Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
THE EFFECT OF GROWTH IRRADIANCE ON THE COUPLING OF CARBON AND NITROGEN METABOLISM IN CHAETOMORPHA LINUM (CHLOROPHYTA)

The influence of growth irradiance on the non‐steady‐state relationship between photosynthesis and tissue carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools in Chaetomorpha linum (Muller) Kutzing in response to abrupt changes in external nitrogen (N) availability was determined in laboratory experiments. For a given thallus N content, algae acclimated to low irradiance consistently had a higher rate of light‐saturated photosynthesis (Pmax normalized to dry weight) than algae acclimated to saturating irradiance; for both treatments, Pmax was correlated to thallus N. Both Pmax and the photosynthetic efficiency (αdw) were correlated in C. linum grown at either saturating or limiting irradiance over the range of experimental conditions, indicating that variations in electron transport were coupled to variations in C‐fixation capacity despite the large range of tissue N content from 1.1% to 4.8%. Optimizing both α and Pmax and thereby acclimating to an intermediate light level may be a general characteristic of thin‐structured opportunistic algae that confers a competitive advantage in estuarine environments in which both light and nutrient conditions are highly variable. Nitrogen‐saturated algae had the same photosynthesis–irradiance relationship regardless of light level. When deprived of an external N supply, photosynthetic rates did not change in C. linum acclimated to low irradiance despite a two‐fold decrease in tissue N content, suggesting that the active pools of chlorophyll and Rubisco remained constant. Both α and Pmax decreased immediately and continuously in algae acclimated to high irradiance on removal of the N supply even though tissue N content was relatively high during most of the N‐starvation period, indicating a diversion of energy and reductant away from C fixation to support high growth rates. Carbon and nitrogen assimilation were equally balanced in algae in both light treatments throughout the N‐saturation and ‐depletion phases, except when protein synthesis was limited by the depletion of internal N reserves in severely N‐starved high‐light algae and excess C accumulated as starch stores. This suggests that the ability for short‐term adjustment of internal allocation to acquire N andC in almost constant proportions may be especially beneficial to macroalgae living in environments characterized by high variability in light levels and nutrient supply.
The relationship between glomerular filtration rate and sodium reabsorption by the proximal tubule of the rat nephron.

We have tested two of the hypotheses proposed to explain the adjustment in sodium reabsorption in the proximal tubule that follows a change in the rate of glomerular filtration (glomerulotubular balance). Using the recollection micropuncture technique, we were able to measure the immediate and late changes in reabsorptive rate after an acute alteration in filtration rate produced by aortic constriction and release of constriction. It was found that fractional reabsorption, as measured by the inulin tubule fluid to plasma (TF/P) ratio, increased after aortic constriction and decreased after release, but that in most instances, absolute reabsorptive rate changed in parallel to glomerular filtration rate. The change was similar whether the collections were made less than 1 or more than 5 min after the change in blood pressure. The rapid time course of this adjustment in reabsorptive rate is viewed as evidence against an intrarenal humoral feedback mechanism. In the same experiments we measured the (TF/P)(In), transit time, and flow rate of fluid in single nephrons before and during aortic constriction or release of aortic constriction. The change in reabsorptive rate and the simultaneous change in calculated cross-sectional area of the tubule lumen were rarely proportional, i.e., C/pir(2) was not constant. In other experiments, these same measurements were made before and during periods of increased ureteral pressure. Despite large increments in calculated cross-sectional area, the absolute rate of reabsorption either remained relatively unchanged or fell in proportion to the change in filtration rate. It is concluded that under these conditions, reabsorptive rate is governed by some factor other than tubule geometry.
Changed reproductive schedule of eastern Pacific leatherback turtles Dermochelys coriacea following the 1997-98 El Niño to La Niña transition

We used a long term tagging dataset to investigate alterations in the reproductive ecol- ogy of leatherback turtles Dermochelys coriacea in Pacific Costa Rica in response to changes in cli- matic conditions. We calculated the remigration interval (RI) and reproductive output of individual turtles to determine whether these variables changed after a transition from El Nino dominated to La Nina dominated conditions. The reproductive schedule of turtles changed after the end of El Nino conditions, such that the number of turtles nesting with short RIs increased, but their reproductive output did not change. In addition, RIs of individuals that nested before, during and after the transi- tion altered coincident with the oceanic productivity changes caused by the climatic events. We mod- elled this data to show that a dominance of 'bad' El Nino conditions reduces population feasibility through increases in the age at maturity and RI, while a dominance of 'good' La Nina conditions causes the reverse. We propose that changes in climate may similarly manifest in changes in the reproduction and migration of individual animals of other Pacific vertebrate predators, affecting their population feasibility.
Reconfigurable lower limb exoskeleton designed for children

Monoplegia, hemiplegia and paraplegia are motor disabilities that affect the control and movement of the body. This disability occurs when there are alterations in the muscles, bones, joints or spinal cord, as well as by some problem of the brain in the motor area that impact in the person mobility. As a consequence of this problem, prototypes of exoskeletons have been developed that support the rehabilitation and help the patients, mainly in the phase of walking; the devices also include the people who have the absence of some inferior extremity and need to learn to walk with the Prosthetic. This paper presents the methodology for performing a lower limb exoskeleton, designed for children aged 6 to 12 years. We present the literature review, as well as the various methodologies used to reach the conceptual design of the exoskeleton. As a result, we present the 3D impression of the exoskeleton designed scaled, as well as the matrix of the model resulting from the IPPMD methodology and possible reconfiguration that may have.
A simple rate-distortion model, parameter estimation, and application to real-time rate control for DCT-based coders

This paper describes a simple rate-distortion model, shows how the model parameters can be estimated using Kalman filtering, and suggests how this information may be used for rate control in real-time systems. Real-time parameter estimation is more robust with the simplified model, and the model yields useful insights. Also, the suggested Kalman filter is computationally efficient, and adapts to changes in the video sequence. Several uses of the model and parameter estimates are suggested for real-time rate control.
Interaction Between Topographic/Tomographic Parameters and Dry Eye Disease in Keratoconus Patients

Abstract Purpose: To determine the interaction between corneal topographic and tomographic parameters and dry eye syndrome (DES) in keratoconus (KC) patients. Methods: Seventy-seven eyes of 49 patients with KC (age 34.4 ± 11.6 years) were enrolled in this study. In these 77 eyes we recorded surface regularity index (SRI), surface asymmetry index (SAI) and Klyce/Maeda KC index (KCI) using the Topographic Modeling System (TMS-5, Tomey, Tennenlohe, Germany), Index of Surface Variance (ISV), Index of Vertical Asymmetry (IVA), KC Index (KI), Center KC Index (CKI), Index of Height Asymmetry (IHA) and Index of Height Decentration (IHD) using Pentacam (Pentacam HR, Oculus, Germany). Patients were subdivided into mild (grade 1–2) and severe stage (grade 3–4) KC groups according to Pentacam grading. To analyse tear film parameters we assessed in 77 KC eyes McMonnies questionnaire, Schirmer test and break-up time and in 26 eyes (10 eyes with mild KC, 16 eyes with severe KC) high-speed videokeratoscopy (during interblinking interval) using a novel commercially not available system (Tear Inspect). With Tear Inspect the analysed tear film parameters were (1) time of first irregularities of Placido rings and (2) time of eyelid closure. Patients were also subdivided into McMonnies questionnaire positive and negative groups. Results: We did not find significant difference between patients with mild and severe KC in any of the examined tear film parameters (p > 0.66). There was no significant difference in SRI, SAI, KCI, ISV, IVA, KI, CKI, IHA and IHD in McMonnies test positive and negative KC patients (p > 0.07). There was no correlation between SRI, SAI, KCI, ISV, IVA, KI, CKI, IHA and IHD and any of the examined tear film parameters (without high-speed videokeratoscopy) neither in 77 KC patients nor in mild or severe KC eyes (r < 0.3). Conclusions: There is no interaction between DES and topographic/tomographic changes in KC-patients.
Decision Making in Reinforcement Learning Using a Modified Learning Space Based on the Importance of Sensors

Many studies have been conducted on the application of reinforcement learning (RL) to robots. A robot which is made for general purpose has redundant sensors or actuators because it is difficult to assume an environment that the robot will face and a task that the robot must execute. In this case, -space on RL contains redundancy so that the robot must take much time to learn a given task. In this study, we focus on the importance of sensors with regard to a robot’s performance of a particular task. The sensors that are applicable to a task differ according to the task. By using the importance of the sensors, we try to adjust the state number of the sensors and to reduce the size of -space. In this paper, we define the measure of importance of a sensor for a task with the correlation between the value of each sensor and reward. A robot calculates the importance of the sensors and makes the size of -space smaller. We propose the method which reduces learning space and construct the learning system by putting it in RL. In this paper, we confirm the effectiveness of our proposed system with an experimental robot.
Potato Dumplings Elicit a Low Plasma Glucose Response in NIDDM Patients

I t is generally accepted that to optimize plasma glucose control in both IDDM and NIDDM patients, it is necessary to limit plasma glucose excursions in the postprandial phase. Therefore, new hypoglycemic drugs have been developed with specific efficacy on postprandial plasma glucose levels (1,2). However, the major determinant of the glycemic response to a meal is represented by dietary carbohydrate. In this respect, both amount and type of carbohydrate are important. As a matter of fact, not all carbohydrate-rich foods are equally hyperglycemic; therefore, many of these foods have been evaluated for their glycemic response to select those more suitable for the diet of diabetic patients because of their reduced hyperglycemic activity in the postprandial period. The list of these foods is, so far, not particularly impressive and, therefore, the recognition of new carbohydrate-rich foods with a low glycemic response is particularly welcome (3-5).
Interlaboratory Evaluation of Hematocytometer Method of Inoculum Preparation for Testing Antifungal Susceptibilities of Filamentous Fungi

ABSTRACT A three-laboratory study was performed to evaluate conidium counting in a hematocytometer as a technique of inoculum preparation for susceptibility testing of Aspergillus spp. In addition, inocula were quantified by colony counting and optical density determination. The agreement and correlation coefficient between conidium and colony quantifications were 89.2% and 0.73 (P < 0.01). Correlations with optical density determination were not significant.
On the relevance of long-range dependence in network traffic

There is much experimental evidence that network traffic processes exhibit ubiquitous properties of self-similarity and long-range dependence, i.e., of correlations over a wide range of time scales. However, there is still considerable debate about how to model such processes and about their impact on network and application performance. In this paper, we argue that much previous modeling work has failed to consider the impact of two important parameters, namely the finite range of time scales of interest in performance evaluation and prediction problems, and the first-order statistics such as the marginal distribution of the process. We introduce and evaluate a model in which these parameters can be controlled. Specifically, our model is a modulated fluid traffic model in which the correlation function of the fluid rate matches that of an asymptotically second-order self-similar process with given Hurst parameter up to an arbitrary cutoff time lag, then drops to zero. We develop a very efficient numerical procedure to evaluate the performance of a single-server queue fed with the above fluid input process. We use this procedure to examine the fluid loss rate for a wide range of marginal distributions, Hurst (1950) parameters, cutoff lags, and buffer sizes. Our main results are as follows. First, we find that the amount of correlation that needs to be taken into account for performance evaluation depends not only on the correlation structure of the source traffic, but also on time scales specific to the system under study. For example, the time scale associated with a queueing system is a function of the maximum buffer size. Thus, for finite buffer queues, we find that the impact on loss of the correlation in the arrival process becomes nil beyond a time scale we refer to as the correlation horizon. This means, in particular, that for performance-modeling purposes, we may choose any model among the panoply of available models (including Markovian and self-similar models) as long as the chosen model captures the correlation structure of the source traffic up to the correlation horizon. Second, we find that loss can depend in a crucial way on the marginal distribution of the fluid rate process. Third, our results suggest that reducing loss by buffering is hard for traffic with correlation over many time scales. We advocate the use of source traffic control and statistical multiplexing instead.
21 8 v 2 12 A ug 2 00 6 Quantum-classical crossover in electrodynamics

A classical field theory is proposed for the electric current and the electromagnetic field interpolating between microscopic and macroscopic domains. It represents a generalization of the density functional for the dynamics of the current and the electromagnetic field in the quantum side of the crossover and reproduces standard classical electrodynamics on the other side. The effective action derived in the closed time path formalism and the equations of motion follow from the variational principle. The polarization of the Dirac-see can be taken into account in the quadratic approximation of the action by the introduction of the deplacement field strengths as in conventional classical electrodynamics. Decoherence appears naturally as a simple one-loop effect in this formalism. It is argued that the radiation time arrow is generated from the quantum boundary conditions in time by decoherence at the quantum-classical crossover and the Abraham-Lorentz force arises from the accelerating charge or from other charges in the macroscopic or the microscopic side, respectively. The functional form of quantum renormalization group, the generalization of the renormalization group method for the density matrix, is proposed to follow the scale dependence through the quantum-classical crossover in a systematical manner.
Determining Tropospheric Concentrations of Trace Gases from Space

Background The new observations of the tropospheric distributions of trace gases such as NO2 (nitrogen dioxide), SO2 (sulphur dioxide), HCHO (formaldehyde), BrO (bromine monoxide) and O3 (ozone), retrieved from GOME (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment) measurements, herald the opening of a new era for tropospheric production, as a result of agricultural activities, and above all by vehicles such as cars and aircraft. Many of these primary pollutants are transformed in the atmosphere to secondary pollutants, such as ozone or formaldehyde, via sequences involving literally hundreds of compounds and thousands of reactions. These pollutants are transported within the atmosphere to regions that can be far from the sources, and there give rise to profound ecological damage and change. Many of the pollutants are damaging to human health and natural ecosystems.
A finite element analysis of the indentation stress-relaxation response of linear biphasic articular cartilage.

The indentation problem of a thin layer of hydrated soft tissue such as cartilage or meniscus by a circular plane-ended indenter is investigated. The tissue is represented by a biphasic continuum model consisting of a solid phase (collagen and proteoglycan) and a fluid phase (interstitial water). A finite element formulation of the linear biphasic continuum equations is used to solve an axisymmetric approximation of the indentation problem. We consider stress-relaxation problems for which analytic solution is intractable; where the indenter is impermeable (solid) and/or when the interface between the indenter and tissue is perfectly adhesive. Thicknesses corresponding to a thin and thick specimen are considered to examine the effects of tissue thickness. The different flow, pressure, stress and strain fields which are predicted within the tissue, over time periods typically used in the mechanical testing of soft tissues, will be presented. Results are compared with the case of a porous free-draining indenter with a perfectly lubricated tissue-indenter interface, for which an analytic solution is available, to show the effects of friction at the tissue-indenter interface, and the effects of an impermeable indenter. While these effects are present for both thin and thick tissues, they are shown to be more significant for the thin tissue. We also examine the effects of the stiffness of the subchondral bone on the response of the soft tissue and demonstrate that the subchondral bone substrate can be modeled as a rigid, impermeable boundary. The effects of a curved tissue-subchondral bone interface, and the early time response are also studied. For physiologically reasonable levels of curvature, we will show that the curved tissue-subchrondal bone interface has negligible influence on the tissue response away from the interface. In addition, the short-time stress-relaxation responses of the tissue (e.g., at times less than 1s) demonstrate the essential role of the fluid phase in supporting the load applied to the tissue, and by extrapolation to shorter times characteristics of normal joint motion, suggest the essential role of a biphasic model in representing soft tissue behavior in joint response.
Ovulated oocytes collected from PMSG/hCG‐treated and cycling Djungarian or Siberian hamsters (Phodopus sungorus) are structurally similar with no evidence of polar body formation, indicating arrest in meiosis I

This study was undertaken (1) to devise a method of inducing multiple follicular development and subsequent ovulation in the Djungarian or Siberian hamster (Phodopus sungorus) and (2) to assess the quality of ovulated oocytes collected from PMSG/hCG treated animals in comparison to naturally ovulating animals. Hamsters (4–5 weeks; n = 70) received 5 IU PMSG followed 50–52 hr later by 10 IU hCG. Ovulated oocytes were collected 14–20 hr after hCG injection. Ovulated oocytes were flushed from oviducts of cycling animals (7–12 weeks; n = 30) exhibiting two consecutive estrous cycles. Oocytes were fixed and subjected to triple fluorescence immunostaining using anti‐tubulin antibodies, fluorescein phalloidin, and Hoechst 33258. The mean number of ovulated oocytes collected from cycling animals was 4.8 ± 0.4 (range 1–7). Ovulation occurred in 73% of the PMSG/hCG‐stimulated animals. The mean number of oocytes ovulated from stimulated animals was 9.2 ± 0.8 (range 0–22). The ovaries of animals that did not ovulate or that ovulated few oocytes did respond to PMSG, as indicated by the presence of multiple follicular development and pre‐ovulatory stigmata. There was no evidence of a polar body in ovulated oocytes collected from PMSG/hCG‐treated or cycling animals, indicating that oocytes were arrested in meiosis I. In the majority (80%) of ovulated oocytes from PMSG/hCG‐treated and cycling animals, cortically placed chromosomes were aligned on a metaphase plate equidistant from a bipolar spindle. Sparse f‐actin staining was observed in the region of the ooplasm surrounding the chromosomes. As the interval between hCG injection and the time of collection increased, chromosomes lost their proper alignment and migrated away from the cortex of the oocyte concomitant with a disruption of spindle integrity. This collapse of proper chromosome alignment and disruption of spindle architecture also characterized aging oocytes collected from cycling animals. These data show that in the Djungarian or Siberian hamster (Phodopus sungorus), (1) there is individual animal variation in responsiveness to hCG following PMSG treatment, (2) there are no cytological differences in the quality of oocytes collected from hormonally treated animals when compared to cycling animals, and (3) oocytes are ovulated in meiosis I. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Performance evaluation of dynamic spectrum assignment and access technologies

Implementing dynamic spectrum assignment and access technologies in heterogeneous wireless networks may lead to considerable improvement in spectrum usage and quality of service. In this paper we evaluate the performance of SINR-based dynamic spectrum assignment and access algorithms using simulation. We compare network capacity values gained using these two algorithms with the one gained using SINR-based vertical handover algorithm. We show that dynamic spectrum assignment and access algorithms have considerable gain in network capacity compared to handover algorithm. These performance evaluation results prove the efficiency of the dynamic spectrum assignment and access technologies.
Large Scale Pedestrian Multi-Simulation for a Decision Support Tool

Ability to simulate pedestrian behaviour on a large scale is essential in identifying potential dangers in public spaces during an evacuation. Multiple designs must be tested with varying parameters and run multiple times to achieve statistical signiﬁcance due to the model’s stochastic nature. In this short paper, we describe our prototype decision support tool that enables concurrent simulation on GPU-enabled computers by merging them to increase efﬁciency and dispatching simulation jobs across multiple machines on the network. Preliminary results with our GPU-optimised model have been shown to run at faster than real-time simulation speeds.