Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clutter suppression scheme for vehicle radar

Vehicle radar receives echoes from the natural environment such as road and building. These echoes are called clutter which can be much higher than vehicle echo. It is therefore expect to improve the detection performance by summing all the radar echoes available from the vehicle. However, heavy road clutter should not be suppressed less than the vehicle echo by conventional integration schemes such as pulse integration and CFAR (Constant False Alarm Rate). Also the radar echo should include multiple vehicle targets as well as the clutter. Therefore it is not easy to detect multiple vehicle targets from heavy road clutter. In this paper, multiple targets detection with new clutter suppression scheme is discussed and the usefulness is investigated by conducting the measurement. As a result, the suggested scheme is found to suppress the heavy clutter significantly.
Caught Between Volunteerism and Professionalism: Support by Nonprofit Leaders for the Donative Labor Hypothesis

The rise of professionalism within the nonprofit sector has transformed the sector’s reliance on well-meaning volunteers to paid professionals. While the professionalization of the nonprofit workforce is likely to continue, nonprofits are increasingly challenged for their inability to pay competitive wages. Our study argues that a social expectation for nonprofit employees to forgo some of their wages influences the donative labor narrative, which in turn impacts low nonprofit wages. We present data from an online survey experiment of executive directors at 467 nonprofits, along with their organizations’ Form 990 filings, to contrast socially biased attitudes and genuine views toward the donative labor hypothesis. The findings illustrate that the donative labor narrative should be understood as a result of social expectations for sacrifice of nonprofit employees, rather than a simple outcome of supply and demand in the labor market. We discuss the need to reframe the widespread donative labor narrative.
Sterilization regret among married women in India: implications for the Indian national family planning program.

CONTEXT In India, female sterilization accounts for 66% of contraceptive use, and age at sterilization is declining. It is likely that some women regret having been sterilized, but data on the prevalence of, and the social and economic correlates of, regret at the national level are insufficient. METHODS Data for analysis came from 30,999 sterilized women aged 15-49 interviewed in the 2005-2006 Indian National Family Health Survey. Logistic regression analyses and Wald tests were used to identify the social and demographic characteristics associated with sterilization regret. RESULTS Nationally, 5% of sterilized women aged 15-49 reported sterilization regret. Women sterilized at age 30 or older were less likely than women sterilized before age 25 to express regret (odds ratio, 0.8). Compared with women having only sons, those who had only daughters were more likely to express regret (1.3), while those having both sons and daughters were less likely to express regret (0.8). Women who had experienced child loss had higher odds of reporting regret than women who had not (for one child lost, 1.6; for two or more children lost, 2.0). CONCLUSIONS Given the large proportion of women undergoing sterilization, the potential numbers experiencing regret are considerable. If age at sterilization continues to decline, sterilization regret is likely to increase. Encouraging couples to delay sterilization and increasing the availability of highly effective reversible contraceptives are options that India may consider to avert sterilization regret.
Locus of Control Redux

While research suggests that an external locus of control predicts violence among offenders, it is unclear whether an internal locus of control (ILOC) acts as a protective factor against involvement in violent behaviors. Furthermore, we know little about the contextual factors that influence the development of an ILOC. This study analyzes the relationship between ILOC and involvement in violent behaviors, examines contextual influences on the development of an ILOC, and assesses whether contextual influences affect the relationship between locus of control and violence. Data are derived from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, a multi-cohort accelerated longitudinal research study of youth living in 80 Chicago neighborhoods during 1994. Focusing on 1,767 youths aged 9 to 19, results indicate that an ILOC is a significant predictor of abstention from violence, even when controlling for individual characteristics and family and neighborhood contextual factors known to influence violence. Several family and neighborhood contextual factors influence an ILOC orientation. Results also indicate that those who are younger, female, and non-Hispanic are more likely to express an ILOC. Implications of the results are discussed.
Topical treatment of glaucoma: established and emerging pharmacology

ABSTRACT Introduction: Glaucoma is a collection of optic neuropathies consisting of retinal ganglion cell death and corresponding visual field loss. Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss worldwide and is forecasted to precipitously increase in prevalence in the coming decades. Current treatment options aim to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) via topical or oral therapy, laser treatment to the trabecular meshwork or ciliary body, and incisional surgery. Despite increasing use of trabecular laser therapy, topical therapy remains first-line in the treatment of most forms of glaucoma. Areas covered: Novel glaucoma therapies are a long-standing focus of investigational study. More than two decades have passed since the last United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a topical glaucoma drug. Here, the authors review established topical glaucoma drops as well as those currently in FDA phase 2 and 3 clinical trial, nearing clinical use. Expert opinion: Current investigational glaucoma drugs lower IOP, mainly through enhanced trabecular meshwork outflow. Although few emerging therapies show evidence of retinal ganglion cell and optic nerve neuroprotection in animal models, emerging drugs are focused on lowering IOP, similar to established medicines.
Functionally Similar Vanadate-induced 8-Azidoadenosine 5′-[α-32P]Diphosphate-trapped Transition State Intermediates of Human P-glycoprotein Are Generated in the Absence and Presence of ATP Hydrolysis*

P-glycoprotein (Pgp) is an ATP-dependent drug efflux pump whose overexpression confers multidrug resistance to cancer cells. Pgp exhibits a robust drug substrate-stimulable ATPase activity, and vanadate (Vi) blocks this activity effectively by trapping Pgp nucleotide in a non-covalent stable transition state conformation. In this study we compare Vi-induced [α-32P]8-azido-ADP trapping into Pgp in the presence of [α-32P]8-azido-ATP (with ATP hydrolysis) or [α-32P]8-azido-ADP (without ATP hydrolysis). Vi mimics Pi to trap the nucleotide tenaciously in the Pgp·[α-32P]8-azido-ADP·Vi conformation in either condition. Thus, by using [α-32P]8-azido-ADP we show that the Vi-induced transition state of Pgp can be generated even in the absence of ATP hydrolysis. Furthermore, half-maximal trapping of nucleotide into Pgp in the presence of Vi occurs at similar concentrations of [α-32P]8-azido-ATP or [α-32P]8-azido-ADP. The trapped [α-32P]8-azido-ADP is almost equally distributed between the N- and the C-terminal ATP sites of Pgp in both conditions. Additionally, point mutations in the Walker B domain of either the N- (D555N) or C (D1200N)-terminal ATP sites that arrest ATP hydrolysis and Vi-induced trapping also show abrogation of [α-32P]8-azido-ADP trapping into Pgp in the absence of hydrolysis. These data suggest that both ATP sites are dependent on each other for function and that each site exhibits similar affinity for 8-azido-ATP (ATP) or 8-azido-ADP (ADP). Similarly, Pgp in the transition state conformation generated with either ADP or ATP exhibits drastically reduced affinity for the binding of analogues of drug substrate ([125I]iodoarylazidoprazosin) as well as nucleotide (2′(3′)-O-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)adenosine 5′-triphosphate). Analyses of Arrhenius plots show that trapping of Pgp with [α-32P]8-azido-ADP (in the absence of hydrolysis) displays an ∼2.5-fold higher energy of activation (152 kJ/mol) compared with that observed when the transition state intermediate is generated through hydrolysis of [α-32P]8-azido-ATP (62 kJ/mol). In aggregate, these results demonstrate that the Pgp·[α-32P]8-azido-ADP (or ADP)·Vi transition state complexes generated either in the absence of or accompanying [α-32P]8-azido-ATP hydrolysis are functionally indistinguishable.
Voxel-based detection of white matter abnormalities in mild Alzheimer disease

Objective: To detect white matter abnormalities in patients with mild Alzheimer disease (AD) by diffusion tensor imaging and to determine their topographic relationship with gray matter atrophy. Methods: Thirteen patients with mild AD and 16 normal age-matched volunteers underwent diffusion tensor imaging and three-dimensional spoiled gradient-recalled sequence scanning. Voxel-based morphometry was conducted to detect regions of gray matter atrophy in the AD group relative to the control group. Fractional anisotropy (FA) maps were processed using SPM2 to make voxel-wise comparison of anisotropy in whole brain between the two groups. The relationship between locations of abnormalities in the white and gray matter was examined. Results: Significant reductions in anisotropy were found in the white matter of both medial temporal lobes, bilateral temporal stems, bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculi, bilateral internal capsules, and cerebral peduncles, as well as the white matter of left middle temporal gyrus and right superior parietal lobule, the body and genu of the corpus callosum, and the right lateral capsule in patients with AD. Although the decrease in FA was consistent with cortical volumetric reduction in both temporal lobes, the widespread involvement of bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculi was dominant in these white matter findings. Conclusions: Voxel-wise comparison of whole-brain anisotropy revealed widely distributed disintegration of white matter in mild Alzheimer disease (AD). The white matter shows a different pattern of degeneration from gray matter and may be an independent factor in the progress of AD.
Potential Role of the Amelogenin N-Terminus in the Regulation of Calcium Phosphate Formation in vitro

N-terminal and C-terminal (CT) domains of amelogenin have been shown to be essential for proper enamel formation. Recent studies have also suggested that although the C-terminus plays an apparent role in protein-mineral interactions, other amelogenin structural domains are involved. The objective was to explore the role of the amelogenin N-terminus in the regulation of calcium phosphate formation in vitro. Spontaneous mineralization studies were carried out using the phosphorylated (+P) and nonphosphorylated (–P) N-terminus of the leucine-rich amelogenin peptide (LRAP) that lacks the hydrophilic CT domain. Mineralization progress was monitored via changes in solution pH. Mineral phases formed were characterized using TEM, selected area electron diffraction, and FT-IR. In controls, amorphous calcium phosphate was initially formed and subsequently transformed to randomly oriented hydroxyapatite (HA) plate-like crystals. In contrast to the control, LRAP(+P)-CT stabilized ACP formation for >1 day, while LRAP(–P)-CT accelerated the transformation of ACP to HA but had little effect on crystal shape or orientation. In conclusion, the N-terminal domain found in LRAP, as in amelogenins, appears to have the capacity to interact with forming calcium phosphate mineral phases. Results suggest that the N-terminal domain of amelogenin may play a direct role in early stages of enamel formation.
Introducing Information Measures via Inference [Lecture Notes]

Information measures, such as the entropy and the Kullback-Leibler (KL) divergence, are typically introduced using an abstract viewpoint based on a notion of "surprise. " Accordingly, the entropy of a given random variable (rv) is larger if its realization, when revealed, is on average more "surprising" (see, e.g., [1]-[3]). The goal of this lecture note is to describe a principled and intuitive introduction to information measures that builds on inference, i.e., estimation and hypothesis testing. Specifically, entropy and conditional entropy measures are defined using variational characterizations that can be interpreted in terms of the minimum Bayes risk in an estimation problem. Divergence metrics are similarly described using variational expressions derived via mismatched estimation or binary hypothesis testing principles. The classical Shannon entropy and the KL divergence are recovered as special cases of more general families of information measures.
Solid-state NMR measurements of the kinetics of the interaction between phospholamban and Ca2 + -ATPase in lipid bilayers

Phospholamban (PLB) is a small transmembrane protein that regulates calcium transport across the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) of cardiac cells via a reversible inhibitory interaction with Ca2 + -ATPase. In this work solid-state NMR methods have been used to investigate the dynamics of the inhibitory association between PLB and Ca2 + -ATPase. Skeletal muscle Ca2 + -ATPase was incorporated into phosphatidylcholine membranes together with a ten-fold excess of a null-cysteine mutant of PLB labelled with 13C at Leu-44 in the transmembrane domain ([α-13C-L44]AAA-PLB). In these membranes the PLB variant was found to partially inhibit Ca2 + -ATPase by reducing the affinity of the enzyme for calcium. Cross-polarization magic angle spinning (CP-MAS) 13C NMR spectra of the membranes exhibited a signature peak from [α-13C-L44]AAA-PLB at 56 ppm. Changes in the intensity of the peak were observed at different temperatures, which was diagnostic of direct interaction between [α-13C-L44]AAA-PLB and Ca2 + -ATPase. Measurements of dipolar couplings between the 13C label and neighbouring protons were analysed to show that the mean residency time for the association of AAA-PLB with Ca2 + -ATPase was on the order of 2.5 ms at temperatures between 0°C and 30°C. This new NMR approach will be useful for examining how the association of the two proteins is affected by physiological stimuli such as kinases and the elevation of calcium concentration.
The Next Generation of Artificial Pancreas Control Algorithms

Creating a wearable artificial pancreas (AP) by closing the loop between a glucose sensor and an insulin infusion pump has the potential to significantly impact the complications associated with and improve the quality of life of diabetic individuals. Despite recent progress on glucose sensor and insulin infusion technologies, control algorithms built on the simple glucose value efferent and insulin dose afferent model are not efficient and reliable. Based on glucose regulatory mechanisms known to date, their impairment in the diabetic state, and fundamental principles of control theory, some corrections to the present course of research are proposed to facilitate the removal of this barrier. A greater emphasis on model predictive controllers or controllers that exploit a mathematical representation, or model, of the patient's own physiology is proposed. Whole-body physiologically based pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics-type models hold the best odds for enabling a successful closed-loop AP. However, two major improvements to the diabetes modeling state of the art are required to make them practical for daily care: integrating hypothalamus—pituitary–adrenal axis and gastrointestinal tract submodels. Although there are simple representations of these in current existence, large concerted efforts between experimentalists and modelers will be required to enhance their accuracy. Finally, changes in hardware that complements controller performance are suggested. For instance, the development of dual control inputs of insulin and glucagon could relax tolerances on controller accuracy.
STAT3 Is Required for Proliferation and Maintenance of Multipotency in Glioblastoma Stem Cells

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) regulates diverse cellular processes, including cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis, and is frequently activated during tumorigenesis. Recently, putative glioblastoma stem cells (GBM‐SCs) were isolated and characterized. These cells can self‐renew indefinitely in culture, are highly tumorigenic, and retain the ability to differentiate in culture. We have found that treatment of GBM‐SCs with two chemically distinct small molecule inhibitors of STAT3 DNA‐binding inhibits cell proliferation and the formation of new neurospheres from single cells. Genetic knockdown of STAT3 using a short hairpin RNA also inhibits GBM‐SC proliferation and neurosphere formation, confirming that these effects are specific to STAT3. Although STAT3 inhibition can induce apoptosis in serum‐derived GBM cell lines, this effect was not observed in GBM‐SCs grown in stem cell medium. Markers of neural stem cell multipotency also decrease upon STAT3 inhibition, suggesting that STAT3 is required for maintenance of the stem‐like characteristics of these cells. Strikingly, even a transient inhibition of STAT3 leads to irreversible growth arrest and inhibition of neurosphere formation. These data suggest that STAT3 regulates the growth and self‐renewal of GBM‐SCs and is thus a potential target for cancer stem cell‐directed therapy of glioblastoma multiforme. STEM CELLS 2009;27:2383–2392
Integrated Electromicrobial Conversion of CO2 to Higher Alcohols

An engineered microbe transforms carbon dioxide into a prospective liquid fuel in tandem with electrical power rather than light. One of the major challenges in using electrical energy is the efficiency in its storage. Current methods, such as chemical batteries, hydraulic pumping, and water splitting, suffer from low energy density or incompatibility with current transportation infrastructure. Here, we report a method to store electrical energy as chemical energy in higher alcohols, which can be used as liquid transportation fuels. We genetically engineered a lithoautotrophic microorganism, Ralstonia eutropha H16, to produce isobutanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol in an electro-bioreactor using CO2 as the sole carbon source and electricity as the sole energy input. The process integrates electrochemical formate production and biological CO2 fixation and higher alcohol synthesis, opening the possibility of electricity-driven bioconversion of CO2 to commercial chemicals.
Inhibition of phagocytic activity of ARPE-19 cells by free radical mediated oxidative stress

Abstract Oxidative stress is a main factor responsible for key changes leading to the onset of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) that occur in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which is involved in phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments (POS). In this study, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), H2O2 and iron ions (Fe) or rose Bengal (RB) in the presence of NADH and Fe were used to model free radical mediated oxidative stress to test if free radicals and singlet oxygen have different efficiency to inhibit phagocytosis of ARPE-19 cells. Free radical mediated oxidative stress was confirmed by HPLC-EC(Hg) measurements of cholesterol hydroperoxides in treated cells. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spin trapping was employed to detect superoxide anion. Cell survival was analyzed by the MTT assay. Specific phagocytosis of fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate-labeled POS and non-specific phagocytosis of fluorescent beads were measured by flow cytometry. HPLC analysis of cells photosensitized with RB in the presence of NADH and Fe indicated substantial increase in formation of free radical-dependent 7α/7β-hydroperoxides. EPR spin trapping confirmed the photogeneration of superoxide anion in samples enriched with RB, NADH and Fe. For all three protocols sub-lethal oxidative stress induced significant inhibition of the specific phagocytosis of POS. In contrast, non-specific phagocytosis was inhibited only by H2O2 or H2O2 and Fe treatment. Inhibition of phagocytosis was transient and recoverable by 24 h. These results suggest that free radicals may exert similar to singlet oxygen efficiency in inhibiting phagocytosis of RPE cells, and that the effect depends on the location where initial reactive species are formed.
AR-Ghost Hunter: An augmented reality gun application

This paper presents an augmented reality gun application named AR-Ghost Hunter. AR-Ghost Hunter is an extension of the traditional first person game which adopts an innovative infrared marker system and portable computer to form a complete mobile AR system. In this system, players are able to fight with virtual ghost through special gun like devices in real environment. The basic issue of the system such as infrared marker indentify, pose estimation, and user's devices are discussed.
Comparing and contrasting the evolution through time of organizational sustainability initiatives

Purpose The purpose of this study is to compare private and public hospitals’ sustainability actions, as well as to contrast their organizational evolution over time (i.e. past, present and expected future) in the Spanish health-care sector. Sustainability initiatives refer to organizations’ economic, social and environmental actions. Design/methodology/approach This study applies an inductive approach based on judgmental sampling and in-depth interviews of key informants at private and public hospitals in the Spanish health-care sector. Data were gathered from the executive in charge of corporate social responsibility in public hospitals and the directors of communication at private hospitals. Findings Although the private and public hospitals studied are in the same health-care industry and run similar operations, their organizational sustainability initiatives in the past, present and expected future differ. The scope of sustainability initiatives between private and public hospitals is different, compared through time. Who was and who is promoting, as well as who is going to promote sustainability initiatives, also differs between private and public hospitals. Research limitations/implications One limitation of this study is that it was undertaken exclusively in Spanish organizations from one industry, but this is also a benefit, as it enables a comparison and contrast of the evolution between private and public hospitals. Future research could focus on the evolution of organizational sustainability initiatives in other industries and countries. Practical implications The reported comparison of empirical findings between private and public hospitals, as well as the subsequent discussion contrasting these findings, yields various managerial implications in terms of the scope and promotor of sustainable actions. Originality/value This study differs from previous ones by exploring the evolutionary details of the organizational sustainability initiatives through time in both private and public hospitals. This study also makes a contribution by revealing common denominators and differentiators between private and public hospitals that operate in the same health-care industry.