Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Coordinated control architecture for motion management in ADAS systems

Advanced driver assistance systems U+0028 ADAS U+0029 seek to provide drivers and passengers of automotive vehicles increased safety and comfort. Original equipment manufacturers are integrating and developing systems for distance keeping, lane keeping and changing and other functionalities. The modern automobile is a complex system of systems. How the functionalities of advanced driver assistance are implemented and coordinated across the systems of the vehicle is generally not made available to the wider research community by the developers and manufactures. This paper seeks to begin filling this gap by assembling open source physics models of the vehicle dynamics and ADAS command models. Additionally, in order to facilitate ADAS development and testing without having access to the details of ADAS, a coordinated control architecture for motion management is also proposed for distributing ADAS motion control commands over vehicle systems. The architecture is demonstrated in a case study where motion is coordinated between the steering and the braking systems, which are typically used only for a single functionality. The integrated vehicle and system dynamics using the coordinated control architecture are simulated for various driving tasks. It is seen that improved trajectory following can be achieved by the proposed coordinated control architecture. The models, simulations and control architecture are made available for open access.
Comparative Study of E-Learning Experiences: A Case Study of Nigeria, South Africa and United States

We are in a society where availability of open courseware and countless internet-based online programmes are run by universities across the globe. The world is moving from the traditional face-to-face classroom teaching to a virtual classroom. There are concerns however; that this paradigm shift is limited by the understanding on what quality/standard is needed for a good e-learning resource. This concern has prompted the need to compare e-learning experiences in United States, South Africa and Nigeria so as to encourage developing countries to improve on this innovative approach to learning.
Patients with CD45 negative multiple myeloma receiving high-dose therapy have a shorter survival than those with CD45 positive multiple myeloma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES CD45 is a critical regulator of signaling threshold in immune cells. There are clinical and animal studies suggesting that the CD45-negative phenotype is the phenotype of progressive multiple myeloma (MM). The aims of this study were to confirm this hypothesis and to test the prognostic value of CD45 expression in newly diagnosed MM patients. DESIGN AND METHODS In a retrospective study of 95 newly diagnosed MM patients treated with high dose therapy we used 4-color flow cytometry to determine CD45 expression and correlated the immunophenotipic data with clinical data. RESULTS Thirty of 95 patients (31.5%) lacked CD45 expression at diagnosis. The CD45 phenotype significantly affected the overall survival (OS) of the patients, like the most common presenting prognostic parameters analyzed including b-2-microglobulin, age and 14q32 translocations. CD45 negative MM patients had a significantly worse OS than did CD45 positive cases of MM: 28.7% cumulative survival at 4 years, median 42 months vs not reached; p = 0.004. Furthermore, CD45 remained the only parameter adversely affecting OS in multivariate analysis. INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS The CD45 negative phenotype could reflect the phenotype of progressive disease in relation to the intrinsic malignancy of the MM clone. Indeed, CD45 negative myeloma cells appear to have a greater capacity to circulate, disseminate and clone as well as being less sensitive to apoptosis.
A novel approach for designing generator excitation controllers using the IDA-PBC technique

This paper presents a novel approach for designing of generator excitation controllers using Interconnection and Damping Assignment Passivity Based Control (IDA-PBC) technique for a Single Machine Infinite Bus (SMIB) system that can also be directly used in a multi-machine environment. The generator system equations are modified by referencing the rotor angle with respect to the secondary of the transformer bus instead of the infinite bus. For the modified system equations, IDA-PBC is applied to stabilize the system around an operating condition. The IDA-PBC design results in a Lyapunov function for the modified system. The new control law is practically feasible and can be applied directly to multi-machine system without referring to external system parameters. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is tested on a SMIB and a 10 generator 39 bus test system for a range of operating conditions. The Proposed excitation controller has shown good performance for both small and large disturbances when compared to the performance of a conventional static exciter with power system stabilizer.
Pathogenicity Island 2 Mutants of Salmonella typhimurium Are Efficient Carriers for Heterologous Antigens and Enable Modulation of Immune Responses

ABSTRACT The potential use as vaccine delivery system of Salmonella typhimurium strains harboring defined mutations in thesseC (HH104) and sseD (MvP101) genes, which encode putative effector proteins of the type III secretion system ofSalmonella pathogenicity island 2, was evaluated and compared with that of the well-characterized aroA mutant strain SL7207 by using β-galactosidase (β-Gal) as a model antigen. When orally administered to immune-competent or gamma interferon-deficient (IFN-γ−/−) BALB/c mice, both mutants were found to be highly attenuated (50% lethal dose, >109 bacteria). Both strains were also able to efficiently colonize and persist in Peyer’s patches. Immunization with HH104 and MvP101 triggered β-Gal-specific serum and mucosal antibody responses equivalent to or stronger than those observed in SL7207-immunized mice. Although immunoglobulin G2 (IgG2) serum antibodies were dominant in all groups, IgG1 was also significantly increased in mice vaccinated with MvP101 and SL7207. Comparable β-Gal-specific IgA and IgG antibodies were detected in intestinal lavages from mice immunized with the different strains. Antigen-specific CD4+ T-helper cells were generated after vaccination with all vaccine prototypes; however, responses were significantly more efficient when HH104 and MvP101 were used (P < 0.05). Significantly higher levels of IFN-γ were produced by restimulated spleen cells from mice immunized with HH104 than from those vaccinated with the MvP101 or SL7207 derivatives (P ≤ 0.05). Interestingly, the three strains induced major histocompatibility complex class I-restricted CD8+ cytotoxic T cells against β-Gal; however, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses were significantly stronger after immunization with HH104 (P < 0.05). These novel S. typhimurium attenuated strains constitute promising delivery systems for vaccine antigens. The qualitative differences observed in the obtained responses with different carriers may be useful for those applications in which a targeted immunomodulation is required.
Development and clinical evaluation of oligonucleotide microarray for HLA-AB genotyping.

BACKGROUND The antigens encoded by human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes are primary antigens in immunological response of transplantation, and genotypes of HLA-A, B and DRB1 must be determined on donors and recipients before the transplantation is carried out. In this study, oligonucleotide microarray for HLA-AB genotyping was prepared and evaluated. METHODS Oligonucleotide probes were designed based on the sequence of the different genotypes of HLA-A and B and were fixed on silylated glass slides to form a microarray. Fluorescence-labeled target DNA was obtained by asymmetric polymerase chain reaction amplification of exon 2 and exon 3 of HLA-A and -B genes and hybridized to the microarray. The hybridized microarray was subsequently scanned and the result was analyzed by software in order to determine the genotypes of the tested sample. RESULTS The sensitivity of the microarray for HLA-AB genotyping was 10 ng/microl, with a coincidence rate of 100% with international reference, and a combined variation value of detected signal below 15%. Analysis of genotyping of 1295 cases of clinical samples showed that the general coincidence rate between the microarray method and conventional method (polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific primer and flow cytometry reverse polymerase chain reaction sequence-specific oligonucleotide) was HLA-A: 99.61% and HLA-B: 98.30%, respectively. A total of five out of seven samples that had conflicting results of genotypes were proved to be microarray-assay reliable by DNA sequencing, suggesting a higher accuracy of the microarray method. CONCLUSION The microarray for HLA-AB genotyping is satisfactory for clinical use in HLA-AB genotyping with its good specificity, sensitivity and reproducibility.
Are carbon and nitrogen exchange between fungi and the orchid Goodyera repens affected by irradiance?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS The green orchid Goodyera repens has been shown to transfer carbon to its mycorrhizal partner, and this flux may therefore be affected by light availability. This study aimed to test whether the C and N exchange between plant and fungus is dependent on light availability, and in addition addressed the question of whether flowering and/or fruiting individuals of G. repens compensate for changes in leaf chlorophyll concentration with changes in C and N flows from fungus to plant. METHODS The natural abundances of stable isotopes of plant C and N were used to infer changes in fluxes between orchid and fungus across natural gradients of irradiance at five sites. Mycorrhizal fungi in the roots of G. repens were identified by molecular analyses. Chlorophyll concentrations in the leaves of the orchid and of reference plants were measured directly in the field. KEY RESULTS Leaf δ(13)C values of G. repens responded to changes in light availability in a similar manner to autotrophic reference plants, and different mycorrhizal fungal associations also did not affect the isotope abundance patterns of the orchid. Flowering/fruiting individuals had lower leaf total N and chlorophyll concentrations, which is most probably explained by N investments to form flowers, seeds and shoot. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that mycorrhizal physiology is relatively fixed in G. repens, and changes in the amount and direction of C flow between plant and fungus were not observed to depend on light availability. The orchid may instead react to low-light sites through increased clonal growth. The orchid does not compensate for low leaf total N and chlorophyll concentrations by using a (13)C- and (15)N-enriched fungal source.
Problems of Quantifying Public Goods in the Healthcare Sector

A market system does not automatically lead to an optimum allocation of public goods. Market-based exchange will always lead to a deficit of a public good compared with the socially optimal level. We argue that public goods in each sector of the economy constitute an isomorphic, socioeconomic system that is not a “black box. ” Thus, in order to determine the deficit of public goods, it is first necessary to investigate the available quantities versus the quality of those goods, because their performance is not only a function of public spending. There is no generally accepted methodology for doing this and there are no universal methods for quantifying public goods. The aim of this work is to develop a universal methodology for the quantification of public goods in ordinal categories, taking into account both the amount and quality of a good and budgetary valuing. In the empirical part, the authors identify various models (assets structures) of healthcare financing, using a set of OECD countries as an example. The authors also investigate to what extent these models influence the value of public goods in that sector. Composite measures have been computed for both the amount and quality of public goods. Subsequently, an agglomerative cluster analysis and a multifactorial analysis of variance are performed. Although the studied systems are diverse and reflect different social choices, the analyses show that the effectiveness of a healthcare system depends not only on the level of public financing, but also on its structure.
Frontal lobe phosphorus metabolism and neuropsychological function in aging and in alzheimer's disease

31P Magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the frontal lobe was performed in 17 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), 8 elderly controls (EC), and 17 young controls (YC). The phosphocreatine/inorganic phosphate (PCr/Pi) ratio in AD (2.32 ± 0.26 SD) was significantly lower than in EC (2.65 ± 0.41). In AD patients, a correlation was observed between the PCr/Pi ratio and the dementia rating scale (r = −0.50, p = 0.04). A significant positive correlation between PCr/Pi ratio and age was observed in both AD (r = 0.67, p 0.003) and YC (r = 0.63, p 0.006) groups, however, suggesting caution in interpretation of this ratio in AD. We did not find differences between AD, EC, or YC in any other spectroscopic measure. A significant sex difference in the phosphomonoester/phosphodiester ratio (PME/PDE) ratio was observed in AD brain. Females had a lower PME/PDE ratio than males.
Studies on Influence of (2-Hydroxypropyl)-$\beta$ -Cyclodextrin on Properties of a New Indomethacin Electrode

This paper examined the preparation of indomethacin membrane sensors and the effect of β-cyclodextrin on electrode characteristic, selectivity, and response time. Several plasticized poly(vinyl)chloride membranes of different composition were tested and the best electrode based on tetraoctylammonium 1-( p-chlorobenzoyl) 5-methoxy-2-methyl-3-indolylacetate with membrane plasticized with diisobutylphthalate was selected. The electrode shows the sensitivity near Nernstian (-58.7 mV decade<sup>-1</sup>) over the linear range of 5×10<sup>-6</sup>-1×10<sup>-2</sup> molL<sup>-1</sup> and limit of detection 2.5×10<sup>-6</sup> molL<sup>-1</sup>. The present electrode exhibits clear discrimination of indomethacin ions from several inorganic, organic, and some common drug excipients. This electrode has a response time of 9 s and can be used in the pH range 5.5-10 in the period of time 2.5 months without any considerable deterioration. The notably property and attractive quality of the indomethacin sensor are high sensitivity, selectivity, low cost, and comfortable application in drugs analysis. Furthermore, it can be used even in the presence of β-cyclodextrin at a concentration below 1×10<sup>-2</sup> molL<sup>-1</sup>.
Sequences of the CyIIIa actin gene regulatory domain bound specifically by sea urchin embryo nuclear proteins

Expression of the Cylla cytoskeletal actin gene is a marker of differential gene activation in the aboral ectoderm of the early sea urchin embryo. Gene transfer expreiments have defined a 2,300 nucleotide cis‐regulatory domain required for the correct spatial and temporal control of this gene. This domain includes at least 20 sites at which relatively stable DNA‐protein complexes form in vitro on reaction with embryo nuclear extracts. We report the nucleotide sequence of the whole regulatory domain and map the sites at which high‐specificity DNA‐protein interactions occur. These were located initially by gel shift assays carried out on progressive restriction digests of given subfragments of the large regulatory domain and were located more exactly by oligonucleotide gel shift competitions. Eight of the sites of specific interaction are unique within the Cyllla regulatory domain, and the remainder consist of five different sites that occur more than once. We observe some well known sequences also found in regulatory regions of other genes, e.g., “CCAAT” and “octamer” elements. The various sites have been classified regarding putative biological function in other work, and the present studies permit an assessment of the number and complexity of interactions constituting each functional class and of the relative locations of sites of each class.
Microscopic Change in Macroscopically Normal Equine Cartilage from Osteoarthritic Joints

The objective of this study was to assess whether macroscopically normal articular cartilage taken from joints containing focal osteoarthritic lesions is histologically similar to articular cartilage taken from macroscopically normal joints. Metacarpophalangeal, proximal interphalangeal, and distal interphalangeal joints were obtained from 10 horses following euthanasia. Gross articular cartilage damage was scored and the cartilage assigned to one of two groups: (1) macroscopically normal cartilage from normal joints (control) and (2) macroscopically normal cartilage from diseased joints in which there were focal osteoarthritic lesions. Chondrocytes expressing specific cytokines and cytokine receptors were identified by immunohistochemistry. The total number of chondrocytes, and percentage of chondrocytes positive for these cytokines and receptors, was recorded in the superficial, middle, and deep cartilage zones. There was a significant increase in the expression of interleukin-1β in the superficial and middle zones and interleukin-18 receptor in the superficial zone in Group 2 compared with Group 1 control samples. A significant positive correlation also was found between the grade of osteoarthritis and the percentage of chondrocytes positive for interleukin-1β in the superficial and middle zones, and for interleukin-18 and interleukin-18R in the superficial zone. There was a significant increase in histology score for glycosaminoglycan loss in Group 2 compared with that in Group 1. In joints with focal osteoarthritis lesions, all the articular cartilage, even if macroscopically apparently normal, may have microscopic changes associated with osteoarthritis.
Liquidity, taxes and yield spreads between tax-exempt and taxable bonds

This paper proposes a dynamic pricing model for municipal bonds with the liquidity factor and time-varying risk premiums. We estimate the parameters of the model using the Kalman filter. We find that the estimate of the marginal investor’s income tax rate from the generalized model is very close to the statutory corporate tax rate over the periods with different tax regimes. Ignoring the liquidity risk premium which is an important component of municipal yields, and failing to use the estimation method that efficiently captures time-varying features of risk premiums result in biased estimation of marginal investor’s implicit tax rates. JEL Classification: G12, G32
Transient Upregulation of Postsynaptic IP3-Gated Ca Release Underlies Short-Term Potentiation of Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor 1 Signaling in Cerebellar Purkinje Cells

Synaptic plasticity lasting ∼100 s has been suggested to function as a temporary buffer for neural information. One example of this was reported by Batchelor and Garthwaite (1997), who found that a slow metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1)-evoked EPSP produced by burst stimulation of cerebellar parallel fiber–Purkinje cell synapses could be potentiated by a conditioning stimulus consisting of prior activation of climbing fiber synapses (or injection of depolarizing current) with a delay of up to 90 s. What is the molecular basis of the signal that spans this temporal gap? Here, we show that mGluR1-evoked slow EPSCs evoked by parallel fiber burst test stimuli show a similar form of short-term potentiation (mGluR1-STP) and that this phenomenon is also observed when parallel fiber bursts are replaced by pressure pulses of an exogenous mGluR1 agonist. Ca imaging experiments revealed that cytosolic Ca levels returned to baseline within several seconds after conditioning depolarization, indicating that this cannot underlie mGluR1-STP. To test the hypothesis that transient upregulation of inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-gated Ca release underlies this phenomenon, we used local photolytic uncaging of IP3 to deplete IP3-gated Ca stores. IP3 uncaging in the interval between conditioning depolarization and the test pulse produced a complete blockade of mGluR1-STP, as did blockade of IP3 receptors with heparin. When Ca transients evoked by IP3 uncaging were used as a test stimulus, conditioning depolarization produced a large STP of Ca response amplitudes. These data suggest that transient upregulation of postsynaptic IP3-gated Ca signaling constitutes a novel form of short-term synaptic plasticity.
Secure Design Patterns for Security in Smart Metering Systems

A security by design approach for smart metering, using secure design patterns, is introduced in this paper. There are concerns that the security vulnerabilities in smart metering systems can be exploited on a large scale. On an individual level, smart meters can be made to provide false metering data to the service providers. On the collective level, the smart grids can be attacked to bring down the national grid or parts of it, which is a concern of national security. A list of possible security attacks on the smart metering systems is identified and summarized in this paper. It is well known that secure design patterns reduce the design flaws in a system. State of the art smart metering systems do not follow the standardized software development processes. A security pattern based engineering approach for developing secure software for smart metering systems is introduced in the paper. The secure design patterns are stored in a repository of patterns using pattern modeling tools. The engineering process and corresponding modeling tools were developed during the EU project, entitled "Trusted Computing Engineering for Resource Constraint Embedded Systems Applications".
Glucose-Stimulated Insulin Release by Individual Pancreatic β Cells: Potentiation by Glyburide

Abstract To investigate the effect of glyburide on insulin secretion by individual β cells from normal rats, we employed a reverse hemolytic plaque assay. Pancreata were harvested from female Wistar-Furth rats, the pancreatic islets isolated, and the latter dispersed into single cells. These cells were mixed with protein A-coated ox erythrocytes, the mixture was placed in a Cunningham chamber in the presence of insulin antiserum, and the cells were exposed to the various test substances. Having developed hemolytic plaques around the insulin-secreting cells with complement, the percentage of plaque-forming cells was determined and the plaque areas (reflecting the amount of insulin secreted) were quantitated. For the purpose of validation, we demonstrated that (i) plaque-forming (but not non-plaque-forming) cells could be identifed as insulin secreting by an independent immunofluorescent technique, (ii), plaques did not form if insulin antiserum was deleted from the preparation, (iii) plaques failed to develop if insulin antiserum was preabsorbed with insulin, and (iv) incubation with non-protein A-coated RBC or omission of complement resulted in no plaque formation. In addition, both the percentage of plaque-forming cells and the mean plaque area increased upon exposure to glucose (0.75–20 mM) in a concentration-dependent manner at 5- and 60-min incubation times. Moreover, somatostatin suppressed the percentage of plaque-forming cells and diminished the mean plaque area of cells which continued to secrete insulin in response to glucose. Exposure of cells to 100 nM glyburide in the presence of 5 mM or 20 mM glucose had no effect on the percentage of plaque-forming cells present at 5 min or 60 min. Similarly, glyburide did not alter mean plaque area at 5 or 60 min when cells were co-incubated with 5 mM glucose. However, mean plaque area was markedly enhanced at 5 and 60 min in response to glyburide and 20 mM glucose.