Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design and control of underwater vehicle for NDT inspections

This paper deals with design and control of unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) for nondestructive testing and inspections of submerged technologies. It covers water tanks, dams, reservoir, etc. The vehicle is designed as a neutrally buoyant rigid body with platform containing the phased array probe for weld testing. It works in two regimes - remote operational regime (6DOF) and AUV regime (3DOF). For the 6DOF maneuvering we design a symmetric vectored arrangement of eight thrusters. The symmetry in thruster positioning is utilized for design a symmetry stabilization PID control. The mathematical model was created in Matlab/Simulink and implemented in real time control system REX. The model is used for hardware in the loop simulations. Real time guidance of vehicle model is optimized and modified according to demands of operator.
Microbial Diversity in Coastal Subsurface Sediments: a Cultivation Approach Using Various Electron Acceptors and Substrate Gradients

ABSTRACT Microbial communities in coastal subsurface sediments are scarcely investigated and have escaped attention so far. But since they are likely to play an important role in biogeochemical cycles, knowledge of their composition and ecological adaptations is important. Microbial communities in tidal sediments were investigated along the geochemical gradients from the surface down to a depth of 5.5 m. Most-probable-number (MPN) series were prepared with a variety of different carbon substrates, each at a low concentration, in combination with different electron acceptors such as iron and manganese oxides. These achieved remarkably high cultivation efficiencies (up to 23% of the total cell counts) along the upper 200 cm. In the deeper sediment layers, MPN counts dropped significantly. Parallel to the liquid enrichment cultures in the MPN series, gradient cultures with embedded sediment subcores were prepared as an additional enrichment approach. In total, 112 pure cultures were isolated; they could be grouped into 53 different operational taxonomic units (OTU). The isolates belonged to the Proteobacteria, “Bacteroidetes,” “Fusobacteria,” Actinobacteria, and “Firmicutes. ” Each cultivation approach yielded a specific set of isolates that in general were restricted to this single isolation procedure. Analysis of the enrichment cultures by PCR and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis revealed an even higher diversity in the primary enrichments that was only partially reflected by the culture collection. The majority of the isolates grew well under anoxic conditions, by fermentation, or by anaerobic respiration with nitrate, sulfate, ferrihydrite, or manganese oxides as electron acceptors.
In Vitro Activities of Novel Oxapenems, Alone and in Combination with Ceftazidime, against Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Organisms

ABSTRACT Four novel oxapenem compounds (i.e., AM-112, AM-113, AM-114, and AM-115) were investigated for their β-lactamase inhibitory activity against a panel of isolated class A, C, and D enzymes, which included expanded-spectrum β-lactamase enzymes (ESBLs). The oxapenems were potent β-lactamase inhibitors. Activity varied within the group, with AM-113 and AM-114 proving to be the most active compounds. The 50% inhibitory concentrations for these agents were up to 100,000-fold lower than that of clavulanic acid against class C and D enzymes. As a group, the oxapenems were more potent than clavulanic acid against enzymes from all classes. The ability of these compounds to protect ceftazidime from hydrolysis by β-lactamase-producing strains was evaluated by MIC tests that combined ceftazidime and each oxapenem in a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio. The oxapenems markedly reduced the MICs for ceftazidime against class C hyperproducing strains and strains producing TEM- and SHV-derived ESBLs. There was little difference between the activity of 1:1 and 2:1 combinations of ceftazidime and oxapenem. The oxapenems failed to enhance the activity of ceftazidime against derepressed AmpC-producing Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains.
REINFORCING SELECTION IS EFFECTIVE UNDER A RELATIVELY BROAD SET OF CONDITIONS IN A MOSAIC HYBRID ZONE

Many hybrid zones have a mosaic structure, yet we know of no theoretical work that examines the impact of mosaicism on the outcome of evolution. We developed a computer simulation model designed to test whether the outcome of reinforcing selection differs in a mosaic and a clinal hybrid zone. Our model was a one‐dimensional stepping‐stone model. The mosaic and clinal hybrid zones that we modeled were, respectively, a mosaic maintained by differential fitness of the interacting taxa in patchy habitats and a tension zone. We modeled changes in gene frequency at two biallelic loci, A and B. Hybrids at the A locus were selected against. An allele at the B locus caused assortative mating at the A locus, which promoted reinforcement; there was a selective cost to this allele. In a mosaic hybrid zone, spatial variation in the fitness of A‐locus homozygotes in different patches caused gene and genotype frequencies at the A and B loci to differ greatly from those in a tension zone. Compared to a tension zone, a mosaic hybrid zone had a broader region in which hybrids could be formed and, thus, a broader region in which the assortative‐mating allele provided a net selective advantage (via decreased production of the less fit A‐locus hybrids). This caused the assortative‐mating allele to be favored under a broader set of conditions in a mosaic hybrid zone than in a tension zone. In mosaic and tension hybrid zones, both low and high levels of migration could prevent the establishment of the allele that promoted reinforcement, but the allele could establish under a wider range of migration rates in a mosaic than in a tension zone. In a tension zone, both low and high levels of selection against A‐locus hybrids could prevent the establishment of the assortative‐mating allele. In a mosaic hybrid zone, the assortative‐mating allele established under lower levels of selection against hybrids than in a tension zone, and high levels of selection did not impede the establishment of this allele. Overall, our work illustrates how the structure of a hybrid zone can alter the outcome of an important evolutionary process, in this case, reinforcement.
Association of Job‐related Stress Factors with Psychological and Somatic Symptoms among Japanese Hospital Nurses: Effect of Departmental Environment in Acute Care Hospitals

Association of Job‐related Stress Factors with Psychological and Somatic Symptoms among Japanese Hospital Nurses: Effect of Departmental Environment in Acute Care Hospitals: Yuri Kawano, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Nagoya University—The present study examined degrees of job‐related stress factors as well as mental and physical symptoms among Japanese hospital nurses in various departments, and clarified associations of departments and job‐related stress factors with those symptoms. A self‐administered anonymous questionnaire was distributed to 1,882 full‐time nurses at four acute care hospitals in Japan. The survey included demographic factors, and the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire. Among 1,599 nurses who completed all items relevant to the present study, we analyzed data from 1,551 female nurses. The results show that working in operating rooms was associated with fatigue, that working in intensive care units (ICU) was associated with anxiety, and that working in surgery and internal medicine was associated with anxiety and depression independently of demographic factors and job‐related stress factors. The physical and mental health of nurses might affect their time off, quality of nursing care and patient satisfaction in acute care hospitals. Therefore, job‐related stress factors should be minimized, to improve the physical and mental health of nurses, considering unique departmental demands.
Compliance, peritoneal dialysis and chronic kidney disease: lessons from the literature

Poor patient compliance with peritoneal dialysis (PD) has signifi cant adverse effects on morbidity and mortality rates in individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). It also adds to the resource burdens of healthcare services and providers. This paper explores the notion of PD compliance in patients with CKD with reference to the relevant published literature. The analysis of the literature reveals that ‘PD compliance’ is a complex and challenging construct for both patients and health professionals. There is no universal defi nition of compliance that is widely adopted in practice and research, and therefore a lack of consensus on how to determine ‘compliant’ patient outcomes. There are also multiple and interconnected determinants of PD compliance that are context-bound, which healthcare professionals must be aware of, and which makes producing consensus of measuring PD compliance diffi cult. The complexity of the interventions required to produce even a modest improvement in PD compliance, which are described in this paper, are signifi cant. Compliance with PD and other treatments for CKD is a multidimensional, context-bound concept, that to date has tended to efface the role and needs of the renal patient. We conclude the paper with the implications for contemporary practice.
Perceptual wavelet-representation of speech signals and its application to speech enhancement

Abstract When considering the speech as a non-stationary signal and giving up the quasi-stationary approach, the wavelet transform is a possible analysis method. Though this technique has been applied to a wide variety of speech processing tasks, the problem of how to derive the speech-tailored wavelets is not solved definitely. Therefore, in this paper the so-called perceptual wavelet transform and the corresponding speech representation are introduced as possible solutions. Although the proposed transform has been derived heuristically—namely, to be optimal in the perceptual frequency scale in Gabor-sense and to perform a 1 CB speech analysis—it appears that this is a self-invertible, overcomplete, shiftable transform. This is an important fact in the light of recent results in the so-called wavelet-frame-based denoising; moreover, the concept of soft-thresholding of the latter can also be introduced heuristically by applying the auditory masking phenomenon. The recent paper describes the perceptual wavelet functions in detail, presents the properties of this method in a time–domain analysis example, and two novel speech representations are given, which are somewhat similar to each other and to the conventional spectrogram. Finally, a new speech enhancement method is proposed, which consists of three stages: a perceptual wavelet-decomposition, followed by a compressive non-linearity (with adjustable parameters to the noise process), and summing.
Biomechanical study on axillary crutches during single-leg swing-through gait

This paper describes a kinetic and kinematic study on axillary crutches during one-leg swing-through gait. The primary objective is to evaluate the interplay of forces at the crutch and body interfaces and to relate them in the understanding of problems associated with the use of axillary crutches. Ten normal adult male subjects with simulated left leg impairment participated in the study. For data acquisition, the VICON kinematic system, a Kistler force plate and an instrumented crutch (with force transducers at the two upper struts close to the axillary bar and one near the crutch tip) were used. Results showed that the peak ground reaction force on the weight-bearing leg during lower limb stance increased by 21.6 percent bodyweight. The peak reaction force transmitted to the arm during crutch stancc was 44.4 percent bodyweight. These increased loadings could be detrimental to patients with unsound weight-bearing leg and upper extremities respectively. When the crutches were used incorrectly, 34 percent bodyweight was carried by the underarm. This could cause undue pressure over the neurovascular structures at the axillary region.
Correction: Body Fat Patterning, Hepatic Fat and Pancreatic Volume of Non-Obese Asian Indians with Type 2 Diabetes in North India: A Case-Control Study

There is an error in Table 1. The values in the " Cases (n = 93) " column in the " Unadjusted for age " section of the table are incorrect. Please see the corrected Table 1 here. Copyright: © 2015 Misra et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Hypothalamic mediated action of free fatty acid on growth hormone secretion in sheep.

Experimental data suggest that elevated FFA levels play a leading role in the impaired GH secretion in obesity and may therefore contribute to the maintenance of overweight. GH has a direct lipolytic effect on adipose tissue; in turn, FFA elevation markedly reduces GH secretion. This suggests the existence of a classical endocrine feedback loop between FFA and GH secretion. However, the FFA mechanism of action is not yet understood. The involvement of somatostatin (SRIH) is controversial, and in vitro experiments suggest a direct effect of FFA on the pituitary. In sheep it is possible to collect hypophysial portal blood and quantify SRIH secretion in hypophysial portal blood under physiological conscious and unstressed conditions. In this study we determined the effects of FFA (Intralipid and heparin) infusion on peripheral GH and portal SRIH levels in intact rams chronically implanted with perihypophysial cannula and in rams actively immunized against SRIH to further determine SRIH-mediated FFA effects on GH axis. Immediately after initiation of Intralipid infusion, we observed a marked increase in the FFA concentration (2160 +/- 200 vs. 295 +/- 28 nmol/ml; P < 0.01) as well as a significant decrease in basal GH secretion (1.8 +/- 0.1 vs. 2.5 +/- 0.3 ng/ml; P < 0.05) and a drastic reduction of the GH response to i.v. GH-releasing hormone injection (4.8 +/- 0.7 ng/ml in FFA group vs. 35.8 +/- 9.7 ng/ml in saline group; P < 0.01). No change in plasma insulin-like growth factor I levels was observed. During the first 2 h of infusion, the GH decrease observed was concomitant with a significant increase in portal SRIH levels (22.1 +/- .2 vs. 13 +/- 1.6 pg/ml; P < 0.01). In rams actively immunized against SRIH, the effect of FFA on basal GH secretion was biphasic. During the first 90 min of infusion, the decrease in GH induced by FFA was significantly blunted in rams actively immunized against SRIH (57 +/- 9% for immunized rams vs. 23.5 +/- 2.5% for control rams). This corresponds to the period of increased SRIH portal levels. After this first 90-min period, no difference was seen between control and immunized rams. Our results show that FFA exert their inhibitory action on the GH axis at both pituitary and hypothalamic levels, the latter mainly during the first 90 min, through increased SRIH secretion.
Effects of calcium and strontium in the process of acetylcholine release from motor nerve endings

1. The effects of Ca and Sr ions on synchronous acetyleholine (ACh) secretion (the impulsive, physiologically functional form of secretion which produces an end‐plate potential in response to a single nerve impulse) and on asynchronous ACh secretion (the delayed, residual increase in miniature end‐plate potential frequency evoked by repetitive nerve impulses or by accumulation of intracellular divalent cations) were studied at frog neuromuscular junctions.
Genetic diversity in butterflies: interactive effects of habitat fragmentation and climate-driven range expansion

Some species are expanding their ranges polewards during current climate warming. However, anthropogenic fragmentation of suitable habitat is affecting expansion rates and here we investigate interactions between range expansion, habitat fragmentation and genetic diversity. We examined three closely related Satyrinae butterflies, which differ in their habitat associations, from six sites along a transect in England from distribution core to expanding range margin. There was a significant decline in allozyme variation towards an expanding range margin in Pararge aegeria, which has the most restricted habitat availability, but not in Pyronia tithonus whose habitat is more widely available, or in a non-expanding ‘control species’ (Maniola jurtina). Moreover, data from another transect in Scotland indicated that declines in genetic diversity in P. aegeria were evident only on the transect in England, which had greater habitat fragmentation. Our results indicate that fragmentation of breeding habitats leads to more severe founder events during colonization, resulting in reduced diversity in marginal populations in more specialist species. The continued widespread loss of suitable habitats in the future may increase the likelihood of loss of genetic diversity in expanding species, which may affect whether or not species can adapt to future environmental change.
Grammar-Based Genetic Programming with Bayesian network

Grammar-Based Genetic Programming (GBGP) improves the search performance of Genetic Programming (GP) by formalizing constraints and domain specific knowledge in grammar. The building blocks (i.e. the functions and the terminals) in a program can be dependent. Random crossover and mutation destroy the dependence with a high probability, hence breeding a poor program from good programs. Understanding on the syntactic and semantic in the grammar plays an important role to boost the efficiency of GP by reducing the number of poor breeding. Therefore, approaches have been proposed by introducing context sensitive ingredients encoded in probabilistic models. In this paper, we propose Grammar-Based Genetic Programming with Bayesian Network (BGBGP) which learns the dependence by attaching a Bayesian network to each derivation rule and demonstrates its effectiveness in two benchmark problems.
Effects of haloperidol challenge on regional cerebral glucose utilization in normal human subjects.

OBJECTIVE Positron emission tomography and the fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) method were used to determine the brain's metabolic response to neuroleptic challenge in a normal, disease-free state. METHOD FDG measurements were obtained before and 12 hours after administration of 5 mg of haloperidol to 12 young normal men. These values were compared with test-retest FDG measures obtained from nine normal male control subjects who received no drug intervention. RESULTS After haloperidol administration, the haloperidol subjects showed significantly lower glucose utilization in the neocortex, limbic cortex, thalamus, and caudate nucleus but not in the putamen or cerebellum. After adjustment for global effects, significant reductions were still evident in the frontal, occipital, and anterior cingulate cortex, whereas the putamen and cerebellum showed significant increases. CONCLUSIONS This study, measuring the brain's metabolic response to acute receptor blockade, is a first step in the development of an assay of CNS pharmacological activity. By determining the response to neuroleptic challenge in a normal state, the study establishes a comparison group for determining response to challenge in various psychiatric conditions.
An improved algorithm for flow-based QoS routing protocol in WSN

This paper is to solve the problem of route resources waste in flow-based QoS routing protocol for WSN. Competition for limited resources will rose when there are two or more real time data flows between same source node and destination node, Variable “port” is set to identify different real time data flows before, which also leads to waste of route resources. Thus we set a time variable called Ptime to determine the life time of port, which can reduce idle time of each route path. Simulation results show that this algorithm can reduce route waste and improve the QoS of routing protocol.
Vertical heterojunction InAs/InGaAs nanowire MOSFETs on Si with Ion = 330 μA/μm at Ioff = 100 nA/μm and VD = 0.5 V

We present vertical InAs nanowire MOSFETs on Si with an In<inf>0.7</inf>Ga<inf>0.3</inf>As drain. The devices show Ion and gm/SS record performance for vertical MOSFETs and I<inf>off</inf> below 1 nA/μm at V<inf>d</inf> 0.5 V. We show a device with gm=1.4 mS/μm and SS=85 mV/dec, therefore having Q-value (gm/SS) of 16. The device has I<inf>on</inf>=330 μA/μm and 46 μA/μm at Ioff 100 nA/μm and 1 nA/μm, respectively. Furthermore, we show a device with SS=68 mV/dec and I<inf>on</inf>=88 μA/μm at I<inf>off</inf> 1 nA/μm and V<inf>d</inf> 0.5 V.
Identification of two juxtamembrane autophosphorylation sites in the PDGF beta‐receptor; involvement in the interaction with Src family tyrosine kinases.

Two novel sites of autophosphorylation were localized to the juxtamembrane segment of the human platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) beta‐receptor. To evaluate the importance of these phosphorylation sites, receptor mutants were made in which Tyr579, Tyr581 or both were replaced with phenylalanine residues; the receptor mutants were stably expressed in porcine aortic endothelial cells. Compared with the wild‐type receptor, the Y579F and Y581F mutants were less able to mediate association with and activation of the Src family tyrosine kinases. The ability of these phosphorylation sites to mediate directly the binding of the Src family proteins was also demonstrated by using phosphotyrosine‐containing synthetic peptides representing the juxtamembrane sequence of the receptor. Both the Y579F and Y581F mutants were similar to the wild‐type receptor with regard to their protein tyrosine kinase activity and ability to induce mitogenicity in response to PDGF‐BB. A conclusive evaluation of the role of the Src family members in signal transduction could, however, not be made since our attempt to prevent completely the association by mutation of both Tyr579 and Tyr581, resulted in loss of kinase activity and was therefore not informative. The present data, together with previous observations, demonstrate a high degree of specificity in the interaction between different autophosphorylation sites in the PDGF beta‐receptor and downstream components in the signal transduction pathway.
Gene Expression and Atrial Natriuretic Factor Processing and Secretion in Cultured AT1 Cardiac Myocytes

Background. Studies were carried out to characterize several biochemical features of cultured AT-1 cells. Methods and Results. These cells were obtained from a transplantable atrial cardiomyocyte tumor lineage. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction-based analyses demonstrated that the pattern of gene expression of cultured AT-1 cells was similar to that of adult atrial myocytes. AT-1 cells expressed atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), a-cardiac myosin heavy chain, a-cardiac actin, and connexin43. Radioimmunoassays verified that the cells synthesized, stored, and secreted ANF. Through size-exclusion, reversed-phase, and carboxymethyl-ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography, it was shown that cultured AT-1 cells stored ANF as pro-ANF (ANF-[1-126J), which was cosecretionally processed quantitatively to ANF-(i-98) and the bioactive 28-amino-acid ANF-(99-126). In addition, cultured AT-1 cells secreted ANF at almost a sixfold greater rate in response to endothelin-1, a potent secretagogue of ANF. KCI, metenkephalinamide, isoproterenol, phenylephrine, and 12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13acetate also stimulated ANF release. Conclusions. These studies, in combination with previous findings, demonstrated that cultured AT-1 cells, while maintaining the ability to proliferate, have retained functional, biochemical, and ultrastructural features that are characteristic of adult atrial myocytes. (Circulation 1992;85:1835-1841)