Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electromagnetic Nondestructive Material Characterization of Dielectrics Using EBG Based Planar Transmission Line Sensor

In this paper, a novel noninvasive electromagnetic method of characterization of the electrical properties of dielectrics is presented. A planar microstrip transmission line method has been employed to measure the complex permittivity of the dielectric materials. The transmission line carrying microwave signals is bridged on both sides by electromagnetic bandgap structures which notches only 2.4 GHz. The electrical properties are measured at this frequency. The dielectric is loaded on this transmission line. The notched frequency information and the magnitude of the transmission response are observed using the computer simulation technology for various materials whose real part of permittivity and loss tangent values are known. Relation for finding the permittivity of the dielectric based on the observed response has been derived using curve fitting. The imaginary part of the permittivity of the dielectric is calculated from the loss tangent. The accuracy of the numerical model is developed and the efficiency of the testing method is tested through the measurement of various materials and the goodness of fit of the derived equation is verified. The proposed model exhibits an R -square measure of goodness of fit of 99.83% for the real part of permittivity and 96.67% for the imaginary part of permittivity.
Segmented filamentous bacteria in a defined bacterial cocktail induce intestinal inflammation in SCID mice reconstituted with CD45RBhigh CD4+ T cells

Background: The aim was to analyze the influence of intestinal microbiota on the development of intestinal inflammation. We used the model of chronic inflammation that develops spontaneously in the colon of conventional severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice restored with the CD45 RBhigh subset of CD4+T cells isolated from the spleen of normal BALB/c mice. Methods: A CD4+CD45RBhigh subpopulation of T cells was purified from the spleen of conventional BALB/c mice by magnetic separation (MACS) and transferred into immunodeficient SCID mice. Germ‐free (GF) SCID mice or SCID mice monoassociated with Enterococcus faecalis, SFB (segmented filamentous bacteria), Fusobacterium mortiferum, Bacteroides distasonis, and in combination Fusobacterium mortiferum + SFB or Bacteroides distasonis + SFB were used as recipients. SCID mice were colonized by a defined cocktail of specific pathogen‐free (SPF) bacteria. Mice were evaluated 8–12 weeks after the cell transfer for clinical and morphological signs of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Results: After the transfer of the CD4+CD45RBhigh T‐cell subpopulation to SCID mice severe colitis was present in conventional animals and in mice colonized with a cocktail of SPF microflora plus SFB. Altered intestinal barrier in the terminal ileum of mice with severe colitis was documented by immunohistology using antibodies to ZO‐1 (zona occludens). Conclusions: Only SFB bacteria together with a defined SPF mixture were effective in triggering intestinal inflammation in the model of IBD in reconstituted SCID mice, while no colitis was detected in GF mice or in mice colonized either with SPF microflora or monoassociated only with SFB or colonized by Bacteroides distasonis + SFB or Fusobacterium mortiferum + SFB. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2007)
Método robusto de medición de la presión sanguínea arterial en niños

La medicion de la Presion Sanguinea Arterial es una componente esencial en el examen clinico de pacientes, de ahi el interes cientifico en mejorar los metodos para su medicion confiable. Ultimamente, ha tomado auge la medicion automatizada pues minimiza los errores introducidos por el observador y el efecto de bata blanca, siendo el metodo oscilometrico el mas empleado en la medicion no invasiva. No obstante, posee insuficiencias en presencia de artefactos de movimiento, que alteran la envolvente de la senal oscilometrica, agudizandose en ninos, por ser menos colaborativos. En esta investigacion se presenta un nuevo metodo, denominado Contorno de la Imagen Tiempo Latido Oscilometrico (CITLO), para la medicion de la presion sistolica y diastolica. Para ello, tomando la senal oscilometrica, se obtiene la imagen tiempo-latido con ayuda de un detector de marcas fiduciales, se realiza un filtrado 2D y se determinan los contornos de similar amplitud a partir de los cuales se calcula la presion sistolica y diastolica. Para evaluar el metodo CITLO en ninos se obtuvo una base de senales que incluye: senal oscilometrica, presion del brazalete, senal auscultatoria y senal electrocardiografica (ECG), y se diseno un procedimiento con un nivel de confianza que satisface los requerimientos.
Studies on the Tempo of Bubble Formation in Recently Cavitated Vessels: A Model to Predict the Pressure of Air Bubbles1

An ideal gas model of air bubble dynamics in vessels informs an understanding of the tempo of embolism formation in stems. A cavitation event in a vessel replaces water with a mixture of water vapor and air. A quantitative theory is presented to argue that the tempo of filling of vessels with air has two phases: a fast process that extracts air from stem tissue adjacent to the cavitated vessels (less than 10 s) and a slow phase that extracts air from the atmosphere outside the stem (more than 10 h). A model was designed to estimate how water tension (T) near recently cavitated vessels causes bubbles in embolized vessels to expand or contract as T increases or decreases, respectively. The model also predicts that the hydraulic conductivity of a stem will increase as bubbles collapse. The pressure of air bubbles trapped in vessels of a stem can be predicted from the model based on fitting curves of hydraulic conductivity versus T. The model was validated using data from six stem segments each of Acer mono and the clonal hybrid Populus 84K (Populus alba × Populus glandulosa). The model was fitted to results with root mean square error less than 3%. The model provided new insight into the study of embolism formation in stem tissue and helped quantify the bubble pressure immediately after the fast process referred to above.
Bitcoin Risk Analysis

The surprise advent of the peer-to-peer payment system Bitcoin in 2009 has raised various concerns regarding its relationship to established economic market ideologies. Unlike at currencies, Bitcoin is based on open-source software; it is a secure cryptocurrency, traded as an investment between two individuals over the internet, with no bank involvement. Computationally, this is a very innovative solution, but Bitcoin's popularity has raised a number of security and trust concerns among mainstream economists. With cities and countries, including San Francisco and Germany, using Bitcoin as a unit of account in their financial systems, there is still a lack of understanding and a paucity of models for studying its use, and the role Bitcoin might play in real physical economies. This project tackles these issues by analysing the ramifications of Bitcoin within economic models, by building a computational model of the currency to test its performance in financial market models. The project uses established agent-based modelling techniques to build a decentralised Bitcoin model, which can be `plugged into' existing agent-based models of key economic and financial markets. This allows various metrics to be subjected to critical analysis, gauging the progress of digital economies equipped with Bitcoin usage. This project contributes to the themes of privacy, consent, security and trust in the digital economy and digital technologies, enabling new business models of direct relevance to NEMODE. As computer scientists, we consider Bitcoin from a technical perspective; this contrasts with and complements other current Bitcoin research, and helps document the realizable risks Bitcoin and similar currencies bring to our current economic world. This report outlines a comprehensive collection of risks raised by Bitcoin. Risk management is a discipline that can be used to address the possibility of future threats which may cause harm to the existing systems. Although there has been considerable work on analysing Bitcoin in terms of the potential issues it brings to the economic landscape, this report performs a first ever attempt of identifying the threats and risks posed by the use of Bitcoin from the perspective of computational modeling and engineering. In this project we consider risk at all levels of interaction when Bitcoin is introduced and transferred across the systems. We look at the infrastructure and the computational working of the digital currency to identify the potential risks it brings. Additional information can be seen in our forthcoming companion report on the detailed modeling of Bitcoin.
Generic functional programming with types and relations

Abstract A generic functional program is one which is parameterised by datatype. By installing specific choices, for example lists or trees, different programs are obtained that are, nevertheless, abstractly the same. The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of deriving generic programs. Part of the theory of lists that deals with segments is recast as a theory about ‘segments’ in a wide class of datatypes, and then used to pose and solve a generic version of a well-known problem.
Plant species estimation from field images

This paper proposes methods to classify the plants using images taken from agricultural lands. Wheat, maize and lentil images are used. Texture features of agricultural land images are obtained using Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) and Laws' Texture Energy Measures which are two of texture analysis methods. The texture features vectors which are generated with these two methods are classified with different classifiers. Agricultural land images are separated to three different classes using k-Nearest Neighbors (k-NN) algorithm, Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Naive Bayes Classifiers. It is understand that Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix and Laws' Texture Energy Measures are sensitive to field images. Classification of Laws' Texture Energy Measures data yields 100% performance in k-Nearest Neighbors and Support Vector Machines methods. Laws' Texture Energy Measures yield better performance than Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix.
Expression of L protein of vesicular stomatitis virus Indiana serotype from recombinant baculovirus in insect cells: requirement of a host factor(s) for its biological activity in vitro

The 241-kDa large (L) protein of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) Indiana serotype, a multifunctional catalytic subunit of the viral RNA polymerase, has been expressed in Spodoptera frugiperda cells infected with recombinant baculovirus BacPAK6-L containing the L gene under the control of a polyhedrin promoter. The recombinant L protein was biologically active and supported viral mRNA synthesis in vitro. When the expressed L protein was purified by phosphocellulose column chromatography, it eluted in two peaks, one at 0.4 M NaCl (peak I) and the second at 0.75 M NaCl (peak II). The L protein in peak I showed significant transcriptional activity in an in vitro transcription reconstitution experiment, whereas the L protein in peak II was inactive. Interestingly, the addition of cytoplasmic extract from uninfected Sf21 cells to peak II completely restored transcription in vitro, indicating the requirement of a host factor(s) for the activity of the L protein. This factor is relatively heat stable and is dissociable from the recombinant L protein. It is also present in BHK, COS, and HeLa cells in detectable levels. The role of the putative host protein(s) in the activation of the L protein is discussed.
A weighted multi-task joint sparse representation method for hyperspectral image classification

In this paper, a novel weighted multi-task joint sparse representation method is proposed for hyperspectral image classification. It is assumed that the importance of atoms in a dictionary can be weighted when they are used in sparse representation according to the similarities between tasks and classes. We utilize tasks instead of classes in pre-classification to group all samples into several clusters, one cluster stands for one tasks. Then we calculate the correlations between tasks and labels based on the reconstruction errors of sparse representation acquired from training samples. The correlations are used for the consideration of heterogeneous neighborhood, which is the core of multi-task method. The weights of different tasks can be adjusted using training samples according to the reconstruction errors. At last, all samples can be classified more accurately via task correlations and reconstruction errors. Experimental results on real hyperspectral data sets exhibit its superiority to compared algorithm.
COUGH AND CHEST PAIN WITH AN UNCOMMON CAUSE

Multiple Hereditary Exostoses is an autosomal dominant disorder with multiple cartilage capped bony outgrowths in tibia ,fibula, femur, and sometimes the ribs and scapula. They may present with variety of symptoms depending on the structures it compresses such as nerves, arteries or may lead to limb deformities or may cause bursitis , or may undergo malignant transformation. A 33 year old male presented to our outpatient department with recurrent cough and left sided chest pain. On evaluation he was found to have multiple bony outgrowths in the scapula ,5 th rib , and limbs. Similar bony outgrowths were also present in his father and grandfather. On clinical and radiological basis a diagnosis of Multiple Hereditary Exostoses was made. His symptoms gradually subsided with removal of the rib and scapular exostoses. Thus evaluation of bony structures should not be overlooked in cases of cough and chest pain. Keywords: Cough, Chestpain, Multiple Hereditary Exostoses.
Peer Advice on Financial Decisions: A Case of the Blind Leading the Blind?

We investigate the impact of peer interaction on the quality of financial decision making in a laboratory experiment. Face-to-face communication with a randomly assigned peer significantly improves the quality of subsequent private decisions even though simple mimicry would have the opposite effect. We present evidence that the mechanism involves general conceptual learning (because the benefits of communication extend to previously unseen tasks), and that the most effective learning relationships are horizontal rather than vertical (because people with weak skills benefit most when their partners also have weak skills). The benefits of demonstrably effective financial education do not propagate to peers.
Routine body perfusion CT approaches clinical reality November

The most crucial process to assess in a tumor for efficient management is neo-angiogenesis. Currently, no reliable biomarker is available to measure angiogenesis, and direct microvessel density assay requires frequent biopsies for serial tumor monitoring. Technological innovations in imaging, however, have enabled the capture of physiological information in addition to anatomic details. One promising imaging technique for acquiring physiological information about angiogenesis is perfusion CT, which provides anatomic information as well.
Computer self-efficacy levels, perceptions and adoption of online banking

This research examines the role of Computer Self-Efficacy (CSE) at three distinct levels of user perceptions (low, mid and high) and the adoption of online banking. The study employs the extended Technology-Acceptance Model (TAM) as the theoretical framework. Based on the data from a sample of 133 customers collected through a field survey, it was found that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were strong determinants of the behavioural intention to adopt internet banking. CSE was more important at low and mid levels of user-perceived usefulness and ease of use than at high level of perception. Implications of the findings are discussed.
STFT-based denoising of biomechanical impact signals

We present an advanced denoising method for non-stationary biomechanical signals with the aim of accurately estimating their second derivative (acceleration). The proposed algorithm is based on the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) representation of the signal and its subsequent modification by means of a suitable time-varying filtering function. The application of the method to experimentally acquired biomechanical signals demonstrated that the proposed algorithm is more robust against noise and achieves a more accurate acceleration-peak estimation as compared to commonly used conventional low-pass filtering.
Interactions of amphotericin B and SCH 39304 in the treatment of experimental murine candidiasis: lack of antagonism of a polyene-azole combination

Mice infected intravenously with Candida albicans were treated with SCH 39304, a new triazole antifungal compound, amphotericin B, or both. Two dose levels of each drug were evaluated in an attempt to identify potential helpful or harmful effects on survival and kidney colony counts. Contrary to theoretical predictions, combination therapy was not antagonistic and some additive or synergistic effects were observed. The results obtained in this study suggest that antagonism between polyene and azole antifungal drugs is not inevitable and that additive or synergistic effects may be possible.
Sequential Product Development and Introduction by Cash-Constrained Start-Ups

Problem definition: Firms developing novel and innovative products regularly face a canonical product development and introduction problem: introduce a proven and immediately available product or delay product introduction until the successful development of an advanced version. Academic/practical relevance: Limited access to resources for the development of an advanced version adds another wrinkle to this problem, particularly for cash-constrained start-ups. For such start-ups, the introduction of an on-hand product can generate additional funds to support the development of an advanced product. However, the lower performance of the on-hand product can negatively impact the perception of the firm’s future products and lower future profitability. Methodology: We study the trade-off between revenues that an on-hand product generates for research and development funding and the negative effect it has on future profits. We characterize the optimal introduction timing of the on-hand product as a function of the financial resource constraints, the interdependence between these sequential products and the cost of development. Results: We identify important differences between the optimal product introduction strategies of a start-up and an established firm. Specifically, although it is always optimal for an established firm to accelerate the launch of a better-quality on-hand product, a start-up might find it optimal to delay its launch. The impact of technological failure and different forms of learning on the optimal strategy of the start-up are also explored. We translate our analytical findings into a managerial framework and illustrate these results using examples from the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries.
Supplementary motor area stimulation for Parkinson disease: A randomized controlled study

Shirota et al.1 reported a large trial of repetitive TMS of the supplementary motor area (SMA) for PD. Stimulation was given weekly for 8 weeks, with a 3-arm design. The authors did not report baseline Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) scores and time of medication intake with respect to assessment times. Strong …
Treatment of early onset Parkinson's disease with ropinirole

The recent editorial1 supporting initial treatment of early onset Parkinson's disease with a dopamine agonist hinged in part on the demonstration2 in 268 patients that treatment of early onset Parkinson's disease with ropinirole alone or with supplementary levodopa/dopa decarboxylase inhibitor (benserazide) (LD/DDI) resulted in substantially less dyskinesia than with LD/DDI alone, with only slightly less motor benefit. Five per cent of patients on ropinirole alone developed dyskinesia after 5 years, compared with 25% with ropinirole plus LD/DDI, and 45% of those on LD/DDI alone). The trial design allowed LD/DDI supplementation if response was inadequate and additional trial drug could not be tolerated. Up to 24 mg ropinirole and 1200 mg LD/DDI daily were allowed. Sixty six per cent of patients completing the ropinirole arm required supplementation, the average mean daily dose of ropinirole at 5 years being 16.5 mg, compared with 753 mg of LD/DDI when the second was used alone. It is unfortunate that the study required a three times daily dosage regime. It seems possible that this accounts for the surprising 33% of patients on LD/DDI …
A phase II study of the efficacy and toxicity of alemtuzumab for the therapy of human T cell lymphotrophic virus-1 (HTLV-1)-associated adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL).

2535 Background: HTLV-1-associated ATL is an aggressive lymphoproliferative disorder with limited effective therapy. Alemtuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody directed against CD52. High levels of CD52 are expressed on the surface of ATL cells. Preclinical studies in the MET-1 mouse model of ATL showed alemtuzumab to be highly active. METHODS A single institution open-label phase II study examining the response and toxicity of alemtuzumab in patients with ATL. Eligibility criteria: HTLV-1-associated ATL (chronic, acute and lymphoma type), ≥10% CD52+ malignant cells, measurable disease, age ≥18 years, AGC ≥1000/μL, platelets ≥50,000/μL, adequate physiologic status and informed consent. RESULTS Ten (10) patients, 6 with leukemia, 4 with lymphoma, 8 Afro-Caribbean, 1 African-American and 1 Japanese, 7 women, 3 men, median age 49 years (range, 36-62), all having received previous treatments including CHOP (7), other monoclonal antibodies (5), radioimmunotherapy (2), and radiation (1), median WBC 48,500/μL (leukemia Pts.) received alemtuzumab standard induction followed by 30 mg 3 times weekly for a minimum of 4 weeks and maximum of 12 weeks. All patients experienced infusion reactions (grade, 1-3) including hypotension, fever, rigors, chills, pruritus and urticaria; however, no patient required discontinuation of treatment. All patients developed grade 4 lymphopenia, and transient cytomegalovirus (CMV) antigenemia. Four (4) patients with leukemia responded (1 CR, 3 PR). No patient with lymphoma responded. CONCLUSIONS Alemtuzumab has antitumor activity in HTLV-1-associated adult T cell leukemia and is well tolerated. Lymphomatous ATL appears unresponsive to alemtuzumab. The reason for this is unknown; however, antibody levels achieved in lymph nodes may be suboptimal. Accrual continues. No significant financial relationships to disclose.