Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Variation of electroencephalographic activity during non‐rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement sleep with phase of circadian melatonin rhythm in humans

1 The circadian pacemaker regulates the timing, structure and consolidation of human sleep. The extent to which this pacemaker affects electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during sleep remains unclear. 2 To investigate this, a total of 1.22 million power spectra were computed from EEGs recorded in seven men (total, 146 sleep episodes; 9 h 20 min each) who participated in a one‐month‐long protocol in which the sleep–wake cycle was desynchronized from the rhythm of plasma melatonin, which is driven by the circadian pacemaker. 3 In rapid eye movement (REM) sleep a small circadian variation in EEG activity was observed. The nadir of the circadian rhythm of α‐activity (8.25–10.5 Hz) coincided with the end of the interval during which plasma melatonin values were high, i.e. close to the crest of the REM sleep rhythm. 4 In non‐REM sleep, variation in EEG activity between 0.25 and 11.5Hz was primarily dependent on prior sleep time and only slightly affected by circadian phase, such that the lowest values coincided with the phase of melatonin secretion. 5 In the frequency range of sleep spindles, high‐amplitude circadian rhythms with opposite phase positions relative to the melatonin rhythm were observed. Low‐frequency sleep spindle activity (12.25–13.0 Hz) reached its crest and high‐frequency sleep spindle activity (14.25–15.5Hz) reached its nadir when sleep coincided with the phase of melatonin secretion. 6 These data indicate that the circadian pacemaker induces changes in EEG activity during REM and non‐REM sleep. The changes in non‐REM sleep EEG spectra are dissimilar from the spectral changes induced by sleep deprivation and exhibit a close temporal association with the melatonin rhythm and the endogenous circadian phase of sleep consolidation.
Small Hemielliptic Dielectric Lens Antenna Analysis in 2-D: Boundary Integral Equations Versus Geometrical and Physical Optics

We assess the accuracy and relevance of the numerical algorithms based on the principles of geometrical optics (GO) and physical optics (PO) in the analysis of reduced-size homogeneous dielectric lenses prone to behave as open resonators. As a benchmark solution, we use the Muller boundary integral equations (MBIEs) discretized with trigonometric Galerkin scheme that has guaranteed and fast convergence as well as controllable accuracy. The lens cross-section is chosen typical for practical applications, namely an extended hemiellipse whose eccentricity satisfies the GO focusing condition. The analysis concerns homogeneous lenses made of rexolite, fused quartz, and silicon with the size varying between 3 and 20 wavelengths in free space. We consider the 2D case with both - and -polarized plane waves under normal and oblique incidence, and compare characteristics of the near fields.
A chattering-free sliding-mode control design and simulation of remotely operated vehicles

Sliding-mode control (SMC) is widely used in motion control of underwater vehicles. But the chattering problem in sliding mode control is the one of the most common handicaps for applying to real applications. To deal with the problem, a novel model-based chattering-free sliding-mode control law is proposed in this paper. The proposed sliding mode control method removes the chattering phenomenon by replacing a switching term with an adaptive continuous term. The method is robust of the dynamic parameters uncertainty and disturbance focusing on ROV. The obtained simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
16-MDCT of the posttraumatic pediatric elbow: optimum parameters and associated radiation dose.

OBJECTIVE Our objective was to investigate a low-radiation-dose protocol for 16-MDCT of the posttraumatic pediatric elbow using z-axis automatic tube-current modulation, based on optimum scanning parameters determined in a porcine fracture model, and to report the radiation dose from this technique in nine children with acute elbow trauma. CONCLUSION For the posttraumatic pediatric elbow, 16-MDCT using z-axis automatic tube-current modulation was optimal at 100 kVp with a noise index of 20 and a minimum amperage of 25 mA.
THE INFLUENCE OF TIMING IN EXPLORATORY PROTOTYPING AND OTHER ACTIVITIES IN DESIGN PROJECTS

ABSTRACT The importance of prototyping in the design process has been widely recognized, but less research emphasis has been placed on the appropriate timing and detail of so-called "throwaway" prototyping during the preliminary design phase. Based on a study of mid-career professional graduate students, statistically significant correlations were found between the time such prototypes were created and design outcome. Building prototypes early on in the design process, or performing additional rounds of benchmarking and user interaction later on during the project (in addition to the typical early stage efforts), correlated with better design outcome, although the total time spent on these activities did not. The correlation between project presentations and reviewer scores are also touched upon. These findings suggest that the timing of design activities is more important than the time spent on them. INTRODUCTION It is widely recognized that decisions made in the early [9]stages of the design process have great bearing on the outcome of the design in terms of design success, cost of manufacturing and time to market. The later in the design process problems are identified and changes made to the design, the more costly it becomes [1-3]. The question then is, how should designers go about exploring the design space in the most efficient way possible, find a desirable design direction, and execute a successful design? on effective ways to conduct different design activities This research examines the timing of prototyping related activities in the early stages of the design process. Research has been conducted on prototyping in the early stages of the design process, with some arguing for early and frequent prototyping as a way to test ideas early [4, 5] and to help build confidence in design concepts in a team [6]. There are several different design activities that have been recognized as important to design outcome and have been widely researched. These range from prototyping and sketching to benchmarking and collecting input from end-users. Prototyping is often thought of in terms of the particular technology or materials involved in creating the prototype, such as 3D printing or aluminum stock. This paper considers prototypes from a different perspective, that of as an artifact that design teams use to evaluate potential design concepts before further development [7, 8]. These early stage prototypes are created with the express understanding that they will be discarded after evaluation, and are thus "throwaway" prototypes. Using this strategy encourages building the "cheapest" prototype that can still provide needed information, meaning that such prototypes may be made of relatively inexpensive materials and are fast to fabricate. This approach to fabrication has been expressed as "fail early to succeed sooner,"popularized by the design firm IDEO and has been widely cited as a strategy for early stage design[4]. Although there has been a significant amount of research
Expectation Damages and Bilateral Cooperative Investments

We examine the efficiency of the standard breach remedy expectation damages in a setting of bilateral cooperative investment by a buyer and a seller. Contracts may specify a required quality level and an upper bound to the cost of production. We find that it is optimal to write an augmented Cadillac contract that sets one threshold such that it cannot be met with positive probability together with an extreme price. Then, one of the parties becomes a residual claimant of the trade relationship. The other threshold can be used to balance the incentives of the other party.
Crustal thickness and velocity structure across the Moroccan Atlas from long offset wide‐angle reflection seismic data: The SIMA experiment

The crustal structure and topography of the Moho boundary beneath the Atlas Mountains of Morocco has been constrained by a controlled source, wide‐angle seismic reflection transect: the SIMA experiment. This paper presents the first results of this project, consisting of an almost 700 km long, high‐resolution seismic profile acquired from the Sahara craton across the High and the Middle Atlas and the Rif Mountains. The interpretation of this seismic data set is based on forward modeling by raytracing, and has resulted in a detailed crustal structure and velocity model for the Atlas Mountains. Results indicate that the High Atlas features a moderate crustal thickness, with the Moho located at a minimum depth of 35 km to the S and at around 31 km to the N, in the Middle Atlas. Upper crustal shortening is resolved at depth through a crustal root where the Saharan crust underthrusts the northern Moroccan crust. This feature defines a lower crust imbrication that, locally, places the Moho boundary at ∼40–41 km depth in the northern part of the High Atlas. The P‐wave velocity model is characterized by relatively low velocities, mostly in the lower crust and upper mantle, when compared to other active orogens and continental regions. These low deep crustal velocities together with other geophysical observables such as conductivity estimates derived from MT measurements, moderate Bouguer gravity anomaly, high heat flow, and surface exposures of recent alkaline volcanism lead to a model where partial melts are currently emplaced at deep crustal levels and in the upper mantle. The resulting model supports the existence of a mantle upwelling as mechanism that would contribute significantly to sustain the High Atlas topography. However, the detailed Moho geometry deduced in this work should lead to a revision of the exact geometry and position of this mantle feature and will require new modeling efforts.
A Study of Indonesian-to-Malaysian MT System

—The paper presents an ongoing work on the implementation of an MT system between Indonesian and Malaysian. The system uses a method of almost a direct translation exploiting the similarity of both languages. This method was previously used on a number of language pairs of European languages. The paper also makes an overview of linguistic phenomena which can negatively influence the translation quality and it suggests a solution for some of them.
Anti-thrombotic effect of Carthamus tinctorius Linn extracts in rats

Purpose: To explore the effects of Carthamus tinctorius L. (CTL) extracts on thrombosis in rats. Methods: CTL extract was obtained in hot water (60 o C), dried in a hot air oven and then freeze-dried. The rats were divided into 6 groups: normal group, control group, reference group (aspirin 5 mg/kg) as well as groups that received 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg doses of CTL, respectively. For each group, treatment was given orally once daily for 14 days. Common carotid artery FeCl 3-induced thrombus and inferior vena cava thrombosis occlusion time, as well as plasma concentrations of thromboxane B2 (TXB2) and 6-keto-prostaglandine F1 α(6-keto-PGF1 α) were measured in rats. Results: Compared with the control group, all doses of CTL extracts significantly and dose-dependently prolonged thrombosis occlusion time, reduced the weight of thrombus and increased inhibition rate (p < 0.01). Plasma TXB2 concentration of all CTL extracts groups decreased dose-dependently (p < 0.05) while that of 6-keto-PGF1 α was increased (p < 0.05). There was association between 6-ketoPGF1 α/TXB2 and arterial or venous thrombus weight for all treatments, and also with occlusion time for CTL treatment but not for aspirin. Conclusion: CTL has a significant effect on thrombosis in rats. However, further studies are required to determine its clinical potentials.
Analysis of thermal images in Thermography Studio sofrware package

Assessment of the object temperature was carried out on the basis of its infrared radiation. Assessment of temperature requires knowledge of the object eemissivity surface of the object. This paper is a description of the experiment in which a particular object emissivity and object temperature is estimated, based on thermal image. Processing of termal images of objects, whose temperature estimates, was performed in Thermography Studio software package. Verification of the estimated temperature of the buildings is made contact with a thermometer and it was shown that good agreement is estimated temperature based on thermal images and measured with a thermometer.
The Progress of Computing

The present study analyzes computer performance over the last century and a half. Three results stand out. First, there has been a phenomenal increase in computer power over the twentieth century. Performance in constant dollars or in terms of labor units has improved since 1900 by a factor in the order of 1 trillion to 5 trillion, which represent compound growth rates of over 30 percent per year for a century. Second, there were relatively small improvements in efficiency (perhaps a factor of ten) in the century before World War II. Around World War II, however, there was a substantial acceleration in productivity, and the growth in computer power from 1940 to 2001 has averaged 55 percent per year. Third, this study develops estimates of the growth in computer power relying on performance rather than on input-based measures typically used by official statistical agencies. The price declines using performance-based measures are markedly higher than those reported in the official statistics.
An epidemiological study of low back pain among oil drilling workers in India

Many episodes of low back pain are disabling, thus making it one of the costly occupational health problem. The proper alignment and lifting operations during drilling process frequently exposed the oil-drilling workers to unusual strain on the spine and thus make them susceptible for developing low back pain. The present cross-sectional study was carried out in 71 oil-drilling workers. The prevalence of self-reported low back pain was found to be 29.6%. Higher prevalence was found in those working in awkward working posture (c 2 = 6.41; df = 1; p < 0.01). No other factors, namely, age, obesity, duration of exposure, smoking habit, family history of musculoskeletal disorders, exposure to vibration, lifting of weights and past history of injury was found to be statistically significant. Furthermore, using univariate and multivariate analysis, none of the factor was found to have excess risk of occurrence of low back pain, which can partly be attributed to small sample size.
Modeling klein tunneling and caustics of electron waves in graphene

We employ the tight-binding propagation method to study Klein tunneling and quantum interference in large graphene systems. With this efficient numerical scheme, we model the propagation of a wave packet through a potential barrier and determine the tunneling probability for different incidence angles. We consider both sharp and smooth potential barriers in n-p-n and n-n' junctions and find good agreement with analytical and semiclassical predictions. When we go outside the Dirac regime, we observe that sharp n-p junctions no longer show Klein tunneling because of intervalley scattering. However, this effect can be suppressed by considering a smooth potential. Klein tunneling holds for potentials changing on the scale much larger than the interatomic distance. When the energies of both the electrons and holes are above the Van Hove singularity, we observe total reflection for both sharp and smooth potential barriers. Furthermore, we consider caustic formation by a two-dimensional Gaussian potential. For sufficiently broad potentials we find a good agreement between the simulated wave density and the classical electron trajectories.
In vitro combination therapy with isavuconazole against Candida spp.

Combination therapy may be an alternative therapeutic approach for difficult-to-treat Candida infections with the aim of increasing efficacy of antifungal therapy. Whether isavuconazole, an extended-spectrum triazole, possesses synergistic activity in combination therapy with echinocandins or polyenes for the treatment of invasive candidiasis has not been studied. We used Bliss independence drug interaction analysis and time-kill assays to examine the in vitro interactions of isavuconazole with amphotericin B or micafungin, an echinocandin, against strains of Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Candida glabrata, Candida tropicalis, and Candida krusei. The Bliss independence-based drug interactions modeling showed that the combination of isavuconazole and micafungin resulted in synergistic interactions against C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, and C. krusei. The degree of synergy ranged from 1.8% to 16.7% (mean %ΔΕ value) with the highest synergy occurring against C. albicans (⊙SYN% = 8.8%-110%). Time-kill assays showed that the isavuconazole-micafungin combination demonstrated concentration-depended synergy against C. albicans and C. parapsilosis. The combined interaction by Bliss analysis between isavuconazole and amphotericin B was indifferent for C. albicans, C. parapsilosis, and C. tropicalis while for C. glabrata was antagonistic (-2% to -6%) and C. krusei synergistic (3.4% to 7%). The combination of isavuconazole-amphotericin B by time-kill assay was antagonistic against C. krusei and C. glabrata. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that combinations of isavuconazole and micafungin are synergistic against Candida spp. , while those of isavuconazole and amphotericin B are indifferent in vitro.
Wireless big-data: Opportunity and the design challenging

Recent technological advancements have led to a deluge of data from distinctive domains over the past several years. In addition to its sheer volume, big data also exhibits other unique characteristics as compared with traditional data. For instance, more and more data-centers which host various `big-data', and those centers need to be networked for exercising Cloud-computing. This development calls for new system architectures for data acquisition and transmission. In this paper, we present a definition and challenges for distributed big data. Finally, we outline several potential research directions for distributed big data systems.
Increase of metabolic activity and disruption of normal contractile protein distribution by bilirubin oxidation products in vascular smooth-muscle cells.

OBJECT Cerebral vasospasm is a common cause of morbidity and death following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Previous research has shown that bilirubin oxidation products (BOXes) are present in the cerebral spinal fluid in patients with SAH-induced cerebral vasospasm and can contribute to vasoconstriction and vasospasm in vitro and in vivo. The events leading to cerebral vasospasm are not understood; however, one component of the occlusion may be due to vascular remodeling. In this study the authors have investigated the actions of BOXes, okadaic acid ([OA], a phosphatase inhibitor), and phorbol-12 myristate-13 acetate ([PMA], a protein kinase activator) on vascular smooth-muscle cell (VSMC) morphology and metabolism. METHODS Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to assess VSMC morphology and alpha-smooth-muscle actin (alphaSMA) distribution following the application of BOXes, OA, or PMA. Changes in the level of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and oxidative metabolism were also measured. The BOXes, OA, or PMA caused VSMCs to change their shape and exhibit altered alphaSMA distribution. These treatments increased LDH release (p < 0.05), which is an index of increased cell stress. Oxidative metabolism significantly increased at low and high doses of BOXes, that is, 143 +/- 8.5% and 180 +/- 11.8%, respectively (p < 0.0001). Both PMA and OA also caused a significant increase in metabolism. CONCLUSIONS The authors concluded that BOXes, OA, and PMA alter VSMC morphology and metabolic activity, events that have been observed during vascular remodeling. Although the mechanism remains unclear, the results indicate that BOXes may play a role in the vascular remodeling that occurs following aneurysmal SAH.
Moral education and character education: their relationship and roles in citizenship education

Any democratic society must concern itself with the socialization of its citizens. This begins in childhood, and schools are critical to this process. The interrelations and roles of educating for character (character education, moral education) and educating for citizenship (citizenship education, civic education) are explored, largely in a North American context. It is argued that citizenship education necessarily entails character and moral formation, but this integration is hindered by negative stereotyping between the two fields. In addition, negative stereotyping between the fields of moral education and character education further complicates attempts at synthesis. Through explorations of each of these domains and their similarities and differences, it is concluded that the role of schools in fostering the development of moral citizens in democratic societies necessitates focus on moral development, broader moral and related character development, teaching of civics and development of citizenship skills and dispositions. Moreover, these outcomes overlap and cut across the fields of moral, character and citizenship education.
Estimating the starting point of conduction in nanoscale CMOS gates

In this paper a method for calculating the starting point of conduction of parallel and serial transistor structures in CMOS gates for the nanoscale regime is introduced. The calculation of the starting point is necessary for modeling the operation of complex gates. The influence of the parasitic capacitances is determined and the subthreshold and conducting behavior of the transistors are considered for the analysis of the operation of the serial transistor structure. Appropriate assumptions are used for modeling the circuit operation whose efficiency is determined by the accuracy of the results compared to HSPICE simulations. The overall accuracy of the proposed method is verified through HSPICE simulations for 32nm high k dielectric PTM technology.