Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Staggered CAP—A New Spectrally Efficient Modulation Format for Optical Communications

In this letter, staggered carrierless amplitude phase (sCAP), a new spectrally efficient modulation format, is proposed for optical transmission. By staggering the in-phase and quadrature components of the CAP modulation, simultaneous transmission of two additional pulse amplitude modulation signals is possible: the first one being baseband and the second one lower sideband. The new modulation format has several advantages: 100% bandwidth efficiency, rectangular-shaped spectrum, minimum tap number shaping filters, minimum requirements for analog-to-digital conversion sampling rate, low peak-to-average power ratio, and capability of bit and power loading. The experimental results in vertical cavity surface emitting laser multimode fiber link indicate that the new format by far outperforms regular CAP.
The Production of Quality in Child-Care Centers: Another Look

Data from the Cost, Quality, and Outcomes Study (Helburn, 1995) are used to examine the effects of group size, staff-child ratio, and teacher qualifications on the quality of child care provided in day care centers. The Cost, Quality, and Outcomes data are from a representative 4-state sample of day care centers with a design that makes it possible to control for unobserved differences across centers that could cause biased estimates of the effects of interest. The empirical results indicate that group size has small and statistically insignificant effects on child-care quality. A higher staff-child ratio appears to have beneficial effects on child-care quality when unobserved differences across centers are not accounted for. These effects become much smaller when unobserved differences are accounted for. The effects of teacher education and training are also generally not robust, but some measures of education and training have quantitatively and statistically significant effects even accounting for unobserved differences across centers. The implications of the results for future research on the determinants of child-care quality and for public policy are discussed.
Lexical Retuning of Children's Speech Perception: Evidence for Knowledge About Words' Component Sounds

Children hear new words from many different talkers; to learn words most efficiently, they should be able to represent them independently of talker-specific pronunciation detail. However, do children know what the component sounds of words should be, and can they use that knowledge to deal with different talkers' phonetic realizations? Experiment 1 replicated prior studies on lexically guided retuning of speech perception in adults, with a picture-verification methodology suitable for children. One participant group heard an ambiguous fricative ([s/f]) replacing /f/ (e.g., in words like giraffe); another group heard [s/f] replacing /s/ (e.g., in platypus). The first group subsequently identified more tokens on a Simpie-[s/f]impie-Fimpie toy-name continuum as Fimpie. Experiments 2 and 3 found equivalent lexically guided retuning effects in 12- and 6-year-olds. Children aged 6 have all that is needed for adjusting to talker variation in speech: detailed and abstract phonological representations and the ability to apply them during spoken-word recognition.
Self-Selected or Mandated, Open Access Increases Citation Impact for Higher Quality Research

Background Articles whose authors have supplemented subscription-based access to the publisher's version by self-archiving their own final draft to make it accessible free for all on the web (“Open Access”, OA) are cited significantly more than articles in the same journal and year that have not been made OA. Some have suggested that this “OA Advantage” may not be causal but just a self-selection bias, because authors preferentially make higher-quality articles OA. To test this we compared self-selective self-archiving with mandatory self-archiving for a sample of 27,197 articles published 2002–2006 in 1,984 journals. Methdology/Principal Findings The OA Advantage proved just as high for both. Logistic regression analysis showed that the advantage is independent of other correlates of citations (article age; journal impact factor; number of co-authors, references or pages; field; article type; or country) and highest for the most highly cited articles. The OA Advantage is real, independent and causal, but skewed. Its size is indeed correlated with quality, just as citations themselves are (the top 20% of articles receive about 80% of all citations). Conclusions/Significance The OA advantage is greater for the more citable articles, not because of a quality bias from authors self-selecting what to make OA, but because of a quality advantage, from users self-selecting what to use and cite, freed by OA from the constraints of selective accessibility to subscribers only. It is hoped that these findings will help motivate the adoption of OA self-archiving mandates by universities, research institutions and research funders.
Phylogeny and phylogeography of functional genes shared among seven terrestrial subsurface metagenomes reveal N-cycling and microbial evolutionary relationships

Comparative studies on community phylogenetics and phylogeography of microorganisms living in extreme environments are rare. Terrestrial subsurface habitats are valuable for studying microbial biogeographical patterns due to their isolation and the restricted dispersal mechanisms. Since the taxonomic identity of a microorganism does not always correspond well with its functional role in a particular community, the use of taxonomic assignments or patterns may give limited inference on how microbial functions are affected by historical, geographical and environmental factors. With seven metagenomic libraries generated from fracture water samples collected from five South African mines, this study was carried out to (1) screen for ubiquitous functions or pathways of biogeochemical cycling of CH4, S, and N; (2) to characterize the biodiversity represented by the common functional genes; (3) to investigate the subsurface biogeography as revealed by this subset of genes; and (4) to explore the possibility of using metagenomic data for evolutionary study. The ubiquitous functional genes are NarV, NPD, PAPS reductase, NifH, NifD, NifK, NifE, and NifN genes. Although these eight common functional genes were taxonomically and phylogenetically diverse and distinct from each other, the dissimilarity between samples did not correlate strongly with geographical or environmental parameters or residence time of the water. Por genes homologous to those of Thermodesulfovibrio yellowstonii detected in all metagenomes were deep lineages of Nitrospirae, suggesting that subsurface habitats have preserved ancestral genetic signatures that inform the study of the origin and evolution of prokaryotes.
Molecular Analysis of Patterning of Conduction Tissues in the Developing Human Heart

Background— Recent studies in experimental animals have revealed some molecular mechanisms underlying the differentiation of the myocardium making up the conduction system. To date, lack of gene expression data for the developing human conduction system has precluded valid extrapolations from experimental studies to the human situation. Methods and Results— We performed immunohistochemical analyses of the expression of key transcription factors, such as ISL1, TBX3, TBX18, and NKX2–5, ion channel HCN4, and connexins in the human embryonic heart. We supplemented our molecular analyses with 3-dimensional reconstructions of myocardial TBX3 expression. TBX3 is expressed in the developing conduction system and in the right venous valve, atrioventricular ring bundles, and retro-aortic nodal region. TBX3-positive myocardium, with exception of the top of the ventricular septum, is devoid of fast-conducting connexin40 and connexin43 and hence identifies slowly conducting pathways. In the early embryonic heart, we found wide expression of the pacemaker channel HCN4 at the venous pole, including the atrial chambers. HCN4 expression becomes confined during later developmental stages to the components of the conduction system. Patterns of expression of transcription factors, known from experimental studies to regulate the development of the sinus node and atrioventricular conduction system, are similar in the human and mouse developing hearts. Conclusions— Our findings point to the comparability of mechanisms governing the development of the cardiac conduction patterning in human and mouse, which provide a molecular basis for understanding the functioning of the human developing heart before formation of a discrete conduction system.
Piecewise sparse signal recovery via piecewise orthogonal matching pursuit

In this paper, we consider the recovery of piecewise sparse signals from incomplete noisy measurements via a greedy algorithm. Here piecewise sparse means that the signal can be approximated in certain domain with known number of nonzero entries in each piece/segment. This paper makes a two-fold contribution to this problem: 1) formulating a piecewise sparse model in the framework of compressed sensing and providing the theoretical analysis of corresponding sensing matrices; 2) developing a greedy algorithm called piecewise orthogonal matching pursuit (POMP) for the recovery of piecewise sparse signals. Experimental simulations verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms.
A multiple-site similarity measure

Abstract Similarity measures are among the most intuitive and common measures for comparing two or more sites, or samples, with respect to their species overlap. A restriction of similarity measures is that they are limited to pairwise comparisons even in a multiple-site study. This work presents a multiple-site similarity measure that makes use of information on species shared by more than two sites and avoids the problem of covariance between pairwise similarities in a multiple-site study. Further, we show that our multiple-site similarity measure is related to β-diversity measures such as Whittaker's β-diversity. Similarity measures can also be used as descriptors of effective specialization of insects to host species by measuring similarity from host observations. Finally, we show that multiple-site similarity and host specificity are two sides of the same coin.
Maritime Vessel Images Classification Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

The ability to identify maritime vessels and their type is an important component of modern maritime safety and security. In this work, we present the application of deep convolutional neural networks to the classification of maritime vessel images. We use the AlexNet deep convolutional neural network as our base model and propose a new model that is twice smaller then the AlexNet. We conduct experiments on different configurations of the model on commodity hardware. We comparatively evaluate and analyse the performance of different configurations the model. We measure the top-1 and top-5 accuracy rates. The contribution of this work is the implementation, tuning and evaluation of automatic image classifier for the specific domain of maritime vessels with deep convolutional neural networks under the constraints imposed by commodity hardware and size of the image collection.
Collaboration Effort between Physicians and Nurses: A Feedback Tool for the Review of the Hospitals

A growing body of research affirms the significance of physician-nurse collaboration for the delivery of aquality patient care and better health outcomes. In this descriptive comparative study, the difference in attitudes toward collaboration between physicians and nurses was compared. Data were obtained through distribution of survey questionnaire which is an adaptation of the Jefferson Scale of Attitudes toward Physician-Nurse Collaboration (JSATPNC) to the practicing physicians and registered nurses at The Doctors’ Clinic and Hospital Incorporated (TDCHI), Philippines. The mean scores on attitudes toward collaboration for physicians (n = 48) was 48.9 (± SD 6.16) and 51.2 (± SD 5.46) for nurses group (n=94). Mean scores were consistently higher for nurses as compared with physicians. Analysis demonstrated that this difference is statistically significant (t = 2.272 with P value of 0.0246< .05). Further analysis showed significant relationship between the physicians’ number of years in practice with their attitudes towards collaboration but not with gender, age, and tribe. Results showed significant relationship between nurses’ age and their attitude towards collaboration but failed to demonstrate significant relationship based on gender, tribe, and years in practice. Results were analyzed and used as bases to identify target areas for improving physician-nurse collaboration at TDCHI. The recommended plans and strategies were included in the revised TDCHI Training Manual.
Discovery of BRL 50481 [3-(N,N-dimethylsulfonamido)-4-methyl-nitrobenzene], a Selective Inhibitor of Phosphodiesterase 7: In Vitro Studies in Human Monocytes, Lung Macrophages, and CD8+ T-Lymphocytes

The biochemical and pharmacological characteristics in human proinflammatory cells of BRL 50481 [3-(N,N-dimethylsulfonamido)-4-methyl-nitrobenzene], a novel and selective inhibitor of phosphodiesterase (PDE) 7, are described. BRL 50481 inhibited the activity of hrPDE7A1 expressed in baculovirus-infected Spodoptera frugiperda 9 cells in a competitive manner (Ki value of 180 nM) and was 416 and 1884 times less potent against PDE3 and 38 and 238 times less potent against PDE4 at a substrate concentration of 1 μM and 50 nM cAMP, respectively. Western blotting identified HSPDE7A1 but not HSPDE7A2 in three human cell types that are implicated in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive lung disease, namely, CD8+ T-lymphocytes, monocytes, and lung macrophages. BRL 50481 had no effect on the proliferation of CD8+ T-lymphocytes and only marginally (∼2-11%) reduced the generation of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α from blood monocytes and lung macrophages. However, in the presence of BRL 50481 the inhibitory effect of rolipram was enhanced on all three cell types. The expression of HSPDE7A1 was increased in a time-dependent manner in monocytes that were “aged” in culture medium. Under this condition, BRL 50481 now inhibited TNFα generation in a concentration-dependent manner. In aged monocytes, rolipram, Org 9935 (a PDE3 inhibitor), and prostaglandin E2 inhibited TNFα generation in a concentration-dependent manner and interacted additively with BRL 50481. BRL 50481 is the first fully documented PDE7 inhibitor that has acceptable selectivity for in vitro studies. Furthermore, although BRL 50481 had only a modest inhibitory effect per se on the proinflammatory cells studied, it acted at least additively with other cAMP-elevating drugs, especially when HSPDE7A1 was up-regulated.
Concatenation as a basis for arithmetic

General syntax, the formal part of the general theory of signs, has as its basic operation the operation of concatenation, expressed by the connective ‘⌢’ and understood as follows : where x and y are any expressions, x⌢y is the expression formed by writing the expression x immediately followed by the expression y. E.g., where ‘alpha’ and ‘beta’ are understood as names of the respective signs ‘α’ and ‘β’, the syntactical expression ‘alpha⌢beta’ is a name of the expression ‘αβ’. Tarski and Hermes have presented axioms for concatenation, and definitions of derivative syntactical concepts. Hermes has also related concatenation theory to the arithmetic of natural numbers, constructing a model of the latter within the former. Conversely, Gödel's proof of the impossibility of a complete consistent systematization of arithmetic depended on constructing a model of concatenation theory within arithmetic.
On the Origin of Brucellosis in Bison of Yellowstone National Park: A Review

Brucellosis caused by Brucella abortus occurs in the free-ranging bison (Bison bison) of Yellowstone and Wood Buffalo National Parks and in elk (Cervus elaphus) of the Greater Yellowstone Area. As a result of nationwide bovine brucellosis eradication programs, states and provinces proximate to the national parks are considered free of bovine brucellosis. Thus, increased attention has been focused on the wildlife within these areas as potential reservoirs for transmission to cattle. Because the national parks are mandated as natural areas, the question has been raised as to whether Brucella abortus is endogenous or exogenous to bison, particularly for Yellowstone National Park. We synthesized diverse lines of inquiry, including the evolutionary history of both bison and Brucella, wild animals as Brucella hosts, biochemical and genetic information, behavioral characteristics of host and organism, and area history to develop an evaluation of the question for the National Park Service. All lines of inquiry indicated that the organism was introduced to North America with cattle, and that the introduction into the Yellowstone bison probably was directly from cattle shortly before 1917. Fistulous withers of horses was a less likely possibility. Elk on winter feedgrounds south of Yellowstone National Park apparently acquired the disease directly from cattle. Bison presently using Grand Teton National Park probably acquired brucellosis from feedground elk.
To guide or not to guide: issues in the sequencing of pedagogical structure in computational model-based learning

This research explores issues related to the sequencing of structure that is provided as pedagogical guidance. A study was conducted that involved grade 10 students in Singapore as they learned concepts about electricity using four NetLogo Investigations of Electricity agent-based models. It was found that the low-to-high structure learning sequences group participants scored significantly higher on the posttest assessments of conceptual and procedural understanding of electricity concepts, whereas the high-to-high structure learning sequences showed no significant changes from pretest to posttest. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to other research into the sequencing and design of pedagogical structure and guidance in the literature.
Ca2+ leakage rate from agonist-sensitive intracellular pools is altered in platelets from patients with type 2 diabetes

Platelets from patients with type 2 diabetes show abnormalities in intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis that are involved in platelet hyperaggregability and the development of thrombotic complications. Different Ca2+ transport mechanisms have been reported to be altered in platelets from patients with type 2 diabetes, including the sarcoendoplasmic and plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPases, plasma membrane Ca2+ channels, or the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger. Here, we have investigated whether passive Ca2+ leak from the stores is altered in platelets from patients with type 2 diabetes. Resting cytosolic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) was found to be greater in platelets from patients with type 2 diabetes than in healthy controls. In a Ca2+-free medium, platelet stimulation with thrombin or ADP evokes a rapid and transient increase in [Ca2+]i that was found to be greater in patients with diabetes than in healthy controls. Sequential or combined inhibition of Ca2+ extrusion and Ca2+ sequestration into the stores reduced the difference between the responses to agonists in patients with diabetes and healthy controls, although agonist-induced Ca2+ efflux from the stores was still significantly greater in patients with diabetes. Ca2+ leak from the dense tubular system or the acidic stores, induced by a low concentration of thapsigargin or 2,5-di-(t-butyl)-1,4-hydroquinone (TBHQ), respectively, was clearly greater in patients with diabetes than in controls, and was not significantly modified by treatment with 2-APB. These findings indicate that passive Ca2+ leakage rate from the intracellular stores in platelets is significantly enhanced in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and this might explain the increased resting [Ca2+]i.
Experiences Mirroring and Distributing the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) project has gathered or produced about 40 terabytes of data since it started in 2000. The data is made available on the Internet through the SkyServer Web interface, for use by professional astronomical researchers and the general public. We first consider how the database's design helps explore the Sloan data. Then we describe our experience mirroring the SDSS database. We also discuss our preliminary work with distributing the multi-terabyte database across different UK sites using the OGSA-DAI middleware
An Empirical Study of Manufacturing Flexibility in Printed Circuit Board Assembly

This paper addresses the empirical verification of hypotheses that relate to the strategic use and implementation of manufacturing flexibility. We begin with a literature review and framework for analyzing different types of flexibility in manufacturing. Next, we examine some of the propositions in the framework using data from 31 printed circuit-board plants in Europe, Japan, and the United States. Based on our analysis and findings, we then suggest several new strategic insights related to the management of flexibility and some potentially fruitful areas for further theoretical and empirical research. Our findings include: more automation is associated empirically with less flexibility, as found in other studies; nontechnology factors, such as high involvement of workers in problem-solving activities, close relationships with suppliers, and flexible wage schemes, are associated with greater mix, volume, and new-product flexibility; component reusability is significantly correlated with mix and new-product flexibility; achieving high-mix or new-product flexibility does not seem to involve a cost or quality penalty; mix and new-product flexibility are mutually reinforcing and tend to be supported by similar factors; and mix flexibility may reduce volume fluctuations, which could theoretically reduce the need for volume flexibility.
Implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in small and midsize manufacturing firms

Enterprise resource planning systems, if implemented successfully, can bestow impressive strategic, operational and information‐related benefits to adopting firms. A failed implementation can often spell financial doom. Currently, most of the information about the failures and successes are based on reports on implementations in large manufacturing and service organizations. But enterprise resource planning vendors are now steadily turning their marketing sights on small and medium‐sized manufacturers. The time is ripe for researchers to gather, analyze and disseminate information that will help these firms to implement their projects successfully. This research adopts a multiple case study approach to investigate the implementation process in small and midsize manufacturing firms in the US. The research focuses on implementation activities that foster successful installations and are developed using information gleaned from our field studies of four projects. Avenues for future research are also suggested.