Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nucleation and growth of nanoparticles in the atmosphere.

Nucleation and Growth of Nanoparticles in the Atmosphere Renyi Zhang,* Alexei Khalizov, Lin Wang, Min Hu, and Wen Xu Department of Atmospheric Sciences andDepartment of Chemistry, Center for Atmospheric Chemistry and Environment, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, United States Department of Environmental Science & Engineering and Institute of Global Environment Change Research, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China State Key Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China
First results on the reliability of finite element simulators for the solution of time-harmonic electromagnetic problems involving moving objects with stationary boundaries

In this work we provide a first result of reliability of the finite element method for time-harmonic electromagnetic problems involving moving objects with stationary boundaries. In addition, by considering a simple geometry allowing the computation of a semi-analytical solution, we will provide a first error analysis for finite element solutions and a comparison with the same type of result for problems not involving any moving material.
Let the Right One In: A Microeconomic Approach to Partner Choice in Mutualisms

One of the main problems impeding the evolution of cooperation is partner choice. When information is asymmetric (the quality of a potential partner is known only to himself), it may seem that partner choice is not possible without signaling. Many mutualisms, however, exist without signaling, and the mechanisms by which hosts might select the right partners are unclear. Here we propose a general mechanism of partner choice, “screening,” that is similar to the economic theory of mechanism design. Imposing the appropriate costs and rewards may induce the informed individuals to screen themselves according to their types and therefore allow a noninformed individual to establish associations with the correct partners in the absence of signaling. Several types of biological symbioses are good candidates for screening, including bobtail squid, ant‐plants, gut microbiomes, and many animal and plant species that produce reactive oxygen species. We describe a series of diagnostic tests for screening. Screening games can apply to the cases where by‐products, partner fidelity feedback, or host sanctions do not apply, therefore explaining the evolution of mutualism in systems where it is impossible for potential symbionts to signal their cooperativeness beforehand and where the host does not punish symbiont misbehavior.
Pseudorandom Bits for Oblivious Branching Programs

We construct a pseudorandom generator that fools known-order read-k oblivious branching programs and, more generally, any linear length oblivious branching program. For polynomial width branching programs, the seed lengths in our constructions are Õ(n1−1/2k−1) (for the read-k case) and O(n/ log log n) (for the linear length case). Previously, the best construction for these models required seed length (1 − Ω(1))n.
Friends on Facebook: The impact of Facebook on interpersonal friendships of female college students

Using the Internet is extremely common among college students, and one major function of Internet use is communicating with friends from their offline lives. With the popularity of social networking sites, it is important to explore how the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) is impacting female college students' relationships. Two theories provided a foundation for this study: Walther‟s social information processing theory (2002) and Baxter and Montgomery‟s relational dialectics theory (1996). Quantitative research was done for this work by surveying female college students regarding their feelings about Facebook‟s potential impact on their interpersonal friendships. Some initial findings include that, of this research population, most respondents use Facebook because of its convenience, but still prefer face-to-face or over the phone communication. It was also discovered that Facebook did add an element of conflict within some friendships. Convenience was the most positive aspect of Facebook that was reported. Running Head: FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 5 Importance of the Study 5 Statement of Goal 6 Definitions of Terms Used 6 Organization of Remaining Chapters 6 CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE 8 Philosophical and Ethical Assumptions 8 Theoretical Basis 9 The Literature 11 Research Questions 18 CHAPTER 3: SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY 20 Scope of the Study 20 Methodology 20 CHAPTER 4: THE STUDY 25 Introduction 25 Data Analysis 25 Results of the Study 26 Discussion 35 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARIES AND CONCLUSIONS 36 Limitations of the Study 37 Recommendations for Further Study 37 Conclusions 38 REFERENCES 40 APPENDIX 44 Consent Form/Survey Questionnaire 44 Mentor Agreement Form 49 Running Head: FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK 5 Chapter
Tissue transglutaminase antibodies in celiac disease: assessment of a commercial kit

OBJECTIVE:Tissue transglutaminase was identified as the autoantigen eliciting endomysial antibody. A homemade enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-based test was recently developed to determine quantitative titers of IgA antitissue transglutaminase antibody. Our objective in this study was to assess the suitability of a newly developed commercial kit for quantitative determination of antibody in patients with untreated celiac disease.MATERIALS:We tested serum samples from 79 untreated celiac patients, 42 healthy blood donors, and 18 patients with nonceliac intestinal disorders evaluated in two different centers. Samples were tested for antitissue transglutaminase, and antiendomysial and antigliadin antibodies in the center where diagnosis was performed. To assess interlaboratory variability of methods, 24 samples randomly selected were blindly tested in both centers. Antitissue transglutaminase antibodies were determined using a commercial kit (INOVA Diagnostics, Inc., San Diego, CA). RESULTS:Untreated celiac patients had significantly higher titers of antitissue transglutaminase than healthy and disease controls (p < 0.00001). According to the cut-off provided by the manufacturers (20 AU/mL), overall sensitivity was 92% (85% for one center and 100% for the other) and specificity was 98% (100% and 95%, respectively). Antiendomysial antibody was 86% sensitive and 100% specific. Discordance between antitissue transglutaminase and antiendomysial antibodies was detected in 13% of patients. Although two antitissue transglutaminase-negative cases had a positive antiendomysial antibody, the inverse situation was found in eight cases. A blind determination of antitissue transglutaminase on the same samples evidenced a good agreement (κ statistic: 0.66) between both centers when assessment was qualitative (based on the decision of positive or negative). Although correlation of titers for both determinations was highly significant (r: 0.902, p < 0.00001), a very wide interlaboratory variability (median: 50%) was detected when absolute values were considered.CONCLUSIONS:The quantitative determination of antitissue transglutaminase using a commercial kit was highly sensitive and specific for detection of celiac disease. We observed an incomplete overlapping with antiendomysial antibody. The very high variability of values between laboratories still remains to be solved so as to propose the commercial ELISA assay for the screening of celiac disease.
Neuromodulation of inhibitory feedback to pacemaker neurons and its consequent role in stabilizing the output of the neuronal network

iii Acknowledgement . v Table of contents . vi List of figures . viii Chapter 1: General Introduction . 1 Background and significance.1 Overview of the stomatogastric nervous system . 5 The pyloric circuit . 6 The advantages of the pyloric circuit.8 Neuromodulation in STNS and Neuropeptide proctolin.9 Questions addressed in the thesis.11 Chapter 2: Neuromodulation of a key synapse in a rhythmic network . 15 Introduction.15 Materials and Methods . 18 Results . 21 Discussion . 32 Chapter 3: Inhibitory feedback to pacemaker neurons stabilizes oscillation in the rhythmic network . 54 Introduction.54 Materials and Methods . 57
Teaching computer concepts using virtual machines

A set of virtual assemblers and a virtual machine are used as a teaching tool in order to teach students differences and similarities between architectural styles of computer processors. Programs written by the students in the virtual assemblers are compiled using the corresponding virtual assembler. They are then executed on the virtual machine so that students can follow the execution of the programs step by step or at full speed.
Track and hold circuit design and implementation in 65 nm CMOS technology for RF subsampling receivers

In this paper, two track and hold circuits are designed and implemented using 65 nm CMOS technology. The first circuit is based on a dummy switch topology to decrease the charge injection error. The second circuit uses a clock linearization technique to reduce the sampling instant inaccuracy. Simulation results show that the track and hold circuit based on dummy transistor technique presents the best performances in terms of rapidity and accuracy.
The NART as an index of prior intellectual functioning: a retrospective validity study covering a 66-year interval

Background. The National Adult Reading Test (NART) is widely used in research and clinical practice as an estimate of pre-morbid or prior ability. However, most of the evidence on the NART's validity as a measure of prior intellectual ability is based on concurrent administration of the NART and an IQ measure. Method. We followed up 179 individuals who had taken an IQ test (the Moray House Test) at age 11 and administered the NART and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at age 77. A subset (N=97) were also re-administered the original IQ test. Results. The correlation between NART performance at age 77 and IQ age 11 was high and statistically significant (r=0·73; P<0·001). This correlation was comparable to the correlation between NART and current IQ, and childhood IQ and current IQ, despite the shared influences on the latter variable pairings. The NART had a significant correlation with the MMSE but this correlation fell to near zero (r=0·02) after partialling out the influence of childhood IQ. Discussion. The pattern of results provides strong support for the claim that the NART primarily indexes prior (rather than current) intellectual ability.
Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) Activity in Fish as a Biomarker of Chemical Exposure

This review compiles and evaluates existing scientific information on the use, limitations, and procedural considerations for EROD activity (a catalytic measurement of cytochrome P4501A induction) as a biomarker in fish. A multitude of chemicals induce EROD activity in a variety of fish species, the most potent inducers being structural analogs of 2,3,7,8-tetracholordibenzo-p-dioxin. Although certain chemicals may inhibit EROD induction/activity, this interference is generally not a drawback to the use of EROD induction as a biomarker. The various methods of EROD analysis currently in use yield comparable results, particularly when data are expressed as relative rates of EROD activity. EROD induction in fish is well characterized, the most important modifying factors being fish species, reproductive status and age, all of which can be controlled through proper study design. Good candidate species for biomonitoring should have a wide range between basal and induced EROD activity (e.g., common carp, channel catfish, and mummichog). EROD activity has proven value as a biomarker in a number of field investigations of bleached kraft mill and industrial effluents, contaminated sediments, and chemical spills. Research on mechanisms of CYP1A-induced toxicity suggests that EROD activity may not only indicate chemical exposure, but also may also precede effects at various levels of biological organization. A current research need is the development of chemical exposure-response relationships for EROD activity in fish. In addition, routine reporting in the literature of EROD activity in standard positive and negative control material will enhance confidence in comparing results from different studies using this biomarker.
Time-stampless adaptive nonuniform sampling for stochastic signals

In this paper, we introduce a time-stampless adaptive nonuniform sampling (TANS) framework, in which time increments between samples are determined by a function of the m most recent increments and sample values. Since only past samples are used in computing time increments, it is not necessary to save sampling times (time stamps) for use in the reconstruction process. We focus on two TANS schemes for discrete-time stochastic signals: a greedy method, and a method based on dynamic programming. We analyze the performances of these schemes by computing (or bounding) their trade-offs between sampling rate and expected reconstruction distortion for Markovian signals. Simulation results support the analysis of the sampling schemes. We show that by opportunistically adapting to local signal characteristics TANS may lead to improved power efficiency in some applications.
Feedforward/Feedback Laws for the Control of Flexible Robots

We present a survey of the nominal motion generation schemes and of the associated simple control solutions for robots displaying flexibility effects. Two model classes are considered: robots with elastic joints but rigid links, and robots with flexible links. Model-based feedforward laws are derived for the two basic motion tasks of state-to-state transfer in given time and exact trajectory execution. In particular, we present a new solution to the finite-time reconfiguration problem for a one-link flexible arm. Finally, we use the developed commands into a simple feedback scheme that requires only standard sensors on the motors.
Microtubule dynamics at the G2/M transition: abrupt breakdown of cytoplasmic microtubules at nuclear envelope breakdown and implications for spindle morphogenesis

We recently developed a direct fluorescence ratio assay (Zhai, Y., and G.G. Borisy. 1994. J. Cell Sci. 107:881-890) to quantify microtubule (MT) polymer in order to determine if net MT depolymerization occurred upon anaphase onset as the spindle was disassembled. Our results showed no net decrease in polymer, indicating that the disassembly of kinetochore MTs was balanced by assembly of midbody and astral MTs. Thus, the mitosis-interphase transition occurs by a redistribution of tubulin among different classes of MTs at essentially constant polymer level. We now examine the reverse process, the interphase-mitosis transition. Specifically, we quantitated both the level of MT polymer and the dynamics of MTs during the G2/M transition using the fluorescence ratio assay and a fluorescence photoactivation approach, respectively. Prophase cells before nuclear envelope breakdown (NEB) had high levels of MT polymer (62%) similar to that previously reported for random interphase populations (68%). However, prophase cells just after NEB had significantly reduced levels (23%) which recovered as MT attachments to chromosomes were made (prometaphase, 47%; metaphase, 56%). The abrupt reorganization of MTs at NEB was corroborated by anti- tubulin immunofluorescence staining using a variety of fixation protocols. Sensitivity to nocodazole also increased at NEB. Photoactivation analyses of MT dynamics showed a similar abrupt change at NEB, basal rates of MT turnover (pre-NEB) increased post-NEB and then became slower later in mitosis. Our results indicate that the interphase-mitosis (G2/M) transition of the MT array does not occur by a simple redistribution of tubulin at constant polymer level as the mitosis-interphase (M/G1) transition. Rather, an abrupt decrease in MT polymer level and increase in MT dynamics occurs tightly correlated with NEB. A subsequent increase in MT polymer level and decrease in MT dynamics occurs correlated with chromosome attachment. These results carry implications for understanding spindle morphogenesis. They indicate that changes in MT dynamics may cause the steady-state MT polymer level in mitotic cells to be lower than in interphase. We propose that tension exerted on the kMTs may lead to their lengthening and thereby lead to an increase in the MT polymer level as chromosomes attach to the spindle.
Cross-Matching via Feature Matching for Camera Handover with Non-overlapping Fields of View

This paper describes a prototype system for performing handover between cameras with non-overlapping views. The design is being used to identify problems that may arise in the development of a larger, more capable, and fully automatic system. If there is no information about the spatio-temporal relationship between cameras to assist in matching individuals, similarities in appearance may be used. Here, the object's appearance is represented by a vector of features calculated from its delineation. The features considered are the scale-invariant feature transform, grey-level co-occurrence matrix features, local binary patterns, Zernike moments and some simple colour features. The system has been tested on a difficult surveillance scenario, which considers opposing views of the subjects (frontal presentation in one sequence matched with rear presentation in the other, and vice versa). Several classification strategies are employed to determine the best match across presentations of the subjects in each sequence. The quality of the results was lower than expected but provides useful information for future robustification of the system.
Algorithms and Data Structures for Haptic Rendering: Curve Constraints, Distance Maps, and Data Logging

In this paper, we describe three novel data processing techniques used for haptic rendering and simulation: We present an approach to constraining a haptic device to travel along a discretely-sampled curve. We present an approach to generating distance maps from surface meshes using axis-aligned bounding box (AABB) trees. Our method exploits spatial coherence among neighboring points. We present a data structure that allows thread-safe, lock-free streaming of data from a high-priority haptic rendering thread to a lower-priority data-logging thread. We provide performance metrics and example applications for each of these techniques. C++-style pseudocode is provided wherever possible and is used as the basis for presenting our approaches. Links to actual implementations are also provided for each section.
Fresh-frozen vs. embalmed bone: is it possible to use formalin-fixed human bone for biomechanical experiments on implants?

PURPOSE As formalin is an extremely reactive electrophilic chemical that reacts with tissues, the purpose of this study was to explore whether formalin fixation could potentially alter the mechanical properties of bone tissue and have an effect on the primary stability measurements of implants. MATERIAL AND METHODS Ø 3.3 x 8 mm, Ø 4.1 x 8 mm, and Ø 4.8 x 8 mm implants were placed on sockets prepared into the anterior surface of the radius of two fresh-frozen human cadavers. The insertion torque of each implant was quantified using a strain-gauged torque-wrench connected to a data acquisition system at a sample rate of 10 KHz, and resonance frequency analysis measurements were also undertaken for each implant. The cadavers were then subjected to embalment with 10% formalin for 3 months, and the same experiments were undertaken on the contra lateral radius of the cadavers. RESULTS The insertion torques before and after chemical fixation were similar for Ø 3.3 mm (P>0.05), and higher values were obtained for Ø 4.1 mm and Ø 4.8 mm implants after chemical fixation (P<0.05). The resonance frequency analysis values before and after chemical fixation were similar for all implants (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Implants have higher insertion torque values in formalin-fixed bone than fresh-frozen human bone, but similar implant stability quotients in both cases. The insertion torque technique can detect the difference between formalin-fixed and fresh-frozen human bone, but resonance frequency analysis cannot.
The Meaning and Use of Negative Polar Interrogatives

On the standard theory of interrogative meaning, the denotation of a question is the set of propositions comprising its direct answers; so negative polar interrogatives (NIs) like Isn’t Jane coming? are predicted to be equivalent to positive polar interrogatives (PIs) like Is Jane coming? While this prediction is correct in so as far simple yes and no answers to PIs and NIs always express the same proposition, they diverge in important respects. First, NIs are typically biased toward a specific answer. Furthermore, NIs are ambiguous in the sense that the bias may be either toward the positive or negative answer (Ladd, 1981).
Cord Blood Lin−CD45− Embryonic-Like Stem Cells Are a Heterogeneous Population That Lack Self-Renewal Capacity

Human umbilical cord blood (hUCB) has been proposed to contain not only haematopoietic stem cells, but also a rare pluripotent embryonic-like stem cell (ELSc) population that is negative for hematopoietic markers (Lin−CD45−) and expresses markers typical of pluripotent cells. The aim of this work was to isolate, characterise and expand this ELSc fraction from hUCB, as it may provide a valuable cell source for regenerative medicine applications. We found that we could indeed isolate a Lin−CD45− population of small cells (3–10 µm diameter) with a high nucleus to cytoplasm ratio that expressed the stem cell markers CD34 and CXCR4. However, in contrast to some previous reports, this fraction was not positive for CD133. Furthermore, although these cells expressed transcripts typical of pluripotent cells, such as SOX2, OCT3/4, and NANOG, they were not able to proliferate in any of the culture media known to support stem cell growth that we tested. Further analysis of the Lin−CD45− population by flow cytometry showed the presence of a Lin−CD45−Nestin+ population that were also positive for CD34 (20%) but negative for CXCR4. These data suggest that the Lin−CD45− stem cell fraction present in the cord blood represents a small heterogeneous population with phenotypic characteristics of stem cells, including a Lin−CD45−Nestin+ population not previously described. This study also suggests that heterogeneity within the Lin−CD45− cell fraction is the likely explanation for differences in the hUCB cell populations described by different groups that were isolated using different methods. These populations have been widely called “embryonic-like stem cell” on the basis of their phenotypical similarity to embryonic stem cells. However, the fact they do not seem to be able to self-renew casts some doubt on their identity, and warns against defining them as “embryonic-like stem cell” at this stage.