Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rigorous model for the design of ultra-high Q-factor resonant cavities

A rigorous mathematical method to simulate an ultra-high Q-factor 1D PhC ring resonator (1D PhCRR) is proposed. The integration of a 1D PhC in a ring cavity resonator allows an enhancement of the Q-factor of a single ring resonator up to 109 or more, without enlarging the device footprint, with an improvement of at least two orders of magnitude in comparison with the values obtained without the grating. Rigorous modelling and simulations of such ultra high-Q resonant cavities are very challenging, because of the structure complexity, due to the large device footprint and the requirements for an accurate spectral analysis. Conventional numerical methods, such as Finite Element Method (FEM) and Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) require very long simulation time and huge computing resource. Therefore, a general mathematical method, able to reduce the computing time, assuring accurate solutions, and investigating the effect of the grating in the coupling region, is a real need. Several configurations of 1D PhCRRs have been investigated. An ultra-high Q-factor (> 109) for a 1D PhCRR in Si3N4 technology with a footprint of 64 mm2 has been calculated. Similar performance makes the 1D PhC ring resonator suitable for several applications, such as optical gyroscopes for space environment and ultra-sensitive biosensors.
Synergistic suppression effect on tumor growth of ovarian cancer by combining cisplatin with a manganese superoxide dismutase-armed oncolytic adenovirus

Gene therapy on the basis of oncolytic adenovirus is a novel approach for human cancer therapeutics. We aim to investigate whether it will synergistically reinforce their antiovarian cancer activities when the combined use of ZD55-manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) and cisplatin was performed. The experiments in vitro showed that ZD55-MnSOD enhances cisplatin-induced apoptosis and causes remarkable ovarian cancer cell death. Apoptosis induction by treatment with ZD55-MnSOD and/or cisplatin was detected in SKOV-3 by apoptotic cell staining, flow cytometry, and western blot analysis. In addition, the cytotoxicity caused by ZD55-MnSOD to normal cells was examined by the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide assay and western blot analysis. Animal experiment further confirmed that combination of ZD55-MnSOD and cisplatin achieved significant inhibition of SKOV-3 ovarian tumor xenografted growth. In summary, we have demonstrated that ZD55-MnSOD can sensitize human ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin-induced cell death and apoptosis in vitro and in vivo. These findings indicate that the combined treatment with ZD55-MnSOD and cisplatin could represent a rational approach for antiovarian cancer therapy.
Efficient Estimation of Distribution Algorithms by Using the Empirical Selection Distribution

Estimation of Distribution Algorithms (EDAs) (Muhlenbein et al., 1996; Muhlenbein & PaaB, 1996) are a promising area of research in evolutionary computation. EDAs propose to create models that can capture the dependencies among the decision variables. The widely known Genetic Algorithm could benefit from the available dependencies if the building blocks of the solution were correlated. However, it was proved that the building blocks of a genetic algorithm have a limited capacity for discovering and using complex relationships (correlations) among variables. EDAs instead, focus on learning probability distributions which serve as the vehicle to capture the data dependencies and the data structure as well. In order to show how the proposed method unifies the theory for infinite sized population with the finite sized population case of practical EDAs, we explain them first. An EDA with infinite sized population would perform the steps shown in the algorithm in Table 1.
Ranking Database Results Based on Context

Nowadays more and more information becomes available in digital form. To be able to guide users through this wealth of information, a possibility is to only provide users with the information that is relevant to their current situation. From a database perspective, this implies adapting query results to the situation of the user at the time of querying. Challenges raised by this implication are to express the preferences of the user in different situations and to score tuples based on context information. These challenges become especially difficult since most context information results from sensors and is therfore uncertain. Moreover, the preferences of the user might differ in strength. In the field of context awareness, previous research focused on simple preferences in small scale systems using little context information. In the database field, previous research on preferences focused on hard-coded preferences without addressing the demands of context aware systems, such as reasoning, traceability, uncertainty etc. [3] The work presented distinguishes from these approaches by addressing the demands of context aware systems, but at the same time providing a solution for implanting the system on top of a traditional DBMS (PostgreSQL). To address the issue of uncertain context we use event expressions [2], where we assign each context measurement a probability and a basic event expression. Calculation of the probability of high level context event (e.g., a certain activity) can be done by combining event expressions from measurements attributing to this event as described in [2]. Resulting from these measurements we need to provide the tuples which best satisfy the information need of a user. Augmenting the reasoning that Berger and Lafferty followed for information retrieval [1] we conclude that context has its effect in three places. First, if a query is unexpected given the context of the user, the tuples matching the query answer should be considered more relevant. Second, context affects the “query generation”, which could be used to account for different input methods under different contexts leading to a different formulation of a query under the same information need. Finally, and most important, the context of a user affects the general relevance of a tuple. In our talk we will focus on the last part, modeling the general relevance of a tuple using context aware preference rules. Such rule states, among a set of alternatives, a particular like or dislike for some of these alternatives under certain contexts, like “prefer TV on sports programs when the user is dining”, together with a weight. To accomplish the integration of rules and context information we will assign a basic event expression to the preference rule, so it can be combined with the event expressions of the context measurements. Furthermore, we will address how the scoring of tuples is influenced by uncertainty of the context and combinations of preference rules.
Spatial Distribution of Flower Color Induced by Interspecific Sexual Interaction

Understanding the mechanisms shaping the spatiotemporal distribution of species has long been a central concern of ecology and evolutionary biology. Contemporary patterns of plant assemblies suggest that sexual interactions among species, i.e., reproductive interference, lead to the exclusive distributions of closely related species that share pollinators. However, the fitness consequences and the initial ecological/evolutionary responses to reproductive interference remain unclear in nature, since reproductive isolation or allopatric distribution has already been achieved in the natural community. In Japan, three species of blue-eyed grasses (Sisyrinchium) with incomplete reproductive isolation have recently colonized and occur sympatrically. Two of them are monomorphic with white flowers, whereas the other exhibits heritable color polymorphism (white and purple morphs). Here we investigated the effects of the presence of two monomorphic species on the distribution and reproductive success of color morphs. The frequency and reproductive success of white morphs decreased in area where monomorphic species were abundant, while those of purple morphs did not. The rate of hybridization between species was higher in white morphs than in the purple ones. Resource competition and habitat preference seemed not to contribute to the spatial distribution and reproductive success of two morphs. Our results supported that color-dependent reproductive interference determines the distribution of flower color polymorphism in a habitat, implying ecological sorting promoted by pollinator-mediated reproductive interference. Our study helps us to understand the evolution and spatial structure of flower color in a community.
The Experience of Creating Community

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to explore four midwestern choral teachers’ experiences of creating and sustaining community within their public school choirs. Research questions included (1) how choral teachers describe their experiences of creating choral communities, (2) how the teacher–student relationship is experienced, and (3) what challenges get in the way of sustaining choral communities. Writings by Edith and Victor Turner, Martin Buber, and Nel Noddings were used as a theoretical lens. Participants were selected purposively and represented heterogeneous choral programs, different school sizes, and diverse population densities. Participants included one 8th-year middle school male choral teacher, two female high school choral teachers who had taught for more than 18 years each, and one male middle and high school choral teacher who had taught for 12 years. Cases were bounded by interviews, written and observational data, and artifacts. The data collection included 20 observations, 12 interviews with choral teachers, and 16 student interviews. Data analysis was inductive; 31 codes emerged and were gathered into four themes including support and care, fostering a sense of belonging and acceptance, quality creates and inhibits community, and program legacy and vision. Teacher profiles are included in the findings.
Ulcerative Colitis and Its Association with Salmonella Species

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by presence of ulcer in colon and bloody diarrhea. The present study explores the possibility of association between Salmonella and ulcerative colitis. The present study comprised 59 cases of UC, 28 of colon cancer (CC), 127 of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and 190 of healthy control. The serological study was done by Widal and Indirect Haemagglutination Assay (IHA) for ViAb. Nested PCR was performed targeting fliC, staA, and stkG gene for Typhi and Paratyphi A, respectively. A total of 15.3% patients were positive for Salmonella “O” antigen among them 18.6% UC, 35.5% CC, 12.6% IBS, and 15.3% healthy control. A total of 36.9% patients were positive for “H” antigen including 39.0%, 57.1%, and 67.7% UC, CC, and IBS, respectively. About 1.73% show positive agglutination for AH antigen including 3.4%, 3.6%, and 1.6%, UC, CC, and IBS. A total of 10.89% were positive for ViAb. While 6.8% of UC, 10.7% of CC, 11.0% of IBS, and 12.1% of healthy subjects were positive for the antibody, the PCR positivity rates for Salmonella specific sequences were 79.7% in UC, 53.6% in CC, 66.1% in IBS, and 16.3% in healthy controls. The present study suggested that higher prevalence of Salmonella might play important role in etiopathogenesis of UC, IBS, and CC.
Influenza and Pregnancy: A Review of the Literature from India

Maternal influenza infection is known to cause substantial morbidity and mortality among pregnant women and young children. Many professional healthcare bodies including the World Health Organization (WHO) have identified pregnant women as a priority risk group for receipt of inactivated seasonal influenza vaccination. However influenza prevention in this group is not yet a public health priority in India. This literature review was undertaken to examine the Indian studies of influenza among pregnant women. Eight Indian studies describing influenza burden and/or outcomes among pregnant women with influenza were identified. In most studies, influenza A (pH1N1) was associated with increased maternal mortality (25–75%), greater disease severity, and adverse fetal outcomes as compared to nonpregnant women. Surveillance for seasonal influenza infections along with higher quality prospective studies among pregnant women is needed to quantify disease burden, improve awareness among antenatal care providers, and formulate antenatal influenza vaccine policies.
Urban Traffic Control Based on Learning Agents

The optimization of traffic light control systems is at the heart of work in traffic management. Many of the solutions considered to design efficient traffic signal patterns rely on controllers that use pre-timed stages. Such systems are unable to identify dynamic changes in the local traffic flow and thus cannot adapt to new traffic conditions. An alternative, novel approach proposed by computer scientists in order to design adaptive traffic light controllers relies on the use of intelligent agents. The idea is to let autonomous entities, named agents, learn an optimal behavior by interacting directly in the system. By using machine learning algorithms based on the attribution of rewards according to the results of the actions selected by the agents, we can obtain a control policy that tries to optimize the urban traffic flow. In this paper, we explain how we designed an intelligent agent that learns a traffic light control policy. We also compare this policy with results from an optimal pre-timed controller.
Development / Plasticity / Repair In Vivo Nerve – Macrophage Interactions Following Peripheral Nerve Injury

In vertebrates, the peripheral nervous system has retained its regenerative capacity, enabling severed axons to reconnect with their original synaptic targets. While it is well documented that a favorable environment is critical for nerve regeneration, the complex cellular interactions between injured nerves with cells in their environment, as well as the functional significance of these interactions, have not been determined in vivo and in real time. Here we provide the first minute-by-minute account of cellular interactions between laser transected motor nerves and macrophages in live intact zebrafish. We show that macrophages arrive at the lesion site long before axon fragmentation, much earlier than previously thought. Moreover, we find that axon fragmentation triggers macrophage invasion into the nerve to engulf axonal debris, and that delaying nerve fragmentation in a Wld model does not alter macrophage recruitment but induces a previously unknown ‘nerve scanning’ behavior, suggesting that macrophage recruitment and subsequent nerve invasion are controlled by separate mechanisms. Finally, we demonstrate that macrophage recruitment, thought to be dependent on Schwann cell-derived signals, occurs independently of Schwann cells. Thus, live cell imaging defines novel cellular and functional interactions between injured nerves and immune cells.
Microgrids: A Regulatory

DISCLAIMER This White Paper was prepared by California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) staff. It does not necessarily represent the views of the CPUC, its Commissioners, or the State of California. The CPUC, the State of California, its employees, contractors, and subcontractors make no warrant, express or implied, and assume no legal liability for the information in this White Paper. This White Paper has not been approved or disapproved by the CPUC, nor has the CPUC passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the information in this White Paper.
Measuring rhythm. A quantified analysis of Southern Italian Dialects Stress Time Parameters

No shortening or lengthening of syllables as a function of stress vs. shortening of unstressed and lengthening of stressed syllables. Measurements have failed to find any support for the isochrony claim. Differing degrees of lengthening and shortening as a function of stress have been found, however. Defence of the isochrony claim has had to retire to the level of perceived regularity, i.e. from the objective to the subjective. It is usually assumed that Italian is a syllable-timed language and German or English are stress-timed. This assumption is based on structural differences a), b) and c) between the languages (cf. Table 1):
Brownian Dynamics of Viscoelastic Materials

A unifying theoretical framework for analyzing stochastic data from single-particle tracking (SPT) in viscoelastic materials is presented. A generalization of the bead-spring model for linear polymers is developed from a molecular point of view and from the standpoint of phenomenological linear viscoelasticity. The hydrodynamic interaction in the former is identiied as the dashpots in the latter. In elementary terms, the intimate correspondence between time-correlation of the uctuation measurements and transient relaxation kinetics after perturbation is discussed, and the central role of uctuation-dissipation relation is emphasized. The work presented here provides a bridge between the microscopic and the macroscopic views of linear viscoelastic biological materials, and is applicable to membrane protein diiusion, linear DNA chain dynamics, as well as mechanics of intracellular cytoskeletal networks. Running title: SPT Study of Viscoelasticity Keywords: Bead-and-spring/ creep function/ uctuation-dissipation/ macromolec-ular mechanics/ nano-biochemistry/ video-enhanced optical microscopy 1 INTRODUCTION
You have printed the following article : Stabilization of Unstable Procedures : The Recursive Projection Method

Fixed-point iterative procedures for solving nonlinear parameter dependent problems can converge for some interval of parameter values and diverge as the parameter changes. The Recursive Projection Method (RPM), which stabilizes such procedures by computing a projection onto the unstable subspace is presented. On this subspace a Newton or special Newton iteration is performed, and the fixed-point iteration is used on the complement. As continuation in the parameter proceeds, the projection is efficiently updated, possibly increasing or decreasing the dimension of the unstable subspace. The method is extremely effective when the dimension of the unstable subspace is small compared to the dimension of the system. Convergence proofs are given and pseudo-arclength continuation on the unstable subspace is introduced to allow continuation past folds. Examples are presented for an important application of the RPM in which a "black-box" time integration scheme is stabilized, enabling it to compute unstable steady states. The RPM can also be used to accelerate iterative procedures when slow convergence is due to a few slowly decaying modes.
ADDRESSING EMPLOYEES ’ CONCERNS TO FACILITATE ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS DECISION-MAKING IN INNOVATION

In recent years society as a whole has become more aware and concerned about environmental issues. In light of increasingly stringent legislation and the more critical eyes of external stakeholders, companies have come to realise the heightening need for their actions to be seen as environmentally responsible. The innovation process provides companies with an excellent opportunity to influence the environmental impacts associated with their products. However merely providing product developers with new processes and a toolbox of available eco-design tools is rarely sufficient to facilitate more environmentally conscious decision-making in innovation. This paper proposes that employee participation within the development of new initiatives will aid their implementation. It highlights the first results from a study undertaken at Unilever seeking to initiate employee participation within initiatives for environmentally conscious innovation by ascertaining the attitudes of employees involved in the product innovation process regarding environmental responsibility and its integration into innovation.
Farnesyl diphosphate synthase, the target for nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate drugs, is a peroxisomal enzyme in the model system Dictyostelium discoideum

NBP (nitrogen-containing bisphosphonate) drugs protect against excessive osteoclast-mediated bone resorption. After binding to bone mineral, they are taken up selectively by the osteoclasts and inhibit the essential enzyme FDPS (farnesyl diphosphate synthase). NBPs inhibit also growth of amoebae of Dictyostelium discoideum in which their target is again FDPS. A fusion protein between FDPS and GFP (green fluorescent protein) was found, in D. discoideum, to localize to peroxisomes and to confer resistance to the NBP alendronate. GFP was also directed to peroxisomes by a fragment of FDPS comprising amino acids 1–22. This contains a sequence of nine amino acids that closely resembles the nonapeptide PTS2 (peroxisomal targeting signal type 2): there is only a single amino acid mismatch between the two sequences. Mutation analysis confirmed that the atypical PTS2 directs FDPS into peroxisomes. Furthermore, expression of the D. discoideum FDPS–GFP fusion protein in strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae defective in peroxisomal protein import demonstrated that import of FDPS into peroxisomes was blocked in a strain lacking the PTS2-dependent import pathway. The peroxisomal location of FDPS in D. discoideum indicates that NBPs have to cross the peroxisomal membrane before they can bind to their target.
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

We study an approach to text categorization that combines distributional clustering of words and a Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier. The word-cluster representation is computed using the recently introduced Information Bottleneck method, which generates a compact and efficient representation of documents. When combined with the classification power of the SVM, this method yields high performance in text categorization. We compare this technique with SVM-based categorization using the simple minded bag-of-words (BOW) representation. The comparison is performed over three known datasets. On one of these datasets (the 20 Newsgroups) the method that is based on word clusters significantly outperforms the word-based representation in terms of categorization accuracy or representation efficiency. On the two other sets (Reuters-21578 and WebKB) the word-based representation slightly outperforms the word-cluster representation. We investigate the potential reasons for this behavior.
Genetic Diversity of Bacterial Communities and Gene Transfer Agents in Northern South China Sea

Pyrosequencing of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) amplicons was performed to investigate the unique distribution of bacterial communities in northern South China Sea (nSCS) and evaluate community structure and spatial differences of bacterial diversity. Cyanobacteria, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes constitute the majority of bacteria. The taxonomic description of bacterial communities revealed that more Chroococcales, SAR11 clade, Acidimicrobiales, Rhodobacterales, and Flavobacteriales are present in the nSCS waters than other bacterial groups. Rhodobacterales were less abundant in tropical water (nSCS) than in temperate and cold waters. Furthermore, the diversity of Rhodobacterales based on the gene transfer agent (GTA) major capsid gene (g5) was investigated. Four g5 gene clone libraries were constructed from samples representing different regions and yielded diverse sequences. Fourteen g5 clusters could be identified among 197 nSCS clones. These clusters were also related to known g5 sequences derived from genome-sequenced Rhodobacterales. The composition of g5 sequences in surface water varied with the g5 sequences in the sampling sites; this result indicated that the Rhodobacterales population could be highly diverse in nSCS. Phylogenetic tree analysis result indicated distinguishable diversity patterns among tropical (nSCS), temperate, and cold waters, thereby supporting the niche adaptation of specific Rhodobacterales members in unique environments.