclinical proof-of-concept for deoxynyboquinone as a potent chemotherapeutic agent for treatment of a wide spectrum of therapeutically challenging solid tumors, such as pancreatic and lung cancers. Cancer Res; 72(12); 1–10. 2012 AACR.
A friendly face in robotics: Sony's AIBO entertainment robot as an educational tool

We have developed a way to encourage schools and other institutions to introduce robotics to very young students in their core curriculum. Many schools are understandably nervous about bringing new technology, especially one perceived to be as complicated as robotics, into their classrooms. Our work involves using Sony's AIBO Entertainment Robot in a non-threatening and attractive way so that children can interact with it using two different approaches: a "storybook" program and a "listener" program.
The UCUAAAC promoter motif is not required for high-frequency leader recombination in bovine coronavirus defective interfering RNA

The 65-nucleotide leader on the cloned bovine coronavirus defective interfering (DI) RNA, when marked by mutations, has been shown to rapidly convert to the wild-type leader of the helper virus following DI RNA transfection into helper virus-infected cells. A model of leader-primed transcription in which free leader supplied in trans by the helper virus interacts by way of its flanking 5'UCUAAAC3' sequence element with the 3'-proximal 3'AGAUUUG5' promoter on the DI RNA minus strand to prime RNA replication has been used to explain this phenomenon. To test this model, the UCUAAAC element which occurs only once in the BCV 5' untranslated region was either deleted or completely substituted in input DI RNA template, and evidence of leader conversion was sought. In both cases, leader conversion occurred rapidly, indicating that this element is not required on input RNA for the conversion event. Substitution mutations mapped the crossover region to a 24-nucleotide segment that begins within the UCUAAAC sequence and extends downstream. Although structure probing of the bovine coronavirus 5' untranslated region indicated that the UCUAAAC element is in the loop of a prominent stem and thus theoretically available for base pair-directed priming, no evidence of an unattached leader early in infection that might have served as a primer for transcription was found by RNase protection studies. These results together suggest that leader conversion on the DI RNA 5' terminus is not guided by the UCUAAAC element and might arise instead from a high-frequency, region-specific, homologous recombination event perhaps during minus-strand synthesis rather than by leader priming during plus-strand synthesis.
Document de Travail n ° 2006-02 OVER-EDUCATION FOR THE RICH VS UNDER-EDUCATION FOR THE POOR : A SEARCH-THEORETIC

This paper provides a search-theoretic microfoundation to the popular view according to which rich but poorly talented individuals crowd out poorer and more talented individuals from schooling. We consider a two-sector, two schooling level matching model of unemployment with ex-post rent-sharing. Individuals differ in ability and schooling cost, the search market is segmented by education, and there is free entry of new firms in each sector. Self-selection in education originates composition effects in the distribution of skills across sectors. This in turn modifies the intensity of job creation, implying the private and social returns to schooling always differ. Agents with large schooling costs — the poor — select themselves too much, while there is too little self-selection among the low schooling cost individuals — the rich. We also show that education should, on average, be more taxed than subsidized.
DiMaß:: a technique for audio scrubbing and skimming using direct manipulation

Scrubbing or skimming through an audio-only recording remains a challenge with today's audio interfaces. We present DiMaß, a technique for direct manipulation of an audio timeline with continuous, high-fidelity audio feedback. Building upon prior work in interactive conducting systems, DiMaß uses improved algorithms to (1) estimate the input position and velocity of low sampling rate, relative input devices such as a mouse or iPod scroll wheel; (2) adjust audio play rate to precisely track user input; and (3) interactively time-stretch the audio without changing the pitch at arbitrary forwards and backwards play rates. Early feedback showed that users are willing to tolerate slightly reduced responsiveness in exchange for smoother sounding audio. We are currently exploring how DiMaß enables users to more quickly and efficiently scrub and skim through audio.
Phased Logic Supporting the Synchronous Design Paradigm with Delay-Insensitive Circuitry

Phased logic is proposed as a solution to the increasing problem of timing complexity in digital design. It is a delay-insensitive design methodology that seeks to restore the separation between logical and physical design by eliminating the need to distribute low-skew clock signals and carefully balance propagation delays. However, unlike other methodologies that avoid clocks, phased logic supports the cyclic, deterministic behavior of the synchronous design paradigm. This permits the designer to rely chiefly on current experience and CAD tools to create phased logic systems. Marked graph theory is used as a framework for governing the interaction of phased logic gates that operate directly on Level-Encoded two-phase Dual-Rail (LEDR) signals. A synthesis algorithm is developed for converting clocked systems to phased logic systems and is applied to benchmark examples. Performance results indicate that phased logic tends to be tolerant of logic delay imbalances and has predictable worst-case timing behavior. Although phased logic requires additional circuitry, it has the potential to shorten the design cycle by reducing timing complexities.
Neurocognition, social cognition and functional outcome in schizophrenia

A relationship has been found between cognition and functioning in patients with schizophrenia. Our objective was to study the relationship between the cognitive domains assessed by the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB), and functioning as evaluated using the functioning subscale of the Global Assessment of Functioning scale (GAF-f). Methods: A sample of 83 clinically stable outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to DSM-IV criteria were assessed using the MCCB and the GAF-f. Pearson correlations and stepwise linear regression analyses were performed. Results: Correlation analysis between the GAF-f and the cognitive domains of the MCCB showed a significant relationship between functioning and all of the cognitive domains. Regression yielded a statistically significant model (F2,74 = 20.4, p < 0.001) in which functioning was related to Speed of processing (standardized β = 0.369, p = 0.001) and to Social cognition (standardized β = 0.325, p = 0.003). Together, these two variables explained 33.8% of the variance of functioning. Conclusions: Both speed of processing and social cognition have an important association with functioning in patients with schizophrenia.
Structure and Function of Nano-sized InSb Precipitate Embedded in an Al Alloy

Al-Cu alloys are the most typical ageing hardenable aluminium alloys and have achieved wide applications ranging from the aircraft to the automobile industries, which trace back to 100 years ago [1]. Microalloying solutes (usually <0.1 at.%) including Sn, In and Cd are hypothesized to form nanosized precipitates first, and then catalyse the heterogeneous nucleation of q' (Al2Cu), a nanoscale precipitate and the dominant strengthening precipitate in Al-Cu alloys [2]. However, to date, there are no solid experimental results showing how q' nucleates heterogeneously from other precipitates at the atomic level because it is challenging to capture a nucleation process [3, 4]. In this study, using diffraction, imaging and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), we show that nano-sized InSb particles adopting a new crystal structure catalyse the heterogonous nucleation of q' by surface absorption. The nanoscale InSb precipitates are found to adopt a face-centred cubic (FCC) crystal structure that different from the Zinc Blende structure of the bulk state.
A 10-GHz global clock distribution using coupled standing-wave oscillators

In this paper, a global clock network that incorporates standing waves and coupled oscillators to distribute a high-frequency clock signal with low skew and low jitter is described. The key design issues involved in generating standing waves on a chip are discussed, including minimizing wire loss within an available technology. A standing-wave oscillator, which is a distributed oscillator that sustains ideal standing waves on lossy wires, is introduced. A clock grid architecture comprised of coupled standing-wave oscillators and differential low-swing clock buffers is presented, along with a compact circuit model for networks of oscillators. The measured results for a prototyped standing-wave clock grid operating at 10 GHz and fabricated in a 0.18-/spl mu/m 6M CMOS logic process are presented. A technique is proposed for on-chip skew measurements with subpicosecond precision.
How consistent are human judgments of whether an open resource is educational material?

Systems that filter web search results to return open educational resources need evaluation. The Cranfield method, which is widely used in information retrieval evaluation, can be used as the basis of a model for evaluating such systems. The Cranfield method requires a collection of resources with associated judgments. In this paper, we describe an experiment to collect judgments of whether open resources are educational material. We show experimentally that judges can agree on what resources are educational material, even in the absence of an educational context, and demonstrate that displaying the query used to retrieve the resource makes a judge less likely to rate a resource as educational.
Expression of C-5 sterol desaturase from an edible mushroom in fisson yeast enhances its ethanol and thermotolerance

Bioethanol is an environment friendly and renewable source of energy produced by the fermentation of agricultural raw material by a variety of microorganisms including yeast. Obtaining yeast strains that are tolerant to stresses like high levels of ethanol and high temperature is highly desirable as it reduces cost and increases yield during bioethanol production. Here, we report that heterologous expression of C-5 Sterol desaturase (FvC5SD)—an ergosterol biosynthesis enzyme from an edible mushroom Flammulina velutipes in fission yeast, not only imparts increased thermotolerance but also tolerance towards high ethanol concentration and low pH. This tolerance could be attributed to an increase of ≈1.5 fold in the level of ergosterol and oleic acid (C-18 unsaturated fatty acid) as analysed by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry. FvC5SD is a membrane localized iron binding enzyme that introduces double bond at C-5 position into the Δ7-sterol substrates to yield Δ5, 7- sterols as products. In F. velutipes, FvC5SD transcript was observed to be upregulated by ≈5 fold under low pH condition and by ≈ 9 folds and ≈5 fold at 40°C and 4°C respectively when compared to normal growth temperature of 23°C. Besides, susceptibility to cell wall inhibiting drugs like Congo red and Calcoflour white was also found to increase in FvC5SD expressing S. pombe strain. Alteration in membrane sterol and fatty acid composition could also lead to increase in susceptibility to cell wall inhibiting drugs. Thus, this study has immense industrial application and can be employed to ensure competitiveness of fermentation process.
Faster join-projects and sparse matrix multiplications

Computing an equi-join followed by a duplicate eliminating projection is conventionally done by performing the two operations in serial. If some join attribute is projected away the intermediate result may be much larger than both the input and the output, and the computation could therefore potentially be performed faster by a direct procedure that does not produce such a large intermediate result. We present a new algorithm that has smaller intermediate results on worst-case inputs, and in particular is more efficient in both the RAM and I/O model. It is easy to see that join-project where the join attributes are projected away is equivalent to boolean matrix multiplication. Our results can therefore also be interpreted as improved sparse, output-sensitive matrix multiplication.
Alternate forms of health attitude scale.

OBJECTIVES To develop valid and reliable alternate forms to measure college students' attitudes toward health. METHODS Final scale, composed of 2 different but equivalent 15-item forms, was administered to 2 sets of college students. The mixed format of 30 items was administered to one sample of college students whereas a pre-post format was administered to another set of students. RESULTS Item analysis showed adequate internal consistency of each subscale for both forms. Equivalent form reliability coefficients were . 91 and . 88. Factor analyses confirmed the 3 underlying constructs of the scale. CONCLUSIONS Statistical analyses demonstrated the comparability of the alternate forms.
Nonlinear Response of Saturable Absorber Mirrors for Different Operation Regimes

In this study, we show how the nonlinear response of a saturable absorber depends on the parameters of the optical pump pulses. The result suggests that it should always be specified at what conditions the semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) reflectivity has been measured. Another important consequence resulted from this analysis is that the saturation fluence of SESAM could be very different for different operation regimes, for example, for mode-locking and Q-switching. We propose a simple method of testing the absorption recovery time by using optical pulses with different pulsewidths
Comparing global and local mutations on bit strings

Evolutionary algorithms operating on bit strings usually employ a global mutation where each bit is flipped independently with some mutation probability. Most often the mutation probability is set fixed in a way that on average exactly one bit is flipped in a mutation. A seemingly very similar concept is a local one realized by an operator that flips exactly one bit chosen uniformly at random. Most known results indicate that the global approach leads to run-times at least as good as the local approach. The draw-back is that the global approach is much harder to analyze. It would therefore be highly useful to derive general principles of when and how results for the local operator extend to the global ones. In this paper, we show that there is little hope for such general principles, even under very favorable conditions. We show that there is a fitness function such that the local operator from each initial search point finds the optimum in small polynomial time, whereas the global operator for almost all initial search points needs a weakly exponential time.
Sensor-Based Assistive Devices for Visually-Impaired People: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Directions

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that there are 285 million visually-impaired people worldwide. Among these individuals, there are 39 million who are totally blind. There have been several systems designed to support visually-impaired people and to improve the quality of their lives. Unfortunately, most of these systems are limited in their capabilities. In this paper, we present a comparative survey of the wearable and portable assistive devices for visually-impaired people in order to show the progress in assistive technology for this group of people. Thus, the contribution of this literature survey is to discuss in detail the most significant devices that are presented in the literature to assist this population and highlight the improvements, advantages, disadvantages, and accuracy. Our aim is to address and present most of the issues of these systems to pave the way for other researchers to design devices that ensure safety and independent mobility to visually-impaired people.