Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance Improvement of a Prefiltered Synchronous-Reference-Frame PLL by Using a PID-Type Loop Filter

Control Parameters design of a three-phase synchronous reference frame phase locked loop (SRF-PLL) with a prefiltering stage (acting as the sequence separator) is not a trivial task. The conventional way to deal with this problem is to neglect the interaction between the SRF-PLL and prefiltering stage, and treat them as two separate systems. This approach, although very simple, is not optimum as the prefiltering stage and the SRF-PLL may have comparable dynamics. The aim of this paper is to develop a systematic and efficient approach to design the control parameters of the SRF-PLL with prefiltering stage. To this end, the paper first optimizes the performance of the prefiltering stage in detection of the sequence components. The paper then proceeds to reduce the interaction between the prefiltering stage and SRF-PLL, which is achieved by employing a derivative-filtered proportional-integral-derivative controller as the loop filter (instead of the commonly adopted proportional-integral controller) and arranging a pole-zero cancellation. The suggested method is simple and efficient, and is applicable to the joint operation of different sequence separation techniques and the SRF-PLL. The effectiveness of the suggested design approach is confirmed through extensive experimental results.
Posttranslational folding of vesicular stomatitis virus G protein in the ER: involvement of noncovalent and covalent complexes

In this study, we show that posttranslational folding of Vesicular Stomatitis virus G protein subunits can involve noncovalent, multimeric complexes as transient intermediates. The complexes are heterogeneous in size (4-21S20,W), contain several G glycopolypeptides, and are associated with BiP/GRP78. The newly synthesized, partially intrachain disulfide-bonded G proteins enter these complexes immediately after chain termination, and are released 1-4 min later as fully oxidized, trimerization-competent monomers. These monomers are properly folded, judging by their binding of conformation-specific mAbs. When the G protein is translated in the presence of DTT, it remains reduced, largely unfolded and aggregated in the ER, but it can fold successfully when the DTT is removed. In this case, contrary to normal folding, the aggregates become transiently disulfide cross-linked. We also demonstrated that the fidelity of the folding process is dependent on metabolic energy. Finally, we established that the G protein of the folding mutant of the Vesicular Stomatitis virus, ts045, is blocked at a relatively late step in the folding pathway and remains associated with oligomeric, BiP/GRP78-containing folding complexes.
Performance of Two-Way Opportunistic Relaying With Analog Network Coding Over Nakagami- $m$ Fading

In this paper, we evaluate the performance of an outage-optimal two-way opportunistic relaying (TWOR) scheme with analog network coding (ANC) over independent but not necessarily identically distributed (i.ni.d.) Nakagami-m fading channels. Considering arbitrary integer-valued fading parameters over the two hops, we derive an exact outage expression that is applicable for the entire range of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). For better insights, we provide simple closed-form expressions at high SNR for bounds on the outage probability and on the ergodic sum-rate of the scheme. We show that the achievable diversity order is equal to the minimum of the per-hop fading parameters times the number of relaying candidates. Numerical and simulation results are presented to illustrate the theoretical analysis and the effects of the various Nakagami fading conditions on the overall system performance.
Chromosome Methylation and Measurement of Faithful, Once and Only Once per Cell Cycle Chromosome Replication inCaulobacter crescentus

ABSTRACT Caulobacter crescentus exhibits cell-type-specific control of chromosome replication and DNA methylation. Asymmetric cell division yields a replicating stalked cell and a nonreplicating swarmer cell. The motile swarmer cell must differentiate into a sessile stalked cell in order to replicate and execute asymmetric cell division. This program of cell division implies that chromosome replication initiates in the stalked cell only once per cell cycle. DNA methylation is restricted to the predivisional cell stage, and since DNA synthesis produces an unmethylated nascent strand, late DNA methylation also implies that DNA near the replication origin remains hemimethylated longer than DNA located further away. In this report, both assumptions are tested with an engineered Tn5-based transposon, Tn5Ω-MP. This allows a sensitive Southern blot assay that measures fully methylated, hemimethylated, and unmethylated DNA duplexes. Tn5Ω-MP was placed at 11 sites around the chromosome and it was clearly demonstrated that Tn5Ω-MP DNA near the replication origin remained hemimethylated longer than DNA located further away. One Tn5Ω-MP placed near the replication origin revealed small but detectable amounts of unmethylated duplex DNA in replicating stalked cells. Extra DNA synthesis produces a second unmethylated nascent strand. Therefore, measurement of unmethylated DNA is a critical test of the “once and only once per cell cycle” rule of chromosome replication inC. crescentus. Fewer than 1 in 1,000 stalked cells prematurely initiate a second round of chromosome replication. The implications for very precise negative control of chromosome replication are discussed with respect to the bacterial cell cycle.
Rheumatic Heart Disease: Genes, Inflammation and Autoimmunity

Rheumatic heart disease is a sequel of rheumatic fever that follows an untreated group A streptococcal infection in young susceptible individuals. The disease is mediated by autoimmune reactions. Several genes related to both the innate and adaptive immune response are involved. Several HLA class II alleles have been associated with the disease. In the present review, we focus on punctual genetic polymorphisms associated with RF/RHD development, most of which are related innate immunity. The role of inflammatory cytokines as mediators of rheumatic heart lesions and a discussion of the major autoantigens recognized due to their molecular mimicry with streptococcal antigens are also presented. A vaccine against S. pyogenes is being developed, and an increase in the knowledge of the underlying mechanisms of the disease will certainly facilitate the development of an effective and safe vaccine.
Incorporating Sliding Mode and Fuzzy Controller with Bounded Torques for Set-Point Tracking of Robot Manipulators

In this paper, an incorporating sliding mode and fuzzy controller is designed for set-point tracking of robot manipulators with friction and restriction on input torque magnitude due to saturation of actuators. Sliding mode control (SMC) has fast response and is robust to uncertainties and disturbances, but it suffers from chattering problem, in addition, its performance is decreased by prescribing limits on control input. On the other hand, the fuzzy control which is used here has very small tracking error but its response is slower than SMC case. Therefore, in order to profit from both merit of these controllers, at first, the sliding mode controller constraints the states to reach sliding surface. When the tracking error would be less than predefined value, then the fuzzy controller is responsible for control action. Comparative simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of this combination.
Early‐Life Programming of Aging and Longevity: The Idea of High Initial Damage Load (the HIDL Hypothesis)

Abstract: In this study, we test the predictions of the high initial damage load (HIDL) hypothesis, a scientific idea that early development of living organisms produces an exceptionally high load of initial damage, which is comparable with the amount of subsequent aging‐related deterioration accumulating during the rest of the entire adult life. This hypothesis predicts that even small progress in optimizing the early‐developmental processes can potentially result in a remarkable prevention of many diseases in later life, postponement of aging‐related morbidity and mortality, and significant extension of healthy life span.
The Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002: Implications for Compensation Structure and Risk-Taking Incentives of CEOs

This paper investigates the effect of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (hereafter, SOX) on the compensation structure and the risk-taking incentives of CEOs as revealed by their research and development expenses and capital expenditures. We hypothesize that firms will respond to the additional liability imposed by SOX on corporate executives by altering the mix of incentive compensation to fixed salary awarded to them in order to provide insurance. Consistent with this claim, we find that there was a significant decline in the ratio of incentive compensation to salary after the passage of SOX. We also hypothesize and find that there was a significant decline in research and development expenses and capital expenditures made by CEOs after the passage of SOX. This result is obtained after controlling for the effects of the economic environment and changes in compensation structure on CEOs’ action choices. We interpret the above as evidence of some of the potential costs of this new regulation.
A systematic study of efficient sampling methods to quantify uncertainty in crack propagation and the Burgers equation

Abstract We present a systematic study of efficient sampling methods to quantify parametric uncertainty in stage II crack propagation and in a Burgers equation with random viscosity. The samplingmethods employed are Monte Carlo and quasi-Monte Carlo methods enhanced through variance reduction techniques including stratified sampling. We also present a recent variance reduction technique called sensitivity derivative enhanced sampling that utilizes sensitivity derivatives to make more efficient use of random samples. The crack propagation problem is a benchmark problem proposed by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE); this problem was selected because its large variance can hinder the already slow convergence of typical Monte Carlo methods and thus provides an ideal test for efficient sampling methods. We also examine a steady-state Burgers equation, a model equation of perennial interest for its connections with the equations of fluid mechanics, with uncertain viscosity. We demonstrate that sensitivity derivative enhanced sampling (SDES) can reduce the required number of samples by an order of magnitude to achieve the same accuracy as a traditionalMonte Carlo method. When SDES is coupled with other sampling techniques such as stratified sampling, the number of samples required can be reduced by as much as two orders of magnitude. In addition, we introduce an analogous approach that utilizes sensitivity derivatives which, under appropriate conditions, results in a more efficient quasi-Monte Carlo method.
DACH1 is a novel predictive and prognostic biomarker in hepatocellular carcinoma as a negative regulator of Wnt/β-catenin signaling

The cell fate determination factor Dachshund (DACH1) functions as a novel suppressor in the progression of various neoplasms. Previous study has suggested that hypermethylation of promoter region was responsible for the reduction of DACH1 expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and associated with the progression of HCC, but the clinical significance and the exact molecular mechanisms of DACH1 in the progression of HCC remain unclear. In this study, we employed public microarray data analysis and tissue microarrays (TMAs) technologies and showed that DACH1 expression was reduced in HCC even at early stage and associated with the tumor progression. Notably, Kaplan-Meier analysis further indicated DACH1 could be an independent prognostic factor for the overall survival of HCC. Further, mechanistic studies revealed that overexpression of DACH1 inhibited the growth and migration of HCC cell line, which were dependent in part on the inactivation of Wnt pathway via phosphorylation of GSK3β to suppress β-catenin. In agreement, the abundance of DACH1 was inversely correlated with several Wnt target genes. Collectively, our study indicated β-catenin is a novel target of DACH1 in HCC.
Systematic noise analysis of a correlation radiometer front-end

A complete systematic analysis of correlation radiometer front-ends is presented. It takes into account full noise characterisation of the individual receivers and mismatch effects between different subsystems. The results are applied to the case where the front-ends include input isolator both ideal and imperfect. Along with numerical simulations, simple formulas are given to compute the visibility in these conditions, which is here defined as system visibility. The analysis is validated using experimental results consisting of correlation measurements of four receivers placed inside an anechoic chamber. Good agreement between theoretical predictions and experimental data is observed
Ultrasound contrast agents: resonances of coated bubbles

The Brandaris 128 high speed camera was designed and built in order to analyze the dynamics of single oscillating contrast agent microbubbles under influence of ultrasound. In this thesis we report on our findings. First, in Ch. 2, a new model was introduced which takes into account the physical properties of a lipidmonolayer coating on a gasmicrobubble. Three parameters describe the properties of the shell: a buckling radius, the compressibility of the shell, and a break-up shell tension. The model presents an original non-linear behavior at large amplitude oscillations, termed compression–only, induced by the buckling of the lipid monolayer. This prediction is validated by experimental recordings with the Brandaris camera, operated at several million frames per second. The effect of aging, or the resultant of repeated acoustic pressure pulses on bubbles, is predicted by the model. Further, the model corrects a flaw in the shell elasticity term previously used in the dynamical equation for coated bubbles. The break-up ismodeled by a critical shell tension above which gas is directly exposed to water.
The inverse system in Mapudungun and other languages

The typology of inverse is a relatively loose definition which has been applied to languages such as the Algonquian languages, Cherokee, the Tanoan languages, and Korean. After a survey of several inverse languages, I conclude that the central defining characteristic of an inverse language is that it has two morphological verbal paradigms for transitive verbs, and the choice between these two paradigms depends on the relative status of the two arguments, where the status is determined by a person hierarchy, discourse status, or both. After looking at several inverse languages, I present the morphosyntax of Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche people of Chile, and argue that it also shows an inverse system. I furthermore suggest that the inverse verbal paradigm in Mapudungun involves the reversal of the mappings between Grammatical Relations and thematic roles, based on evidence from morphology and word order.
A Survey on Ontology Reasoners and Comparison

Reasoner is a software that is used to derive new facts from the existing ontologies. Some of the popular reasoners developed in the last few years are: Pellet, RACER, FACT++, Snorocket, Hermit, CEL, ELK, SWRL-IQ, TrOWL and others. This survey describes the reasoners that can be used as plug-in for either protege or NeOn toolkit since these are most widely used ontology development tools. The current study describes the reasoners with their important features such as soundness, completeness, reasoning method, incremental classification etc. Finally this paper presents comparison of the reasoners with respect to their features.
Real-time noise-aware tone-mapping and its use in luminance retargeting

With the aid of tone-mapping operators, high dynamic range images can be mapped for reproduction on standard displays. However, for large restrictions in terms of display dynamic range and peak luminance, limitations of the human visual system have significant impact on the visual appearance. In this paper, we use components from the real-time noise-aware tone-mapping to complement an existing method for perceptual matching of image appearance under different luminance levels. The refined luminance retargeting method improves subjective quality on a display with large limitations in dynamic range, as suggested by our subjective evaluation.
Effect of restorative treatment on mutans streptococci and IgA antibodies.

PURPOSE Streptococcus mutans has been implicated as the major causative agent of dental caries. Although restorative treatment for caries is thought to temporarily eliminate the carious challenge, there are few reports of alterations in salivary mutans streptococci (MS) numbers and no reports of changes in salivary IgA antibody to S. mutans following restorative treatment. METHODS This study investigated the effects of treatment in 12 caries-active children. RESULTS Numbers of MS decreased slightly from pre- to postrestoration levels in six subjects and increased in five subjects. However, there were no significant differences in pre-to postrestoration numbers of total oral streptococci, MS, the percentage of MS/total oral streptococci, salivary IgA antibody levels to S. mutans, or correlations between bacterial counts and IgA antibody levels. CONCLUSIONS These results indicate that successful restorative treatment does not alter mutans streptococcal numbers and suggest the need for more effective methods for reducing the cariogenic challenge.
Heap charge pump optimisation by a tapered architecture

The heap charge pump represents an attractive voltage multiplier scheme in integrated circuits where only low-voltage devices are available. The paper presents a performance optimisation of the heap charge pump achieved by using a tapered architecture. The proposed optimisation allows improvements on the order of 30% in terms of maximum output voltage as compared to the conventional heap charge pump. A mathematical description of both the conventional and the proposed structure was developed. MATLAB/sup /spl reg//-based simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.
Spatial and Temporal Properties of Visual Responses in the Thalamus of the Developing Ferret

Spatiotemporal patterning of neural activity is thought to influence the development of connections in the visual pathway. This patterning can arise spontaneously or through sensory experience. Here, we use a combination of natural and simple stimuli to investigate which elements of the visual environment modulate the earliest responses in the primary visual pathway of developing ferrets. Recordings were made during the first 2 weeks of visual responsiveness, which, in the ferret, overlaps with the period that the eyelids have not yet opened. Even when the eyelids are closed, both thalamic and cortical activity was found to be temporally modulated under conditions of natural visual stimulation. The modulations correlated with temporal changes in stimulus contrast but also reflected spatial structure in the visual scene. Simple stimuli were used to show that early responses to naturalistic stimuli are influenced by the localization and structure of through-the-eyelid receptive fields. The early visual responses were also characterized by substantial variability in the ability of the cells to detect stimuli of different duration and different intensity, in a temporally precise manner. These temporal and spatial properties should constrain how plasticity mechanisms interpret naturally patterned activity.
Older Subjects without Radiographic Knee Osteoarthritis: Weight, Height, and Body Mass Index.

UNLABELLED Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, conservatively affects 27 million American adults. While nearly all joints can be affected, knee osteoarthritis is of particular interest as it has the potential to severely limit mobility. Despite its ubiquity, not everyone is affected. Few studies on the characteristics of these persons exist. This descriptive paper examined older subjects without radiographic knee osteoarthritis (RKOA) at age 78, describing their height, weight and body mass index (BMI). Oldest subjects without RKOA at age 78 (n=143) were selected from the parent Clearwater Osteoarthritis Study, conducted from 1988-2009. Recalled weight and height for ages 25 and 45, as well as current weight and height were collected via questionnaire. Current measurements were also taken. BMI was derived. Absence of RKOA was determined using Kellgren-Lawrence criteria. DEMOGRAPHICS mostly female (72%), all Caucasian, better educated than the average US citizen, and more subjects lived with others. At all three life-stages, weights and BMI were lower, while heights were comparable to US 2000 figures. BMI was in the "normal" category at age 25 and in the "overweight" category at age 78. Weight was under reported and height was over reported, but by less than the general population. Both the increase in weight and decrease in height with age were statistically significant. Absence of RKOA appears to be related to lower weights, average heights, and lower BMI, relative to population norms at all three life-stages. These findings also suggest that the relationship may be more complicated. Higher BMI is ubiquitously recognized as a risk factor for RKOA, yet the average BMI of the subjects without RKOA was in the "overweight" category at age 78. A possible explanation may be an "inflated" BMI based on decrease in height, not just increase in weight.
Hybrid AC/DC System Harmonics Control Through Grid Interfacing Converters With Low Switching Frequency

The nonlinear loads in distribution grid may generate harmful low-order harmonics, polluting the grid and deteriorating the voltage quality particularly when the grid is weak. The grid interfacing converters in the distribution system, such as the distributed generation (DG) interfacing converters or hybrid ac/dc grid interlinking converters, can participate in distribution grid harmonic control. In this paper, two virtual-impedance-based harmonics control methods are developed for grid interfacing voltage-source inverters (VSIs) to improve the power quality of the distribution grid. As the control parameters are designed based on the virtual impedance theory, clear physical meanings are given to explain their impacts on the system. Also, the proposed methods do not rely on the closed loop feedback control and, therefore, are very suitable for VSIs with low switching frequency (such as those for high-power DGs or interlinking converters for hybrid ac/dc systems), whose closed-loop control feedback bandwidth may be limited for harmonic regulation. The influence of system delay and feedback control loop is considered and modeled in the design procedure; thus more accurate virtual impedance control is achieved for low-switching-frequency VSIs. Moreover, a comprehensive comparison of the two methods, including stability and harmonic compensation performance, are given. Their effectiveness is verified by experiment results.