Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of periodic carrier frequency modulation on stator steel core loss and rotor eddy current loss of permanent magnet synchronous motor

The influences of sinusoidal and sawtooth periodic carrier frequency modulation (PCFM) on stator steel core loss and rotor eddy current loss of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) are discussed in this paper. Sinusoidal PCFM and sawtooth PCFM are theoretically analyzed. The reason why stator steel core loss and rotor eddy current loss of PMSM increase when using PCFM is also theoretically investigated. Stator steel core loss and rotor eddy current loss of PMSM driven by fixed frequency pulse width modulation (FFPWM), sinusoidal PCFM and sawtooth PCFM are simulated by finite element analysis (FEA) to discuss the influence of PCFM on stator steel core loss and rotor eddy current loss. FEA results validate that sinusoidal PCFM and sawtooth PCFM increase the stator steel core loss and rotor eddy current loss of PMSM, compared with FFPWM.
Investigation of nutritional risk factors using anthropometric indicators in hospitalized surgery patients.

CONTEXT The investigation of risk factors associated with nutritional status could contribute for better knowledge of the malnutrition. OBJECTIVE To investigate the incidence of malnutrition and its possible association with many parameters that assess nutritional status and to identify the associated risk factors. METHODS The nutritional status was assessed in 235 hospitalized patients. Malnutrition was defined as present when the patient presented at least two anthropometric criteria below the normal range and habitual energy intake below 75% of the energy requirement (HEI/ER<75%). Gender, age, type of disease, recent weight change and dental problems were investigated as possible associated risk factors. The chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests were used to compare the data and univariate and multiple logistic regressions were used to identify the factors associated with malnutrition. The odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI) of 95% were calculated with the significance level set at 5% (P<0.05). RESULTS One-fifth (20%) of the patients were malnourished on admission to the hospital and 27.5% reported recent weight loss. Malnutrition (P<0.0001) was greater in patients with malignant diseases. The only variables significantly associated with malnutrition according to univariate logistic regression were recent weight loss (P = 0.0058; OR = 2.909; IC95% = 1.362; 6.212) and malignant disease (P = 0.0001; OR = 3.847; IC95% = 1.948; 7.597). When multiple regression was used in the model which included type of disease, malignant disease was shown to increase the chance of malnutrition fourfold (P = 0.0002; OR = 3.855; IC95% = 1.914; 7.766). When disease was excluded, recent weight loss also increased malnutrition fourfold (P = 0.0012; OR = 3.716; IC95% = 1.677; 8.236). CONCLUSION Patients with a history of recent weight loss and those with malignant diseases are more susceptible to malnutrition.
Impacts of climate change on species, populations and communities: palaeobiogeographical insights and frontiers

Understanding climate change and its potential impact on species, populations and communities is one of the most pressing questions of twenty-first-century conservation planning. Palaeobiogeographers working on Cenozoic fossil records and other lines of evidence are producing important insights into the dynamic nature of climate and the equally dynamic response of species, populations and communities. Climatic variations ranging in length from multimillennia to decades run throughout the palaeo-records of the Quaternary and earlier Cenozoic and have been shown to have had impacts ranging from changes in the genetic structure and morphology of individual species, population sizes and distributions, community composition to large-scale bio-diversity gradients. The biogeographical impacts of climate change may be due directly to the effects of alterations in temperature and moisture on species, or they may arise due to changes in factors such as disturbance regimes. Much of the recent progress in the application of palaeobiogegraphy to issues of climate change and its impacts can be attributed to developments along a number of still advancing methodological frontiers. These include increasingly finely resolved chronological resolution, more refined atmosphere-biosphere modelling, new biological and chemical techniques in reconstructing past species distributions and past climates, the development of large and readily accessible geo-referenced databases of biogeographical and climatic information, and new approaches in fossil morphological analysis and new molecular DNA techniques.
Properties of single two‐pore domain TREK‐2 channels expressed in mammalian cells

TREK‐2 (K2P10.1), a member of the two‐pore domain K+ (K2P) channel family, provides the background K+ conductance in many cell types, and is a target of neurotransmitters that act on receptors coupled to Gs and Gq. We report here that TREK‐2 exhibits small (TREK‐2S) and large (TREK‐2L) conductance phenotypes when expressed in mammalian cell lines (COS‐7, HEK293, HeLa) and in Xenopus oocytes. TREK‐2S phenotype shows a noisy open state with a mean conductance of 54 pS (+40 mV). TREK‐2L phenotype shows a full open state (202 pS) with several short‐lived sub‐conductance levels. Both phenotypes were strongly activated by arachidonic acid, membrane stretch (−40 mmHg) and intracellular acidification (pH 6.4). Phosphorylation of TREK‐2 produced by treatment of cells with activators of protein kinases A and C, and okadaic acid (a serine/threonine phosphatase inhibitor) decreased the current contributed by TREK‐2S and TREK‐2L, and caused partial switching of conductance levels from those of TREK‐2S and TREK‐2L to more intermediate values. Under this condition, TREK‐2 exhibited six conducting levels and one closed level. TREK‐2 mutants in which putative protein kinases A and C phosphorylation sites were mutated to alanines (S326A, S359A, S326A/S359A) displayed mostly TREK‐2S and TREK‐2L phenotypes. However, S326D and S359D mutants (as well as the double mutants) that mimic the phosphorylated state showed all six conducting levels and low channel activity. The S326A and S359A mutants did not significantly affect the intrinsic voltage dependence of TREK‐2 in Mg2+‐free solution. Phenotypes resembling TREK‐2S and TREK‐2L were also observed in cerebellar granule neurons that express TREK‐2 mRNA. These results show that TREK‐2 exhibits two primary modes of gating that give rise to two channel phenotypes under dephosphorylated conditions, and that its phosphorylation shifts the gating mode to include intermediate conducting levels. This represents a novel mechanism by which receptor agonists modulate the function of a K+ channel to alter cell excitability.
Semi-automatic, semantic discovery of properties from database schemes

An important tool for the integration of large federated database systems is a global dictionary describing all the involved schemes into an unified framework. The first step in the construction of such a dictionary is the discovery of the properties holding among objects in different schemes. This paper presents novel algorithms to discover possible synonyms, homonyms and inclusions. In addition, the paper also deals with another crucial step in the construction of a dictionary: schema integration. The approach proposed for this step exploits inter-schema properties discovered in the previous step to achieve schema integration. This approach is also concerned with producing suitable abstractions in order to structure the description of the global dictionary into a hierarchy of concepts in order to yield a more flexible, uniform view of the attached databases. The above two steps are interleaved with other steps (mainly devoted to interfacing with database administrators and to validating the discovered properties) and have been experimented with for the construction of a global dictionary for a large number of public administration database systems.
Operations Management and Strategy

100 words) Strategy and operations are inextricably connected: strategy is a plan to reach an objective and operations is the means of getting there. Operations management involves the planning and coordination of work. Strategically, this involves the long-term planning and structuring of work. Indeed, the task of operations strategy is to design the operating system, which is the joint configuration of resources and processes, such that its resulting competencies are aligned with the organization’s desired competitive position. Tactically, the task of operations management is to utilize the operating system and provide the best match of supply with demand. Definition (60 words) Operations management involves the planning and coordination of work. It is especially concerned with the creation and delivery of products and services and with providing the best match of supply with demand. Operations strategy involves the long-term planning and structuring of work by configuring appropriate resources and processes into an operating system that best implements the organization’s strategy.
Application of ultrasonic tomography to characterize the mechanical state of standing trees (Picea abies)

Wood is a biological growth medium. It is orthotropic with longitudinal, radial and tangential axes. Furthermore, standing trees adapt themselves to environmental growth conditions, and their material properties vary with age. These changes result in variations that are much more complex than anisotropy. Studying wood quality and intraspecific variability is useful for clonal selection and for the genetic improvement of plantations. In this study, two logs of Picea abies underwent transmission tomography. The mean diameter was 16 cm (26-year-old tree) and the moisture content was 22%. The effect of the presence of bark and artificial defects was investigated. The tomographic device was specifically built for tree imaging. The imaging process was automatic with 900 ultrasonic acquisitions in 40 minutes (emission at 55 kHz with 5 periods of square wave form). The main conclusions were: speed near the bark is higher than in the centre because of the existence of juvenile wood combined with the moisture content gradient (moisture content lower near the bark). Likewise, damping near the bark is lower than in the centre. A significant relationship was observed between slowness and attenuation (R2 = 0.50); when the speed increased, damping decreased. No clear effect of the presence of bark was shown on the tomographic images. The bark was thin (3 to 5 mm thick) compared to the wavelength (26 mm). The 10, 20 and 50 mm artificial holes were clearly visible on the tomographic images. However, quantitative tomography does not enable the precise location of defects.
Assessment of Left Ventricular Performance in Man: Instantaneous Tension‐Velocity‐Length Relations Obtained with the Aid of an Electromagnetic Velocity Catheter in the Ascending Aorta

A three-dimensional construct of the tension-velocity-length relations of the intact human heart has been obtained in 17 patients by measurement of instantaneous ascending aortic flow velocity, left ventricular (LV) high-fidelity pressure, and end-diastolic volume. Left ventricular instantaneous volume was determined by subtracting the integral of the flow trace, obtained with an electromagnetic velocity catheter, at each 5-sec interval from the end-diastolic volume measured on a biplane left ventriculogram. By utilizing a thin-walled spherical model for the LV, instantaneous velocity of circumferential fiber shortening (VCF), wall tension, and circumferential length were calculated and plotted with the aid of a computer on a three-dimensional perspective graph. The resulting tension-velocity-length relations in seven patients with normal LV function were clearly separated from those of 10 patients with abnormal LV function. Of velocity indices alone, peak VCF in circumferences/sec (circ/sec) provided the best statistical separation between the groups with normal and abnormal ventricular function (2.54 ± 0.18 [SEM] circ/sec and 1.09 ± 0.15 circ/sec, respectively) (P < 0.001). The time to peak VCF averaged 194 ± 13.2 msec and 167 ± 9.3 msec in the patients with normal and abnormal ventricular function, respectively (P > 0.05). Likewise, VCF at peak tension was significantly greater in the patients with normal as opposed to abnormal LV function (1.77 ± 0.10 and 0.93 ± 0.15 circ/sec, respectively) (P < 0.001). Time to peak tension was 138 ± 14.8 msec and 182 ± 17.1 msec in the normal and abnormal patients, respectively (P > 0.05). Mean VCF also served to separate the two groups, averaging 1.35 ± 0.07 and 0.72 ± 0.10 circ/sec in the patients with normal and abnormal ventricular performance, respectively (P < 0.001). Peak wall tension did not differ significantly between the two patient groups, averaging 231.4 ± 15.7 and 273.3 ± 16.4 g/cm in the patients with normal and abnormal ventricular function, respectively. Peak instantaneous power was higher in the normal compared to the abnormal group, averaging 8.39 ± 0.83 and 5.91 ± 0.60 kg-cm/sec per cm of circumference, respectively (P < 0.05). It is concluded that a three-dimensional construct of left ventricular circumferential velocity, tension, and length during ejection is readily obtainable during diagnostic cardiac catheterization and provides a sensitive and comprehensive description of LV myocardial function in man.
Empirical Evidence of Geographic Expansion of Sales by Small and Medium Enterprises

This article examines how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) expand sales markets geographically, using gross profit data from the Indonesian formal and informal firms with relatively low technology. The results from multinomial logistic estimation with four levels of domestic markets and foreign markets indicate that the critical factors for entering distance markets differ depending on the jurisdiction or geographic distance between existing and new markets. The most important factor for low-level expansion, that is, market entry in a province outside the home region or city of the SME concerned, is productivity level. On the other hand, market entry beyond the home province, including foreign markets, requires a certain size and capacity of the firm and certain relationships with business partners, but not productivity level. These findings suggest that the provision of different types of policy support to SMEs, relevant to their stage of market expansion, could be beneficial.
Relationships of Cervical Cytologies to Selected Variables among Women Attending a Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic

A retrospective chart review was conducted for one year to determine cervical cytological abnormalities and their distribution among women attending a STD clinic, and to analyse cervical cytologies by STD diagnosis and history or presence of genital warts. Analysis was performed on 790 Pap smears. Most (60%) cytologies were benign. Prevalence of STD among CIN-1 cytologies (78%) was significantly higher (P = 0.02) than among benign cytologies (46%). Commonest cytologies presenting among youngest age groups were CIN-1/condyloma, CIN-1, CIN-2. Women with preceding or concurrent clinical HPV infection had significantly more HPV associated changes on cytology (P < 0.001) than women with no such history. The presentation of cytological abnormalities considered to be precursors to cervical cancer among sexually active young women demonstrates the importance of Pap smear testing of STD clinic populations.
Board Composition, CEO Duality and Corporate Financial Performance

This research study sheds light on the link between different board structure attributes and financial performance among 40 firms listed with Karachi Stock Exchange, by looking at the listing requirements which persuade greater board independence. In particular this study provides evidence that board size and sales growth positively affect corporate financial performance in Pakistan. Further according to the findings of this research there is a negative relationship of executive and non-executive (independent) directors on corporate financial performance of firms in Pakistan. Findings show that there is a mixed result shown for CEO duality and director’s share holding, ROE and ROI has a positive relation with CEO duality while negative association encounters as per Tobin’s q model; whereas ROE relates positively with director’s share holdings while ROI and Tobin’s q negatively relates to director’s share holdings. The rest of corporate governance parameters e.g. internal holdings and firm size have mix relationship with financial performance
Corn: Consumption To Expand Rapidly

The USDA’s June 1 Grain Stocks report confirmed a high rate of domestic consumption of the 2005 corn crop. Along with expanded exports, large domestic use means that total use this year will likely exceed production. That trend is expected to continue in the year ahead as reduced acreage points to a smaller crop and consumption is expected to increase by 550 million bushels, or 5 percent. Much of the expected increase is in corn used for ethanol production. A trend yield and a reduction in year ending stocks to about 1.07 billion bushels, point to a 2006-07 marketing year average farm price of about $2.50 per bushel, $. 50 above the average expected for the current year and the highest in 10 years.
Grazing lands: how much CRP land will remain in grass?

The Conservation Reserve Program of the 1985 Food Security Act, through the eighth signup, has retired 30.6 million acres of highly erodible cropland. However, the 10-year CRP contracts will begin to expire in 1996. Fundamental economic trends do not Indicate clearly whether CRP land will be needed for either crop or livestock production when contracts expire. Given present expectations of future agricultural markets we anticipate no more than twenty percent of the land now In the CRP to remain In grass. Three sets of factors will Influence landowners' decisions: long-term relative economics of crop and livestock production; direct and indirect incentives in existing and proposed agricultural policy; and the characteristics of CRP landowners. The Food Security Act of 1985 is five-year legislation governing basic agricultural policy in the United States. For the first time, this legislation contained a conservation title with far-reaching potential for agricultural resources, including grazing lands. Among other conservation provisions, a Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was established to plant 40 million acres of highly erodible cropland to permanent vegetation for 10 years, in exchange for annual rental payments to the landowner and 50 percent of cover establishment costs. CRP has accomplished the largest addition to our stock of grazing lands since the 1930's. The CRP contracts will begin to expire in 1996. What will happen to grazing lands currently enrolled in the CRP after the contracts expire? The future of CRP grazing lands is a function of three sets of interacting factors: long-term relative economics of crop and livestock production; the characteristics and attitudes of CRP owners and operators; and direct and indirect incentives in existing and proposed agricultural
Effective high speed traffic replay based on IP space

Traffic replay tools that generate traffic in order to recreate real traffic scenarios play an important role in network operation. Nowadays, the Internet backbone links are increasing in capacity as well as in transmission speed making trace-based replay difficult. This paper proposes a novel approach to high-speed backbone traffic replaying. We bring out an original granular split of traffic that provides a smaller number of manageable entities than in case of traffic packets and flows. The proposed method uses IP aggregation to split traffic which allows us to incorporate social phenomena into traffic replay. The practical use and the advantages in real-time replay are the two major points established in this paper.
Inhibitors of the Hepatitis C Virus RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase NS5B

More than 20 years after the identification of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a novel human pathogen, the only approved treatment remains a combination of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin. This rather non-specific therapy is associated with severe side effects and by far not everyone benefits from treatment. Recently, progress has been made in the development of specifically targeted antiviral therapy for HCV (STAT-C). A major target for such direct acting antivirals (DAAs) is the HCV RNA-dependent RNA polymerase or non-structural protein 5B (NS5B), which is essential for viral replication. This review will examine the current state of development of inhibitors targeting the polymerase and issues such as the emergence of antiviral resistance during treatment, as well as strategies to address this problem.
A framework for generating and analyzing movement paths on ecological landscapes

The movement paths of individuals over landscapes are basically represented by sequences of points (xi, yi) occurring at times ti. Theoretically, these points can be viewed as being generated by stochastic processes that in the simplest cases are Gaussian random walks on featureless landscapes. Generalizations have been made of walks that (i) take place on landscapes with features, (ii) have correlated distributions of velocity and direction of movement in each time interval, (iii) are Lévy processes in which distance or waiting-time (time-between steps) distributions have infinite moments, or (iv) have paths bounded in space and time. We begin by demonstrating that rather mild truncations of fat-tailed step-size distributions have a dramatic effect on dispersion of organisms, where such truncations naturally arise in real walks of organisms bounded by space and, more generally, influenced by the interactions of physiological, behavioral, and ecological factors with landscape features. These generalizations permit not only increased realism and hence greater accuracy in constructing movement pathways, but also provide a biogeographically detailed epistemological framework for interpreting movement patterns in all organisms, whether tossed in the wind or willfully driven. We illustrate the utility of our framework by demonstrating how fission–fusion herding behavior arises among individuals endeavoring to satisfy both nutritional and safety demands in heterogeneous environments. We conclude with a brief discussion of potential methods that can be used to solve the inverse problem of identifying putative causal factors driving movement behavior on known landscapes, leaving details to references in the literature.
A Comparison of Three Models to Predict Liquidity Flows between Banks Based on Daily Payments Transactions

The analysis of payment data has become an important task for operators and overseers of financial market infrastructures. Payment data provide an accurate description of how banks manage their liquidity over time. In this paper we compare three models to predict future liquidity flows from payment data: 1) a moving average model, 2) a linear dynamic system that links the inflow of banks with their outflow, and 3) a similar dynamic system but with a constraint that guarantees the conservation of liquidity. The error graphs of one-step-ahead predictions on real-world payment data reveal that the moving average model performs best, followed by the dynamic system with constraint, and finally the dynamic system without constraint.
Open Problem:  A Formula for Calculation of the Voronoi S-region Volume

Fast and accurate calculation of the volume of additively weighted Voronoi region (Johnson-Mehl nucleus, or Voronoi S-region) is needed in various physical applications. The problem will be solved if an analytical expression could be derived for volume calculation of the pyramid which base is a piece of the hyperboloid surface.