Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Environmental Relationships in Forests of Early 20th Century Coos County, Oregon, Based on Timber Cruise Data

Abstract Timber cruise data can provide useful information not available elsewhere. Measurements of timber volume (timber cruises) from the early 20th century for Coos County, Oregon, were used to assess the degree to which tree species distribution and timber volume varied with edaphic and climatic factors. The study area has diverse geology in a moderate maritime climate, and represents an area of forest transition between the Coast Range and the Klamath Mountains. Species distribution was determined from 629 cruised 1-mi2 (2.59 km2) sections, and timber volume from 252 sections of old-growth forest. Most forests were dominated by Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii); Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), although least frequent, had the second-most timber volume. All six commercial conifer species differed substantially in distribution in relation to geography and to environment. Both distribution and volume of grand fir (Abies grandis) varied with geologic unit and general soil type: Sitka spruce, with soil and maximal summer temperature (–sign); Douglas-fir, with temperature (+) and summer precipitation (+); western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), with precipitation (+); Port-Orford-cedar (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana), with precipitation (–); and western redcedar (Thuja plicata), with no factor. Importance of Douglas-fir and hemlock increased on geologic units with sediments from inland plutonic sources, which reduced importance of Port-Orford-cedar. Some species varied significantly among soil units within a geological formation, and vice-versa. When choosing which species to plant, these cruise data can supplement or replace guidelines based on plant associations.
The Risk-Based Optimal Maintenance Scheduling for Transmission System in Smart Grid

Under the construction of smart grid, there will be new challenges for the Chinese transmission maintenance. Thus it is necessary to study a new method for transmission maintenance to meet the need of smart grid construction. Combined with the status quo of transmission maintenance in China, a risk-based maintenance mode for transmission is proposed. The mode is designed to find the optimal maintenance schedule through the assessment of the risk rate of transmission equipment and the equilibrium of system security, risk and maintenance cost.
Origami Desk: integrating technological innovation and human-centric design

In this paper, we present a case study of an interaction design exhibit, Origami Desk. This system integrates multi-modal interaction technologies and techniques in new ways to instruct users in folding origami paper into boxes and cranes. Origami Desk uses projected video clips to show users how folds should be made, projected animations to directly map instructions onto the users' paper, electric field sensing to detect touch inputs on the desk surface, and swept-frequency sensors to detect the papers folds. More importantly, the Origami Desk project incorporated numerous aspects of design---hardware design, installation design, interface design, graphic design, sensor design, software design, content design---into an interactive experience aimed at making the user forget about the technology altogether. This foray into teaching users physical and spatial activities led us to rethink the physical layout of the computer, and to invent inputs that were more spatial and implicitly, rather than verbal or graphical and explicit. The multidisciplinary process, human-centric design considerations and technical implementation details described in this case study may greatly inform future interactive environment applications where physical and digital worlds must be integrated to assist users in creative spatial tasks. In addition, the experience of deploying the exhibit into actual public spaces led us to examine issues of design for assembly and on-going maintenance in the context of interactive environments.
Development of a High-Performance Microelectrostatic Repulsive-Force Rotation Actuator

A high-performance microelectrostatic repulsive-force rotation actuator is developed and tested. A model of the actuator is also developed and used for design optimization. The model is developed using a hybrid approach that combines analytical analysis with numerical simulations. Expressions and a systematic method are developed based on this model for selecting the parameters of the actuator in order to achieve the maximum stroke for given operating conditions and geometrical parameters. An expression for the finger width leading to generating a maximum torque within the actuator was derived. A method was then developed to optimize the finger length and finger width of the actuator to achieve the maximum stroke. The design-optimization process proposed was used to design a repulsive-force rotation actuator which was fabricated using a standard multiuser surface micromachining process. The performance of the optimized actuator showed an improvement of more than 100% in comparison with a nonoptimized design which was fabricated using the same process and which had the same size, the same suspension spring stiffness, and was subject to the same driving voltage. The optimized actuator can rotate a 312 ¿m × 312 ¿m micromirror out of plane by 4.4° at a driving voltage of 200 V, while the nonoptimized actuator could only rotate a micromirror of the same size by 2.1°.
The Impact of the European Monetary Union on Inflation Persistence in the Euro Area

This paper uses the European Monetary Union (EMU) as a natural experiment to investigate whether more effective monetary policy reduces the persistence of inflation. Taking into account the fractional integration of inflation, we confirm that inflation dynamics differed considerably across Euro area countries before the start of EMU. Since 1999, however, results obtained from panel estimation indicate that the degree of long run inflation persistence has converged. In line with theoretical predictions, we find that the persistence of inflation has significantly decreased in the Euro area probably as a result of the more effective monetary policy of the ECB.
Changes in motor responses induced by cerebellar stimulation during classical forelimb flexion conditioning in cat.

1. The ability of somaesthetic sensory inputs to produce structural changes in the connectivities of the central nervous structures involved in motor activity was tested with an alpha type of classical conditioning in chronically prepared adult cats. Repetitive sensory stimulation was applied at constant intervals after the activation of the motor circuits originating in the neurons or efferent axons of the cerebellar nuclei. A conditional stimulation (CS) applied to interpositus neurons was consistently paired with an unconditional stimulation (UCS) applied to the dorsal skin of the forelimb extremity to induce associative sensorimotor conditioning. The sites at which the conditional and unconditional stimuli were applied set up a simplified sensorimotor circuit including pathways transmitting both these stimuli and others mediating the expression of the conditioned responses. 2. To test the changes resulting from the conditioning, electrodes were implanted into the various relay structures on the cerebellar efferent pathways (ventrolateral nucleus motor cortex). The forelimb motor responses elicited by stimulating these relay structures were recorded with a potentiometer placed at the elbow joint. The angular displacement (amplitude) and latency of the responses and the percentage response rates were systematically quantified throughout the conditioning procedure and at test sessions carried out after the daily conditioning routines. 3. It was observed that daily repetition of paired CS-UCS led to an increase in the response rates and amplitudes of the forelimb flexions, which already began to occur very slightly on the first 4 or 5 days in response to the alpha conditioning, whereas the CS when applied alone failed to produce any changes in this initial response. Likewise, after the acquisition phase, repeated presentation of either the CS alone or the CS preceded by the UCS led to the extinction of the conditioned response, thus indicating that the observed changes were of an associative nature and that they depended on interactions between the motor and sensory inputs occurring somewhere in the CNS. In fact, the effects of conditioning were not generalized, but involved only a circumscribed circuit originating in the cerebellar neurons stimulated by the CS, which were activated concomitantly with the sensory pathways. 4. The conditioned response amplitudes were enhanced by 2.5-3 times their initial value. This enhancement persisted at the end of acquisition or after several days of consolidation, even when the paired CS-UCS sessions were interrupted for a period of 15 days to 2 mo. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Accurate experimental phaseless antenna characterization via a prolate functions based algorithm

This paper presents a phaseless near-field antenna characterization algorithm exploiting an "effective" representation of the aperture field and of the plane wave spectrum (PWS), based on the prolate spheroidal wave function (PSWF) series expansion. Indeed, as long as aperture antennas are involved, due to the Fourier transform relationship connecting aperture field and PWS, the PSWFs span "at best", namely with the least possible number of functions, the space of finite-supported aperture fields corresponding to "essentially" finite-supported PWS'
Challenges in understanding clinical notes: why NLP engines fall short and where background knowledge can help

Understanding of Electronic Medical Records(EMRs) plays a crucial role in improving healthcare outcomes. However, the unstructured nature of EMRs poses several technical challenges for structured information extraction from clinical notes leading to automatic analysis. Natural Language Processing(NLP) techniques developed to process EMRs are effective for variety of tasks, they often fail to preserve the semantics of original information expressed in EMRs, particularly in complex scenarios. This paper illustrates the complexity of the problems involved and deals with conflicts created due to the shortcomings of NLP techniques and demonstrates where domain specific knowledge bases can come to rescue in resolving conflicts that can significantly improve the semantic annotation and structured information extraction. We discuss various insights gained from our study on real world dataset.
Responses of neurons in the inferior colliculus to binaural masking level difference stimuli measured by rate-versus-level functions.

The psychophysical detection threshold of a low-frequency tone masked by broadband noise is reduced by < or = 15 dB by inversion of the tone in one ear (called the binaural masking level difference: BMLD). The contribution of 120 low-frequency neurons (best frequencies 168-2,090 Hz) in the inferior colliculus (ICC) of the guinea pig to binaural unmasking of 500-Hz tones masked by broadband noise was examined. We measured rate-level functions of the responses to identical signals (So) and noise (No) at the two ears (NoSo) and to identical noise but with the signal inverted at one ear (NoS pi): the noise was 7-15 dB suprathreshold. The masked threshold was estimated by the standard separation, "D". The neural BMLD was estimated as the difference between the masked thresholds for NoSo and NoS pi. The presence of So and S pi tones was indicated by discharge rate increases in 55.3% of neurons. In 36.4% of neurons, the presence of So tones was indicated by an increase in discharge rate and S pi tones by a decrease. In 6.8% of neurons, both So and S pi tones caused a decrease in discharge rate. In only 1.5% of neurons was So indicated by a decrease and S pi by an increase in discharge rate. Responses to the binaural configurations were consistent with the neuron's interaural delay sensitivities; 34.4% of neurons showing increases in discharge rate to both So and S pi tones gave positive BMLDs > or = 3 dB (S pi tones were detected at lower levels than So), whereas 37.3% gave negative BMLDs > or = 3 dB. For neurons in which So signals caused an increase in the discharge rate and S pi a decrease, 72.7% gave positive BMLDs > or = 3 dB and only 4.5% gave negative BMLDs > or = 3 dB. The results suggest that the responses of single ICC neurons are consistent with the psychophysical BMLDs for NoSo versus NoS pi at 500 Hz, and with current binaural interaction models based on coincidence detection. The neurons likely to contribute to the psychophysical BMLD are those with BFs near 500 Hz, but detection of So and S pi tones may depend on different populations of neurons.
Asthenosphere Flow Modulated by Megathrust Earthquake Cycles

Subduction megathrusts develop the largest earthquakes, often close to large population centers. Understanding the dynamics of deformation at subduction zones is therefore important to better assess seismic hazards. Here I develop consistent earthquake cycle simulations that incorporate localized and distributed deformation based on laboratory‐derived constitutive laws by combining boundary and volume elements to represent the mechanical coupling between megathrust slip and solid‐state flow in the oceanic asthenosphere and in the mantle wedge. The model is simplified, in two dimensions, but may help the interpretation of geodetic data. Megathrust earthquakes and slow‐slip events modulate the strain rate in the upper mantle, leading to large variations of effective viscosity in space and time and a complex pattern of surface deformation. While fault slip and flow in the mantle wedge generate surface displacements in the same, that is, seaward, direction, the viscoelastic relaxation in the oceanic asthenosphere generates transient surface deformation in the opposite, that is, landward, direction above the rupture area of the mainshock. Aseismic deformation above the seismogenic zone may be challenging to record, but it may reveal important constraints about the rheology of the subducting plate.
N‐Methylated Cyclic Enkephalin Analogues Retain High Opioid Receptor Binding Affinity

In an effort to improve the bioavailability of the non‐selective, cyclic enkephalin analogues H‐Dmt‐c[d‐Cys‐Gly‐Phe‐d(or L)‐Cys]NH2 (Dmt = 2′,6′‐dimethyltyrosine), analogues N‐methylated at the Phe4 and/or Cys5 residue were synthesized. In comparison with the non‐methylated parent peptides, all mono‐ and N‐di‐methylated analogues in general retained high binding affinities at all three opioid receptors and high opioid agonist potencies in functional opioid activity assays. The results indicate that the progressive conformational restriction in these compounds upon mono‐ and di‐N‐methylation did not significantly affect the in vitro opioid activity profile. A low‐energy conformer identified for the conformationally most restricted analogue of the series, H‐Dmt‐c[D‐Cys‐Gly‐Phe(NMe)‐L‐Cys(NMe)]NH2 (6), showed good spatial overlap of the essential pharmacophoric moieties with those in the proposed μ receptor‐bound conformation of the μ‐selective opioid peptide JOM‐6 [H‐Tyr‐c(S‐Et‐S)[D‐Cys‐Phe‐D‐Pen]NH2] (Pen = penicillamine) [Mosberg M.I. and Fowler C.B. (2002) J Peptide Res; 60:329–335], in agreement with the moderate μ selectivity determined for this compound. An analogue of 6 containing (2S)‐2‐methyl‐3‐(2,6‐dimethyl‐4‐hydroxyphenyl)propanoic acid [(2S)‐Mdp] in place of Dmt1 was an opioid antagonist with quite high opioid receptor binding affinities and can be expected to show improved bioavailability because of its further increased lipophilicity and reduced hydrogen‐bonding capacity.
Logic optimization by an improved sequential redundancy addition and removal techniques

Logic optimization methods using automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) techniques such as redundancy addition and removal have recently been proposed. We generalize this approach for synchronous sequential circuits. We proposed several new sequential transformations which can be efficiently identified and used for optimizing large designs. One of the new transformations involves adding redundancies across time frames in a sequential circuit. We also suggest a new transformation which involves adding redundancies to block initialization of other wires. We use efficient sequential ATPG techniques to identify more sequential redundancies for either addition or removal. We have implemented a sequential logic optimization system based upon this approach. We show experimental results to demonstrate that this approach is both CPU time efficient and memory efficient and can optimize large sequential designs significantly.
Active Structures in Central Upper Rhine Graben, SW Germany: New Data from Landau Area using Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) Technique and Cerescope

Two conjugate sets of active faults oriented NNE-SSW and NNW-SSE have been detected at Landau area in SW Germany. These faults follow the old trends of the rift-related structures predominating in the Upper Rhine Graben (URG), which originated during Late Eocene-Miocene time. Linear and horizontal measurements were performed by using the Cerescope device and interpreted, applying the Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) Technique. Linear EMRprofiles were helpful for mapping active faults, while the main horizontal stress (σH, N to NNE) was easily identified with EMR-horizontal measurements. Reactivation of rift-related structures of the Upper Rhine Graben at Landau area produces a new system of active shallow fractures following old trends, and has been detected through the present study by Cerescope applying the EMR-Technique. The present results imply that the Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) to the south of Landau has a great impact on reactivation of the pre-existing rift-related faults by mechanical hydro-fracturing occurring within the reservoir rocks underneath the area.
Comparison of Agar Dilution, Broth Dilution, Cylinder Plate and Disk Diffusion Methods for Evaluation of Anti-leishmanial Drugs on Leishmania promastigotes

Background Leishmaniases are a group of diseases caused by Leishmania parasites. Growing of drug unresponsiveness in leishmaniasis patients necessitates the development of new drugs and accordingly a suitable assay is needed for evaluation of any modalities. The aim of this study was to compare four drug assays methods, agar dilution, broth dilution, cylinder plate and disk diffusion, for evaluation of anti-leishmanial drugs on Leishmania promastigotes, using glucantime as a currently available drug for treatment of leishmaniasis. Methods For broth dilution method, different concentration of glucantime was added to the parasite culture (promastigotes of Leishmania), while in cylinder plate method wells were punched in agar gel and filled with different concentration of drug and zone of inhibition was measured in each well. In disk diffusion method, the parasites were cultivated on the surface of agar; filter paper disks were enriched with various concentration of glucantime and were placed on the surface of agar. In agar dilution method, various concentrations of drug were incorporated onto blood agar and the parasites were cultivated on the surface of the agar. Results A direct correlation was found between the drug concentration and size of inhibitory zones in cylinder plate and disk diffusion methods. These two drug assays methods provided much better performance in comparison with broth and agar dilution methods. Conclusion Cylinder plate and disk diffusion methods seem to be acceptable methods for susceptibility testing of anti-leishmanial compounds on Leishmania promastigotes.
CCR8 Is Not Essential for the Development of Inflammation in a Mouse Model of Allergic Airway Disease

Chemokine receptors play an important role in the trafficking of various immune cell types to sites of inflammation. Several chemokine receptors are differentially expressed in Th1 and Th2 effector populations. Th2 cells selectively express CCR3, CCR4, and CCR8, which could direct their trafficking to sites of allergic inflammation. Additionally, increased expression of the CCR8 ligand, TCA-3, has been detected in affected lungs in a mouse model of asthma. In this study, CCR8-deficient mice were generated to address the biological role of CCR8 in a model of allergic airway disease. Using two different protocols of allergen challenge, we demonstrate that absence of CCR8 does not affect the development of pulmonary eosinophilia and Th2 cytokine responses. In addition, administration of anti-TCA-3-neutralizing Ab during allergen sensitization and rechallenge failed to inhibit airway allergic inflammation. These results suggest that CCR8 does not play an essential role in the pathogenesis of inflammation in this mouse model of allergic airway disease.
Quality control using luminescence imaging in production of mcsilicon solar cells from umg feedstock

We use photoluminescence imaging (PL) for quality control of the crystallization process at Fraunhofer ISE in order to find defects which will later limit the efficiencies of solar cells. Bricks of multicrystalline feedstock from electronic grade (EG) and upgraded metallurgical (UMG) silicon are subsequently wafered and solar cells are manufactured using a standard industrial solar cell process. PL is employed on bricks, as-cut wafers and finished cells and supplemented by additional measurement techniques such as microwave photo conductance decay (MW-PCD) or I–V curve measurements. In UMG material, the major problem is the presence of background dopants, which lead to compensation effects such as a pn-type changeover. As the cell efficiency of wafers within or beyond the type changeover drops significantly in the standard process, these wafers have to be detected reliably in the incoming test to be separated and introduced to an adapted solar cell process or discarded. To do such a separation, the position of the wafer from the brick needs to be known.
Dual threshold voltage domino logic synthesis for high performance with noise and power constraint

We introduce a new dual threshold voltage technique for domino logic. Since domino logic is much more sensitive to noise, noise margins have to be taken into account when applying dual threshold voltages to domino logic. To guarantee the signal integrity in domino logic, we carefully consider the effect of transistor sizing and threshold voltage selection. For optimal design, tradeoffs need to be mad? among noise margin, power, and performance. Based on the characteristics of each logic gate, we propose noise and power constrained domino logic synthesis for high performance. ISCAS85 benchmark re sults show that performance can be improved up to 18.62%, with 2% active power increase, while maintaining noise margin.
On Pseudocodewords and Improved Union Bound of Linear Programming Decoding of HDPC Codes

In this paper, we present an improved union bound on the Linear Programming (LP) decoding performance of binary linear codes transmitted over an additive white Gaussian noise channel. The bounding technique is based on the Hunter bound, which is a second-order upper bound in probability theory, and it is minimized by Prim's minimum spanning tree algorithm. The bound calculation needs the fundamental cone generators of a given parity-check matrix rather than only their weight distribution, but involves relatively low computational complexity. It is targeted to high-density parity-check codes, where the number of their generators is extremely large and these generators are densely distributed in the Euclidean space. We explore the generator density and make a comparison between different parity-check matrix representations. That density affects the improvement of the proposed bound over the conventional LP union bound. This paper also presents a complete pseudo-weight distribution of the fundamental cone generators for the BCH[31,21,5] code.