Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Study on the electromagnetic susceptibility of the speed sensor of an aircraft starter generator

An electronic system is compatible with its electromagnetic environment if it satisfies the following two criteria: it does not emit (unintentional) electromagnetic energy above a certain minimum level, and it is not susceptible to malfunction if unintentional electromagnetic energy below a certain level is incident on it. This paper presents a study on the effect that electromagnetic interference has on the speed sensor an aircraft starter generator. An experimental setup was created to generate the radiated emissions, and results were plotted on the oscilloscope. Results obtained by measurement were also compared to the theoretical results.
The Impact of Entrepreneurial Orientation and Resource-Based View on Growth of Small Firms

This research provides a useful framework for identifying a small firms' propensity to engage in entrepreneurial orientation. We examine the impact of the Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) as a main resource and capability on small firm' growth.Growth seems to come out as an important demonstration of the entrepreneurial orientation of small firms (Davidsson, 1989; Green and Brown, 1997; Janney and Gregory, 2006). Thus, this research builds on prior conceptual research that suggests a positive integration between entrepreneurial orientation and resource-based view.In the first instance, the research will focus on reviewing literature in the emerging area of entrepreneurial orientation as it applies to growth oriented small firms and resource-based view of the firm. Secondly, an empirical study was developed based on a stratified sample of small firms of manufacturing industry. Data were submitted to a multivariate statistical analysis and a linear regression model was performed in order to predict the influence of the resources and capabilities on small firms' growth. In this sense, we consider the construct growth as a dependent variable and the ones relates with resources and capabilities (entrepreneur resources, firm resources, networks and EO) as independent variables.The research results suggest a set of resources and capabilities that promote the growth of the small firms. Also, the EO seems to have a predictive value on growth. Explaining variables related with resources and capabilities and EO were identified as essential in growth oriented small firms. It was still possible to conclude that the entrepreneurial firms which grew seem to have resources and develop more capabilities and take advantage in the search for those competences. This attitude reflects on the EO of the firm.This study has important implication for both researchers and practitioners. It highlights the necessity of firms to develop superior EO of all their members and also to invest on better resources and consequently superior capabilities as a way of reaching higher levels of growth.While previous authors have attempted to analyse certain aspects of this process (linkage between entrepreneurial orientation and growth), this research developed a framework that combines these and others factors (resource-based view) pertinent to growth oriented small firms. The results support the necessity to identify explicative variables of multiple levels to explain the growth of small firms. The adoption of an entrepreneurial orientation as an indispensable variable to the growth oriented small firms seems pertinent.
Threshold signature scheme with subliminal channel

Threshold signature is an important signature with additional property; it can achieve effective supervision on signature generating and signature verifying. This paper analyzed the basic principles of threshold cryptosystem and its superiority for application in threshold signature schemes. Considering the security threats and system flaws of present signature schemes, we present a threshold signature scheme based on elliptic curves cryptosystem. The scheme achieves threshold generating and verifying of signature by utilizing secret sharing in signature processing, and it also achieves threshold management of identity tracing by identity blinding and probabilistic encryption algorithms. As security proof for the scheme, we present a typical subliminal channel scheme for the threshold signature. The subliminal message can only be generated and recovered by no less than t valid members; so the subliminal channel renders effective supervision on subliminal message and identity secrecy. Further analyses and comparison also justify the brevity, security and high efficiency of the scheme.
Complex Kerr geometry and nonstationary Kerr solutions

In the frame of the Kerr-Schild approach, we consider the complex structure of Kerr geometry which is determined by a complex world line of a complex source. The real Kerr geometry is represented as a real slice of this complex structure. The Kerr geometry is generalized to the nonstationary case when the current geometry is determined by a retarded time and is defined by a retarded-time construction via a given complex world line of source. A general exact solution corresponding to arbitrary motion of a spinning source is obtained. The acceleration of the source is accompanied by a lightlike radiation along the principal null congruence. It generalizes to the rotating case the known Kinnersley class of "photon rocket" solutions.
Screen Media Use in Hospitalized Children.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Screen media overuse is associated with negative physical and mental health effects in children. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting screen media use at home; however, there are no similar guidelines for children's hospitals. This study was conducted to explore caregiver (parent or other guardian) perceptions about screen media use, compare at-home with in-hospital screen media use, and measure screen use among hospitalized children. METHODS We obtained data from a convenience cohort of hospitalized children at a single, comprehensive tertiary care children's hospital over 3 periods of 2 weeks each from 2013 to 2014. Home and hospital screen media use was measured through survey and study personnel directly observed hospital screen use. Descriptive statistics are reported and generalized estimating equation was used to identify characteristics associated with screen media use. RESULTS Observation (n = 1490 observations) revealed screen media on 80.3% of the time the hospitalized child was in the room and awake, and 47.8% of observations with direct attention to a screen. Surveyed caregivers reported their child engaging in significantly more screen media use in the hospital setting as compared with home, and 42% of caregivers reported the amount of screen time used by their child in the hospital was more than they would have liked. CONCLUSIONS Hospitalized children have access to a variety of screen media, and this media is used at rates far higher than recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Children's hospitals should consider developing guidelines for screen media use.
Multivalent Binding of Carbohydrates by the Human α-Defensin, HD51

Four of the six human α-defensins (human neutrophil peptides 1–3 and human α-defensin 5; HD5) have a lectin-like ability to bind glycosylated proteins. Using HD5 as a model, we applied surface plasmon resonance techniques to gain insights into this property. HD5 bound natural glycoproteins > neoglycoproteins based on BSA > nonglycosylated BSA ≫ free sugars. The affinity of HD5 for simple sugars covalently bound to BSA was orders of magnitude greater than its affinity for the same sugars in solution. The affinity of HD5 for protein-bound carbohydrates resulted from multivalent interactions which may also involve noncarbohydrate residues of the proteins. HD5 showed concentration-dependent self-association that began at submicromolar concentrations and proceeded to dimer and tetramer formation at concentrations below 5 μM. The (R9A, R28A) and (R13A, R32A) analogs of HD5 showed greatly reduced self-association as well as minimal binding to BSA and to BSA-affixed sugars. From this and other evidence, we conclude that the extensive binding of HD5 to (neo)glycoproteins results from multivalent nonspecific interactions of individual HD5 molecules with carbohydrate and noncarbohydrate moieties of the target molecule and that the primary binding events are magnified and enhanced by subsequent in situ assembly and oligomerization of HD5. Self-association and multivalent binding may play integral roles in the ability of HD5 to protect against infections caused by viruses and other infectious agents.
Corrigendum: Developmental competence of mammalian oocytes-insights into molecular research and the promise of microfluidic technology: A review

Developmental competence of female gametes determines their maturation ability, successful fertilisa - tion, and proper zygote formation. Oocyte quality may be assessed by expression profiling of several gene markers such as Cx43, TGFB, GDF9, BMP, Lox and Pdia5 that determine the biological features of oocytes. Conversely, several other extrinsic factors, including follicular size or heat shock may significantly influence oocyte quality and ability to grow and develop during folliculo- and oogenesis. However, using molecular methods for evaluation of oocyte quality often leads to destruction of an analysed cell. Therefore, there is an increased requirement to seek new non-invasive methods of oocyte-embryo quality assessment. Here we describe the Lab-on-Chip system based on microfluidic technology, which is the first parametric and objective device for evaluation of oocyte developmental competence using spectral images. In this review several extrinsic factors and molecular markers of oocyte developmental competence are discussed. Furthermore, based on our previous studies, we discuss the possibility of applying the spectrophotometric system (Lab-on-Chip) in both biomedical and reproductive research in domestic animals.
Lymphocytes treated by extracorporeal photopheresis can down‐regulate cytokine production in untreated monocytes

Background: Pro‐inflammatory cytokines are actively involved in graft‐versus host‐disease (GvHD) aetiology. Treatment of GvHD, using extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP), has demonstrated clinical efficacy. ECP rapidly reduces the number of T cells that produce tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), interferon γ (IFNγ) and interleukin (IL)2. ECP‐treated cells are re‐infused immediately after completion of treatment. This study attempted to determine the influence that ECP‐treated cells would have on untreated cells following re‐infusion.
Fast Algorithm for Segmentation of Urinary Sediment Microscopic Image

The use of partial differential equations in image processing has become an active area of research in the last few years. In particular, active contours are being used for image segmentation, either explicitly as Snakes, or implicitly through the level set method. The main numerical scheme of these models is based on the simplest finite difference discretization by means of an explicit or Euler-forward scheme. This scheme requires very small time steps in order to be stable. Hence, the whole procedure is rather time-consuming. In this paper, a fast semiimplicit additive operator splitting (AOS) scheme based on the C- V model is presented, which is unconditionally stable, fast, large time step size, and easy to implement. The experimental results for the microscopic image in urinary sediment analysis show that the proposed algorithm is efficient, stable, and convergent and has great application value for automation detection of microscopic image.
Paradoxical Effect of Dofetilide on Action Potential Duration and Calcium Transient Amplitude in Newborn Rabbit Ventricular Myocytes

The Na+-Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) is up-regulated in the neonatal rabbit heart. Because the duration of membrane depolarization is an important determinant of calcium entry via NCX, pharmacological agents that lengthen the action potential (AP) may significantly increase the amount of activator calcium in newborns. We tested this potentially novel therapeutic strategy by using action potential voltage clamp steps or using dofetilide, a blocker of IKr, to prolong the action potential duration (APD). The effects of changing APD on calcium transients were determined in ventricular myocytes at different developmental stages: newborn (1-4 days), juvenile (9-10 days), and adult ventricular myocytes (35°C; 1 Hz). Calcium transient amplitude in neonatal myocytes increased substantially with clamping with longer APs. In contrast, exposure to dofetilide (0.1, 1, and 10 μM) under current clamp conditions increased APD in a concentration-dependent manner but had no significant effect on calcium transient amplitude in either neonates or adults. When the AP was held constant under voltage clamp conditions, dofetilide decreased the calcium transient amplitude in neonates. This effect is likely related to inhibition of sodium-calcium exchanger and L-type Ca2+ currents (ICa), as observed in separate experiments. These results suggest that dofetilide has a paradoxical effect on APD and calcium transients in the newborn heart.
Preventing disability and falls in older adults: a population-based randomized trial.

OBJECTIVES Because preventing disability and falls in older adults is a national priority, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to test a multicomponent intervention program. METHODS From a random sample of health maintenance organization (HMO) enrollees 65 years and older, 1559 ambulatory seniors were randomized to one of three groups: a nurse assessment visit and follow-up interventions targeting risk factors for disability and falls (group 1, n = 635); a general health promotion nurse visit (group 2, n = 317); and usual care (group 3, n = 607). Data collection consisted of a baseline and two annual follow-up surveys. RESULTS After 1 year, group 1 subjects reported a significantly lower incidence of declining functional status and a significantly lower incidence of falls than group 3 subjects. Group 2 subjects had intermediate levels of most outcomes. After 2 years of follow-up, the differences narrowed. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that a modest, one-time prevention program appeared to confer short-term health benefits on ambulatory HMO enrollees, although benefits diminished by the second year of follow-up. The mechanisms by which the intervention may have improved outcomes require further investigation.
Lipiarmycin targets RNA polymerase and has good activity against multidrug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro activity of lipiarmycin against drug-resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and to establish the resistance mechanism of MTB against lipiarmycin using genetic approaches. METHODS MIC values were measured against a panel of drug-resistant strains of MTB using the broth microdilution method. Spontaneous lipiarmycin-resistant mutants of MTB were tested for cross-resistance to standard anti-TB drugs, and their rpoB and rpoC genes were sequenced to identify mutations. RESULTS Lipiarmycin exhibited excellent inhibitory activity against multidrug-resistant strains of MTB with MIC values of <0.1 mg/L. Sequence analysis of the rpoB and rpoC genes from spontaneous lipiarmycin-resistant mutants of MTB revealed that missense mutations in these genes caused resistance to lipiarmycin. Although both lipiarmycin and rifampicin are known to inhibit the bacterial RNA polymerase, the sites of mutation in the rpoB gene were found to be different in MTB strains resistant to these inhibitors. Whereas all six rifampicin-resistant MTB strains tested had mutation in the 81 bp hotspot region of the rpoB gene spanning codons 507-533, 16 of 18 lipiarmycin-resistant strains exhibited mutation between codons 977 and 1150. The remaining two lipiarmycin-resistant strains had mutation in the rpoC gene. CONCLUSIONS Lipiarmycin has excellent bactericidal activity against MTB and lacks cross-resistance to standard anti-TB drugs. Furthermore, rifampicin-resistant strains remained fully susceptible to lipiarmycin, and none of the lipiarmycin-resistant MTB strains became resistant to rifampicin, highlighting the lack of cross-resistance.
Linguistic Auditing: A Guide To Identifying Foreign Language Communication Needs In Corporations

Introduction to linguistic auditing and overview of the book initiating the audit (preliminary stage) integrating the audit into the planning process (audit stage 1) understanding the organization - foreign language communication at the Departmental level (audit stage 2) analyzing postholders' foreign language use and needs (audit stage 3) assessing postholders' foreign language skill - from proficiency assessment to the language resource inventory (audit stage 4) reporting back (audit stage 5).
Web 2.0 Socail Network Sites And Facebook Marketing

The use of Web 2.0 and Social Network Sites (SNS) has become an amazing phenomenon. In fact, one of the fastest-growing arenas of the World Wide Web is the space of so-called social networking sites. Face book, Tweeter, MySpace and other Social Network Sites have huge population of users. Almost seven hundred million people use Facebook, and hundreds of million others use other social networking sites. More and more advertisers switch their marketing budget to these SNS. This study contributes to our understanding of the Web 2.0 and the use of social networking websites by examining available literature. It seeks to understand what Web 2.0 and SNS mean, the trends, its functions and how they can be leveraged for marketing purposes.
The interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit.

This study investigated how native language background influences the intelligibility of speech by non-native talkers for non-native listeners from either the same or a different native language background as the talker. Native talkers of Chinese (n = 2), Korean (n = 2), and English (n = 1) were recorded reading simple English sentences. Native listeners of English (n = 21), Chinese (n = 21), Korean (n = 10), and a mixed group from various native language backgrounds (n = 12) then performed a sentence recognition task with the recordings from the five talkers. Results showed that for native English listeners, the native English talker was most intelligible. However, for non-native listeners, speech from a relatively high proficiency non-native talker from the same native language background was as intelligible as speech from a native talker, giving rise to the "matched interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit. " Furthermore, this interlanguage intelligibility benefit extended to the situation where the non-native talker and listeners came from different language backgrounds, giving rise to the "mismatched interlanguage speech intelligibility benefit. " These findings shed light on the nature of the talker-listener interaction during speech communication.
Theoretical prediction of sandwiched two-dimensional phosphide binary compound sheets with tunable bandgaps and anisotropic physical properties

Atomic layers of GaP and InP binary compounds with unique anisotropic structural, electronic and mechanical properties have been predicted from first-principle molecular dynamics simulations. These new members of the phosphide binary compound family stabilize to a sandwiched two-dimensional (2D) crystalline structure with orthorhombic lattice symmetry and high buckling of 2.14 Å–2.46 Å. Their vibration modes are similar to those of phosphorene with six Raman active modes ranging from ∼80 cm−1 to 400 cm−1. The speeds of sound in their phonon dispersions reflect anisotropy in their elastic constants, which was further confirmed by their strong directional dependence of Young’s moduli and effective nonlinear elastic moduli. They show wide bandgap semiconductor behavior with fundamental bandgaps of 2.89 eV for GaP and 2.59 eV for InP, respectively, even wider than their bulk counterparts. Such bandgaps were found to be tunable under strain. In particular, a direct–indirect bandgap transition was found under certain strains along zigzag or biaxial orientations, reflecting their promising applications in strain-induced bandgap engineering in nanoelectronics and photovoltaics. Feasible pathways to realize these novel 2D phosphide compounds are also proposed.
Personality Organization, Five-Factor Model, and Mental Health

Otto Kernberg has developed a model of personality and psychological functioning centered on the concept of personality organization. The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the relationships between this model, the five-factor model, and mental health. The Personality Organization Diagnostic Form (Diguer et al., The Personality Organization Diagnostic Form-II (PODF-II), 2001), the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (Costa and McCrae, Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R) and NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) Professional Manual. 1992a), and the Health-Sickness Rating Scale (Luborsky, Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1962;7:407–417) were used to assess these constructs. Results show that personality organization and personality factors are distinct but interrelated constructs and that both contribute in similar proportion to mental health. Results also suggest that the integration of personality organization and factors can provide clinicians and researchers with an enriched understanding of psychological functioning.
Coupled Sparse Denoising and Unmixing With Low-Rank Constraint for Hyperspectral Image

Hyperspectral image (HSI) denoising is significant for correct interpretation. In this paper, a sparse representation framework that unifies denoising and spectral unmixing in a closed-loop manner is proposed. While conventional approaches treat denoising and unmixing separately, the proposed scheme utilizes spectral information from unmixing as feedback to correct spectral distortion. Both denoising and spectral unmixing act as constraints to the others and are solved iteratively. Noise is suppressed via sparse coding, and fractional abundance in spectral unmixing is estimated using the sparsity prior of endmembers from a spectral library. The abundance of endmembers is used as a spectral regularizer for denoising based on the hypothesis that spectral signatures obtained from a denoising process result are close to those of unmixing. Unmixing restrains spectral distortion and results in better denoising, which reciprocally leads to further improvements in unmixing. The strength of our proposed method is illustrated by simulated and real HSIs with performance competitive to the state-of-the-art denoising and unmixing methods.
Monocular vision based autonomous indoor mobile service robot

A low cost vision guided robot was developed to perform indoor service operations. The robot uses a webcam to localize and track the object of interest and a SONAR is used in conjunction with the camera to estimate distance between the robot and the object. A 3 DOF robotic arm is mounted on the robot to manipulate the objects within its workspace. The robot is capable of operating at different lighting conditions. A Visual feedback loop is established between the object and the robot for continuous tracking. Path planning of the robot is done based on the mean of the object location from 5 frames to obtain smooth maneuver.