Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-objective particle swarm optimization applied to the design of Wireless Power Transfer systems

This paper proposes a stochastic method - particle swarm optimization (PSO) and Pareto front technique, to conduct a multivariable optimization and design an inductively coupled power transfer system. Previously, design methods have been proposed which require designer experience; they are not only computationally challenging, but also frequently result in suboptimum solutions. The algorithm proposed in this paper models all losses and inductance matrix analytically. We study four common compensation structures, and select a series-parallel topology to design a 200 W experimental prototype optimized with respect to transfer efficiency and VA rating. Experiments and numerical simulations are employed to verify the optimization algorithm.
The splicing regulator TIA‐1 interacts with U1‐C to promote U1 snRNP recruitment to 5′ splice sites

The U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (U1 snRNP) binds to the pre‐mRNA 5′ splice site (ss) at early stages of spliceosome assembly. Recruitment of U1 to a class of weak 5′ ss is promoted by binding of the protein TIA‐1 to uridine‐rich sequences immediately downstream from the 5′ ss. Here we describe a molecular dissection of the activities of TIA‐1. RNA recognition motifs (RRMs) 2 and 3 are necessary and sufficient for binding to the pre‐mRNA. The non‐ consensus RRM1 and the C‐terminal glutamine‐rich (Q) domain are required for association with U1 snRNP and to facilitate its recruitment to 5′ ss. Co‐precipitation experiments revealed a specific and direct interaction involving the N‐terminal region of the U1 protein U1‐C and the Q‐rich domain of TIA‐1, an interaction enhanced by RRM1. The results argue that binding of TIA‐1 in the vicinity of a 5′ ss helps to stabilize U1 snRNP recruitment, at least in part, via a direct interaction with U1‐C, thus providing one molecular mechanism for the function of this splicing regulator.
Dynamic and Adaptive Routing Services for Data Integrity in Wireless Sensor Networks

In real time the applications running in WSN can have different requirements pertaining to QoS. The important needs of a WSN are to ensure low delay and high quality of service in terms of data integrity. Many schemes came into existence to achieve these two requirements. However, it was understood that both requirements cannot be fully satisfied at the same time. To overcome this problem a multi-path dynamic routing algorithm is built in this paper which resolves the issue and provides high quality data integrity and low delay. This is achieved by using different paths and sending packets of applications through different routes keeping the QoS requirements in mind. Data fidelity is thus improved for applications where data integrity is very importance. At the same time the proposed scheme reduces end-to-end delay. The proposed scheme is tested with NS2 simulations. The results revealed that the scheme is effective and adaptive to the runtime situations in WSN. Index Terms – Wireless Sensor Network, adapting routing, multipath routing, data integrity
Analysis of genetic algorithms using statistical mechanics.

A formalism is presented for modelling the evolutionary dynamics of a population of gene sequences. The formalism was originally developed for describing genetic algorithms. In this paper the formalism is elaborated by considering the evolution of an ensemble of populations. This allows the evolution to be modelled more accurately. To illustrate the formalism the problem of a population of gene sequences evolving in a multiplicative fitness landscape is considered. A comparison with simulations is made and shows very good agreement. More complicated problems have already been investigated including sexual recombination and evolution in a multi-valleyed fitness landscape. These results will be briefly reviewed.
Contested law: Slow Response to Demands for Reformulating Protected Area Legal Framework in Nepal

The paper identifies and highlights gaps in protected area (PA) legal provisions in Nepal and makes a case for timely reformulation of legal framework to suit the new socio- economic and political contexts. Laws concerning PAs are examined against the contexts of international agreements, conventions, and accepted standards as well as the local ground realities. The legal framework is critically analysed using seven analytical variables: the process of PA declaration, governance types, power sharing, management plan, tenure rights, benefit sharing, and compliance and law enforcement. Literature review, content analysis, interviews and participant observations were adopted in securing data. It is observed that the current legal framework either does not reflect the current contextual reality or stand only in paper or are not properly implemented as per the spirit of the law. It is argued that regulatory framework should reflect both the contemporary conservation discourses and should respond to the popular demands emerged in the post-conflict political context in Nepal.
Incentive Design in Human-in-the-Loop Cyber-Physical Systems: A Case Study on Demand Response in California

We analyze a human-in-the-loop cyber-physical system in which a principal pays users to induce a desired behavior. Specifically, we estimate the causal effect of hour ahead price interventions on the reduction of residential electricity consumption, using a large-scale Randomized Controlled Trial on 5,000 households in California. In addition to this experimental approach, we also develop a non-experimental estimation technique that allows for an estimation of the desired treatment effect on an individual level by estimating user-level counterfactuals using time-series prediction. This approach crucially eliminates the need for a randomized experiment, which in many settings is often hard to conduct due to financial and ethical constraints. Both approaches estimate a reduction of ~0.13 kWh (14%) per Demand Response event and household. Since both estimates are close to each other, we claim that this methodology can be applied to predict treatment effects of any future Demand Response program. Using different incentive levels, we find a weak price elasticity of reduction. We also evaluate the effect of an adaptive targeting scheme, which discriminates users based on their estimated responses in order to increase the per-dollar reduction ratio by 43%. Lastly, we find that households with smart home automation devices reduce significantly more, namely about 0.33 kWh (38%).
A Test of Association Between Spatially Defined Exposure Patterns and Health Outcome Risk Contours

Advances in the availability of geographically referenced health and environmental quality data of high spatial resolution have created new opportunities in environmental epidemiology. Novel statistical methods for linking health, exposure, and hazards are required to underpin the development of public health tracking. A test for the association between spatial contours of health risk and exposure is outlined. This test is examined using, as an example, the spatial contours of congenital malformation risk obtained from a routine dataset in the vicinity of a landfill site and an exposure model based on exponential reduction with distance from the site. Spatial contours of risk of congenital malformation were simulated using the exposure model stated and a given population pattern. These were compared with the corresponding expected risk derived from routine birth data to yield relative risk contours. For each simulation three test statistics were devised: the slope of the regression line of standardized relative risk on exposure level, the proportion of standardized relative risks above zero, and the mean standardized relative risk of individuals not subject to exposure. The distributions of these test statistics (under the null no exposure from site and alternative hypotheses) were determined from a simulation exercise. A comparison of receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves between those relating to the proposed test and those relating to a widely used method proposed by Stone (1988) demonstrated our test to be more efficient. Formal statistical testing of the concordance between spatial contours of risk and environmental exposure enables optimal use of spatial data.
Age and gender classification in the wild with unsupervised feature learning

Abstract. Inspired by unsupervised feature learning (UFL) within the self-taught learning framework, we propose a method based on UFL, convolution representation, and part-based dimensionality reduction to handle facial age and gender classification, which are two challenging problems under unconstrained circumstances. First, UFL is introduced to learn selective receptive fields (filters) automatically by applying whitening transformation and spherical k-means on random patches collected from unlabeled data. The learning process is fast and has no hyperparameters to tune. Then, the input image is convolved with these filters to obtain filtering responses on which local contrast normalization is applied. Average pooling and feature concatenation are then used to form global face representation. Finally, linear discriminant analysis with part-based strategy is presented to reduce the dimensions of the global representation and to improve classification performances further. Experiments on three challenging databases, namely, Labeled faces in the wild, Gallagher group photos, and Adience, demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method relative to that of state-of-the-art approaches.
Role of noninvasive studies in risk stratification for sudden cardiac death

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is one of the leading causes of mortality in developing countries. To prevent SCD, it is crucial to have effective tools for identifying patients at risk, given that there are now effective devices and medications that can prevent SCD. Two noninvasive electrocardio‐graphic tools have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and are being used clinically for identifying patients at risk for SCD: the signal‐averaged electrocardiogram (SAECG) and T‐wave alternans (TWA). This article reviews each of these approaches and includes a discussion of the mechanisms and a summary of the clinical studies published to date.
Comparative morphological and functional aspects of the aorta of the major vertebrate classes

A lamellar unit structure is present throughout the subphylum. From measurements of the change in diameter of the aorta in response to increased pressure, strain values were calculated for the aorta of species of reptiles, birds and mammals. Differences may be relevant to the development of degenerative vascular disease in these orders.
Safety and tolerability of inhaled heparin in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

BACKGROUND Abnormalities in alveolar coagulation occur in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Anticoagulants attenuate bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in animals. In this study, we first examined the pharmacokinetics of inhaled heparin in healthy subjects. Second, we investigated the safety and tolerability of heparin inhalation in IPF patients. METHODS Coagulation assays were performed in blood and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples from 19 healthy volunteers after inhalation of increasing amounts of unfractionated heparin. The acute effects of heparin inhalation on lung function and exercise capacity and the safety and tolerability of chronic heparin inhalation for 28 days were assessed in 20 IPF patients in an open-label exploratory pilot study. RESULTS In healthy subjects, inhalation of 150,000 IU heparin ("filled dose") significantly increased the partial thromboplastin time and anti-factor Xa activity in blood samples indicating the threshold dose. The local alveolar anticoagulant effect was detectable up to 72 h, and the alveolar half-life was estimated at 28 h. In IPF-patients, no acute deleterious effects on pulmonary function, gas exchange, or exercise capacity were noted after inhalation of the threshold dose. During chronic treatment, where one-fourth of the threshold dose was inhaled every 12 h for 28 days to obtain a steady-state anticoagulant activity in the alveolar space approximating the anticoagulant activity observed after threshold dose inhalation, no heparin-related side effects, such as hemoptysis or heparin-induced antibodies and thrombocytopenia, were detected in any patient, and median lung function values, exercise capacity, and quality of life scores appeared largely unaltered. Three adverse and one serious adverse events were noted; however, the relation of these events to the heparin inhalation was assessed as "unlikely" or "no relation" in each case. CONCLUSIONS Inhaled heparin appears to be safe and well tolerated in IPF patients. Future clinical trials are required to demonstrate the long-term safety and efficacy of inhaled heparin in IPF.
Sex and Emotion in the Acquired Capability for Suicide

This article examined the impact of distress tolerance on sex differences in the acquired capability for suicide. Two hundred undergraduate participants filled out a series of questionnaires related to emotions and suicide risk. Males exhibited higher mean levels of the acquired capability than did women and distress tolerance interacted with sex to predict the acquired capability (β = −.70, p < .02), such that males with high distress tolerance were at the greatest risk. These results indicate that the degree to which an individual can tolerate negative emotions impacts the strength of the relationship between sex and the acquired capability for suicide.
Ashes to Ashes: Why FDA Regulation of Tobacco Advertising May Mark the End of the Road for the Marlboro Man

Abstract Despite education campaigns about the health hazards associated with smoking and the use of smokeless tobacco, teenage use of tobacco products has reached epidemic proportions. Recent studies indicate that adolescent smoking is on the rise, and that children are beginning to smoke at progressively earlier ages. “Nearly 3,000 young people start smoking each day,” accounting for more than one million new smokers each year. In addition, ninety percent of all new smokers are under the age of eighteen. Although young people are generally aware of the serious, long-term health risks associated with tobacco use, studies suggest that those who smoke do not usually view those risks as applying to them personally. Furthermore, evidence shows that young people who begin to smoke know about the addictive properties of nicotine, but do not believe that they will become addicted. For these reasons, in August 1995, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed strict regulations aimed at reducing the number of children and adolescents who smoke. Several of these provisions target cigarette advertisements aimed at minors.
Considerations in Understanding the Coronary Blood Flow- Left  Ventricular Mass Relationship in Patients with Hypertension

Abstract: Background: Coronary blood flow (CBF) is essential for optimal cardiac performance and to maintain myocardial viability. There is considerable ambiguity concerning CBF in hypertension. Objective: To investigate the relationship between CBF and left ventricular (LV) mass in persons with hypertension. Methods: OvidSP Medline was systematically searched. Eligible articles assessed CBF, and LV mass in adults with and without hypertension (HTN). Results: Eleven studies met the entry criteria. All 8 studies reported an increase in CBF (ml/min) for persons with hypertension (N=212) compared to individuals without hypertension (N=150). Meta-analysis showed a significant and 2.88 fold higher CBP in hypertension. Six studies adjusted CBF for LV mass; of which 4 studies reported a reduction in CBF. Meta-analysis showed a significant decrease in CBF/g LV mass in hypertension. The two studies that did not show a decrease in CBF, used the argon chromatographic method to measure coronary sinus blood flow suggesting this methodology may have influenced the results. Using the mean CBF in normotensive group to construct the expected CBF according to LV mass, reported CBF in HTN was progressively less than expected In two studies, (N=142), there was a significant inverse correlation between LV mass and CBF/ g LV mass. Multivariate analysis (three studies) consistently found a highly significant independent relationship between LV mass and CBF after considering age, sex, heart rate and several other factors. Conclusion: Hypertension is associated with a reduction in CBF adjusted for LV mass with a highly significant inverse association between CBF and LV mass. Clinicians should be aware that patients with hypertension are at greater risk for myocardial ischemia should develop other factors that limit CBF or myocardial oxygen delivery.
Beyond Our Borders: Are we there yet? The road to a malaria vaccine

see also p 144 Every minute, a parasite transmitted by Anopheles species mosquitoes kills three children. Every day, 2.4 billion people in 100 countries—40% of the world's population—are at risk of this infectious disease.1 Malaria causes fever, shaking chills, anemia, and fatigue; in its severest form, it can cause coma and death.2 Every year, it affects 300 to 500 million people worldwide, killing 700,000 to 2.1 million, mostly children and mostly in Africa (figure 1). 3 Figure 1 Malaria is endemic in more than 40 countries This disease is not new, “fashionable,” or emerging. Its vector lives well in much of the world, including the United States. The longterm consequences of malaria—chronic anemia; debilitating recurring infection; and renal, liver, and central nervous system impairment—mean that endemic countries spend many of their limited resources on combatting the disease and its aftermath. Malaria is directly associated with profound economic deprivation. The Malaria Network, a partnership of the World Bank and World Health Organization, estimated that in 1997, direct and indirect expenditures for malaria cost sub-Saharan Africa more than US$2 billion.4 Whereas malaria has been earmarked by the United Nations and the global health community as one of the three big infectious disease killers—along with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis—and thus a priority for action, it has not received the attention needed to effect change. Spearheaded by Roll Back Malaria, countries currently employ limited tools that include insecticide-treated bed nets, antimalarial drugs, and vector control measures that have sometimes been controversial, such as the use of DDT, a highly effective but harmful pesticide. As a package, these are thought to be cost-effective and to have significant effects where well implemented.5,6 The disease, however, is a worthy adversary and has evaded many of the tools that at one time could control it. Drug resistance by the parasite, pesticide resistance by the mosquito, and community resistance to interventions that require continuous financial and human resources point to the nature of the challenge. An effective vaccine that could safely prevent infection, disease, or transmission would add immensely to this armamentarium. Although no licensed vaccine against a parasitic disease exists, vaccines should be viewed as a critical part of the solution. Vaccines have been used extensively to control many previously common diseases, making vaccination one of the most effective and cost-effective public health interventions known.7
Interactive Visual Alignment of Medieval Text Versions

Textual criticism consists of the identification and analysis of variant readings among different versions of a text. Being a relatively simple task for modern languages, the collation of medieval text traditions ranges from the complex to the virtually impossible depending on the degree of instability of textual transmission. We present a visual analytics environment that supports computationally aligning such complex textual differences typical of orally inflected medieval poetry. For the purpose of analyzing alignment, we provide interactive visualizations for different text hierarchy levels, specifically, a meso reading view to support investigating repetition and variance at the line level across text segments. In addition to outlining important aspects of our interdisciplinary collaboration, we emphasize the utility of the proposed system by various usage scenarios in medieval French literature.
Lakatos's Research Program and the thought of the Islamic Republic

In the volatile history of science, we come across a series of theories and methods, each of which has emerged and has been used at some point and has been replaced later by another method. These multiple methods and theories have each caused science and scientific knowledge to advance one step forward. One of these theories is Imre Lakatos’s research program which, though a theory often considered in the analysis of the trends of the empirical sciences, given the general principles and the dominant spirit of this theory, it can be also used to study other intellectual currents. Lakatos believes that any theory is a research program that is composed of two parts: a hard core and a protective belt. The hard core is the basis and foundation of every thought and theory . To protect the main theory and to protect it against changes, there exist the protective belts that are somehow a supplement to the core of the theory . According to Lakatos, the progressive or retrogressive nature of a research program depends on the ability and acceptability of the auxiliary hypotheses which serve to protect the hard core. Thus, a research program can be progressive and dynamic if it causes new theories which bring about new predictions by modifying the protective belt. This article has considered the notion of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a research program. In this regard, this study is an attempt to determine the functions of ‘expediency’ in the Islamic Republic using an impression of the concept of ‘expediency’ which is similar to the protective belt by considering Islam as a hard core and as a resistant framework. This article is also an attempt to emphasize the point that, in the Islamic Republic, the concept of ‘expediency’ has the same function which is noted as the protective belt in Lakatos’s view. Therefore, using the notion of ‘interest’ by the advocates of the hard core is an attempt made to prevent the rejection of the hard core and pave the way for the development and change in Islam as an efficient religion.