Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Surface Modeling of Complicated Geometries with Incomplete Erroneous Data Points-An Extension to B-Spline Approach

Based on the analogy between the B-spline curve modeling and the force-deflection behavior of a beam subjected to lateral point loads, an extension to the B-spline surface modeling method was introduced. The proposed method has strong extrapolating capability and can develop accurate surface models over an incomplete net of data points without affecting the original data. Extrapolation of the incomplete part of the data net is conducted simultaneously with interpolation of the existing part, with no need to recalculation. Approximation or data smoothing is a natural extension of the method, however, the smoothing intensity can be controlled continuously without reducing the number of spline intervals. The performance of the method was evaluated on some known analytical surfaces and produced more accurate results in comparison with the regular B-spline approach. The results indicate that the proposed method can also filter erroneous data points and reconstruct the original surface successfully
Energy Subsidy Reform in Egypt: The Gender – “Energy” Poverty Nexus

The purpose of this study is to quantify the effects of the current energy reform policy on household expenditures along gender and regional lines. Gender analysis helps to identify constraints such as transportation poverty faced by women to access economic opportunities like education and/or employment. Regional analysis is crucial as well. An energy reform policy on butane gas cylinders, for example, may have a greater effect on rural households compared to urban households since the majority of urban residents rely on natural gas as the main source of energy for electricity and heating water. Results of the study are summarized as follows: 1- the government is taking serious efforts to gradually remove energy subsidies. 2- The poor will pay a higher price than the rest of the population. 3- a comprehensive policy to ease the burden on the poor is to consider a spatially targeted plan in which public investment are weighted significantly in favor of Upper Egypt and rural areas at large. In particular, structural investments in education, health and employment must precede welfare compensatory policies.
A digital pulse width modulator based on pulse shrinking mechanism

The first digital pulse width modulator based on pulse shrinking mechanism is proposed in this paper. With extremely simple structure, the operation frequency can reach 17 MHz and the chip size is 0.39 mm2 only in a TSMC 0.35 µm CMOS process. Under 8-bit realization, the integral nonlinearity is measured to be −0.6~+0.45% which is the smallest ever known.
CD4 T Cell Depletion Substantially Augments the Rescue Potential of PD-L1 Blockade for Deeply Exhausted CD8 T Cells

In various models of chronic infections and cancers, blockade of the inhibitory programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) pathway has been shown to be promising at restoring immune function. However, there is not a complete understanding of the factors that influence responsiveness to programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) blockade. In particular, it is currently unclear whether the efficacy of PD-L1 blockade is dependent on the stage of disease. In a model of chronic lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus infection in mice, we show that exhausted CD8 T cells during the late stage of infection are refractory to rescue by PD-L1 blockade. Interestingly, PD-L1 blockade during the late stage of infection resulted in a biased expansion of PD-1+ CTLA-4+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) over antiviral CD8 T cells. Although previous studies have shown that Treg ablation can enhance the immune rescue by PD-L1 blockade, this regimen may induce lethal autoimmunity. In this report, we show that PD-L1 blockade together with CD4 T cell depletion effectively rescued deeply exhausted CD8 T cells and enhanced antiviral control during the late stage of chronic infection without any associated mortality. These data demonstrate the pleiotropic effects of anti–PD-L1 therapy on both virus-specific CD8 T cells and Tregs, and suggest a novel strategy for effectively rescuing deeply exhausted CD8 T cells.
Speaker Verification with Shifted Delta Cepstral Features : Its Pseudo-Prosodic Behavior

This paper examines the linear relation between Shifted Delta Cepstral (SDC) features and the dynamic of prosodic features. SDC features were reported to produce superior performance to ∆ features in Language Identification and speaker recognition systems. A selection of more correlated SDC features is used in speaker verification to evaluate its robustness to channel/handset mismatch. The experiment reflects superior performance of selected SDC features regarding to features in speaker verification using speech samples from NIST 2001 Ahumada database.
National type 2 diabetes prevention programme in Finland: FIN-D2D

Objectives. Current evidence shows that type 2 diabetes (T2D) can be prevented by life-style changes and medication. To meet the menacing diabetes epidemic, there is an urgent need to translate the scientific evidence regarding prevention of T2D into daily clinical practice and public health. In Finland, a national programme for the prevention of T2D has been launched. The programme comprises 3 concurrent strategies for prevention: the population strategy, the high-risk strategy and the strategy of early diagnosis and management. The article describes the implementation strategy for the prevention programme for T2D. Methods. The implementation project, FIN-D2D, is being conducted in 5 hospital districts, covering a population of 1.5 million, during the years 2003–2007. The main actors in the FIN-D2D are primary and occupational health care providers. Results. The goals of the project are (1) to reduce the incidence and prevalence of T2D and prevalence of cardiovascular risk factor levels; (2) to identify individuals who are unaware of their T2D; (3) to generate regional and local models and programmes for the prevention of T2D; (4) to evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility and costs of the programme; and (5) to increase the awareness of T2D and its risk factors in the population and to support the population strategy of the diabetes prevention programme. The feasibility, effectiveness and costs of the programme will be evaluated according to a specific evaluation plan. Conclusions. Current research evidence shows that the type 2 diabetes can be effectively prevented in high-risk subjects by life-style changes, which include increased physical activity and weight reduction. FIN-D2D explores ways to implement these methods on a national level.
Gender differences on thought disturbance measures among schizophrenic patients.

OBJECTIVE This study examined gender differences on three measures of thought disturbance among patients with schizophrenia and the relation between thought disturbance and social competency. METHOD Fifty-three male and 34 female patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the DSM-III-R criteria were assessed on measures of thought disturbance: subscales of the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS), subscales of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), and the Ego Impairment Index. Gender differences on the three measures of thought disturbance and the relation of these measures to demographic variables and other variables, such as social competency, were examined. RESULTS Male and female schizophrenic patients demonstrated similar degrees of thought disturbance on the pertinent subscales of the SAPS and the BPRS, but the male schizophrenic patients had scores showing greater impairment on the Ego Impairment Index. Furthermore, a relationship between thought disturbance and social competency was confirmed. CONCLUSIONS These findings support other studies in which female patients were found to have a "milder" form of schizophrenia, generally characterized by better social functioning, than their male counterparts. The literature regarding gender-related differences in thought disturbance in schizophrenia has been unclear and complicated by design issues such as obtaining adequate samples of subjects and optimizing measurement selection. The findings of this study suggest that use of a converging-measures strategy allows a better assessment of thought disturbance in severely ill schizophrenic patients and an understanding of the importance of thought disorder with respect to gender-related patterns of clinical characteristics, such as social competency.
Adaptive stabilisation for a large class of high-order uncertain non-linear systems

The problem of global adaptive stabilisation by state-feedback is investigated for a class of high-order non-linear systems with uncertain control coefficients and zero dynamics. First, some appropriate unknown parameters are introduced to obtain the updating laws when adapting control design. Then, by the flexible way of combining adding a power integrator with adaptive technique and the idea of changing supply functions, the requirement on the uncertain control coefficients is relaxed, and a recursive design procedure is successfully developed to achieve a continuous adaptive stabilising controller. Finally, an example is provided to illustrate the correctness of the theoretical results.
The genetics of extreme microgeographic adaptation: an integrated approach identifies a major gene underlying leaf trichome divergence in Yellowstone Mimulus guttatus

Microgeographic adaptation provides a particularly interesting context for understanding the genetic basis of phenotypic divergence and may also present unique empirical challenges. In particular, plant adaptation to extreme soil mosaics may generate barriers to gene flow or shifts in mating system that confound simple genomic scans for adaptive loci. Here, we combine three approaches – quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of candidate intervals in controlled crosses, population resequencing (PoolSeq) and analyses of wild recombinant individuals – to investigate one trait associated with Mimulus guttatus (yellow monkeyflower) adaptation to geothermal soils in Yellowstone National Park. We mapped a major QTL causing dense leaf trichomes in thermally adapted plants to a <50‐kb region of linkage Group 14 (Tr14) previously implicated in trichome divergence between independent M. guttatus populations. A PoolSeq scan of Tr14 region revealed a cluster of six genes, coincident with the inferred QTL peak, with high allele frequency differences sufficient to explain observed phenotypic differentiation. One of these, the R2R3 MYB transcription factor Migut.N02661, is a plausible functional candidate and was also strongly associated (r2 = 0.27) with trichome phenotype in analyses of wild‐collected admixed individuals. Although functional analyses will be necessary to definitively link molecular variants in Tr14 with trichome divergence, our analyses are a major step in that direction. They point to a simple, and parallel, genetic basis for one axis of Mimulus guttatus adaptation to an extreme habitat, suggest a broadly conserved genetic basis for trichome variation across flowering plants and pave the way for further investigations of this challenging case of microgeographic incipient speciation.
Responses of Individual Cardiac Chambers to Stimulation of the Cervical Vagosympathetic Trunk in Atropinized Dogs

Employing multiple chamber pressure recording techniques, the presence of fibers within the right and left cervical vagosympathetic trunks which innervate both right and left ventricles has been demonstrated. Electrical excitation of the cervical vagosympathetic in the atropinized dog elicited a distinct increase in both rate of rise and in maximal systolic intraventricular pressures, with or without cardiac acceleration. It persisted during electrical pacing of the right ventricle. In many animals, the a-wave of the atrial pressure traces also showed augmentation, but this was not consistent or essential for the ventricular response. Although pulmonary vasoconstriction was not ruled out as a concurrent event, its contribution to right ventricular augmentation was not essential as demonstrated in bilateral, isovolumetric ventricular preparations. The evidence indicates the presence of adrenergic fibers in the cervical vagosympathetic trunk which are distributed to all four cardiac chambers. Their effects on the heart are abolished by the β-blocking agent, propranolol, and are unaffected by eserine administration.
Analysis of the causes of death of casualties in field military setting.

OBJECTIVE We assessed the causes of death of military casualties in order to determine the characteristics of injury and to determine how survivability can be improved. METHODS A retrospective review of the trauma registry of the Israel Defense Forces was conducted. The causes of death were determined. Casualties that were found alive but died later at any level of care were included. RESULTS Information about casualties that was recorded during the years 2002-2009 was reviewed. Eighty-one fatalities were included in the analysis. Fifty-one (63%) fatalities were caused by gunshot wounds. Analysis of the data regarding the cause of death revealed that 66 (81.5%) of the casualties died because of hemorrhage and 25 (30.9%) because of head trauma. Of the casualties that died of hemorrhage, 12 (18.2%) had neck or limbs potentially compressible hemorrhage. All fatalities from hemorrhage died before arriving at a medical facility. CONCLUSION Torso noncompressible hemorrhage was found to be the main cause of death among the casualties investigated. Potentially compressible hemorrhage and head injury are significant too. Research and development of means to treat hemorrhage and emphasis on distribution of means to stop hemorrhage and on training may improve outcome of potentially compressible hemorrhage.
Forecasting the Price of Crude Oil with Multiple Predictors

For the price of crude oil, this paper aims to investigate the predictive content of a variety of variables including oil futures prices, exchange rates of particular countries and stock-market indexes. Out-of-sample forecasting results suggest that oil futures prices have marginal predictive power for the price of oil at a 1-month forecast horizon. However, they generally lose their forecasting power at higher forecast horizons. The results also suggest that exchange rates help predicting oil prices at higher forecast horizons. The paper also considers forecast averaging and variable selection methods, and finds that forecast averaging significantly improves the forecasting performances.
Finite element prediction of endosteal and periosteal bone remodelling in the turkey ulna: Effect of remodelling signal and dead-zone definition

Abstract Bone remodelling is the adaptation of bone mass in response to localized changes in loading conditions. The nature of the mechanical signal governing remodelling, however, remains the subject of continued investigation. The aims of this study were to use an iterative finite element (FE) bone remodelling technique to explore the effect of different remodelling signals in the prediction of bone remodelling behaviour. A finite element model of the turkey ulna, following that of Brown et al., was analysed using the ABAQUS package. The model was validated against the static predictions of the Brown et al. study. A bone remodelling technique, based on swelling algorithms given by Taylor and Clift, was then applied to predict the dramatic change in loading conditions imposed. The resulting changes in FE mid-shaft bone geometry were compared with the remodelling observed experimentally and showed good agreement. The tensile principal stress was found to be the best remodelling signal under the imposed conditions. Localized sensitivities in the remodelling patterns were found, however, and the definition of the dead zone was modified as a result. Remodelling with the new dead-zone definition showed that both the tensile principal stress and the tensile principal strain produced the remodelling patterns that agreed most closely with experiment.
Optimal Meter Placement for Robust Measurement Systems in Active Distribution Grids

Future active distribution grids are characterized by rapid and significant changes of operation and behavior due to, for example, intermittent power injections from renewable sources and the load-generation characteristic of the so-called prosumers. The design of a robust measurement infrastructure is critical for safe and effective grid control and operation. We had earlier proposed a placement procedure that allows finding an optimal robust measurement location incorporating phasor measurement units and smart metering devices for distribution system state estimation. In this paper, the lack of detailed information on distributed generation is also considered in the optimal meter placement procedure, so that the distributed measurement system can provide accurate estimates even with limited knowledge of the profile of the injected power. Possible non-Gaussian distribution of the distributed power generation has been taken into account. With this aim, the Gaussian mixture model has been incorporated into the placement optimization by means of the so-called Gaussian component combination method. The occurrence of either loss of data or degradation of metrological performance of the measurement devices is also considered. Tests performed on a UKGDS 16-bus distribution network are presented and discussed.
Variations in the care of HIV-infected adults in the United States: results from the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Study.

CONTEXT Studies of selected populations suggest that not all persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) receive adequate care. OBJECTIVE To examine variations in the care received by a national sample representative of the adult US population infected with HIV. DESIGN Cohort study that consisted of 3 interviews from January 1996 to January 1998 conducted by the HIV Cost and Services Utilization Consortium. PATIENTS AND SETTING Multistage probability sample of 2864 respondents (68% of those targeted for sampling), who represent the 231400 persons at least 18 years old, with known HIV infection receiving medical care in the 48 contiguous United States in early 1996 in facilities other than emergency departments, the military, or prisons. The first follow-up consisted of 2466 respondents and the second had 2267 (65% of all surviving sampled subjects). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Service utilization (<2 ambulatory visits, at least 1 emergency department visit that did not lead to hospitalization, at least 1 hospitalization) and medication utilization (receipt of antiretroviral therapy and prophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia). RESULTS Inadequate HIV care was commonly reported at the time of interviews conducted from early 1996 to early 1997 but declined to varying degrees by late 1997. Twenty-three percent of patients initially and 15% of patients subsequently had emergency department visits that did not lead to hospitalization, 30% initially and 26% subsequently of those who had CD4 cell counts below 0.20 x 10(9)/L did not receive P carinii pneumonia prophylaxis, and 41% initially and 15% subsequently of those who had CD4 cell counts below 0.50 x 10(9)/L did not receive antiretroviral therapy (protease inhibitor or nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor). Inferior patterns of care were seen for many of these measures in blacks and Latinos compared with whites, the uninsured and Medicaid-insured compared with the privately insured, women compared with men, and other risk and/or exposure groups compared with men who had sex with men even after CD4 cell count adjustment. With multivariate adjustment, many differences remained statistically significant. Even by early 1998, fewer blacks, women, and uninsured and Medicaid-insured persons had started taking antiretroviral medication (CD4 cell count adjusted P values <.001 to <.005). CONCLUSIONS Access to care improved from 1996 to 1998 but remained suboptimal. Blacks, Latinos, women, the uninsured, and Medicaid-insured all had less desirable patterns of care. Strategies to ensure optimal care for patients with HIV requires identifying the causes of deficiency and addressing these important shortcomings in care.
The Eect of Per Capita Income on the Product Scope of Exporters

I use the Exporter Dynamics Database (Cebeci et al., 2012) to document a new regularity for multiproduct exporters: the number of exported products per rm (product scope) is positively correlated with the per capita income of the destination country. On average, doubling the percapita income of the destination country is associated with a 7% increase in the product scope. To rationalize this nding I develop a general equilibrium, two-country model of multiproduct rms. I combine in a tractable way two features of models of multiproduct rms: non-homothetic preferences, and that rms’ technology exhibits a core competence. Firms face \cannibalization eects": expanding the product scope \cannibalizes" the rm’s sales on its existing products. A rise in the productivity of the foreign economy causes the foreign per capita income to increase. As a result, home rms expand the product scope they export to the foreign country despite the tougher competition they face. The model generates a testable prediction on the optimal scope of exporters that I subject to empirical analysis.
Locality and internationalization of family firms

aCentre for Family Enterprise and ownership, Jönköping international Business school, Jönköping university, Jönköping, sweden; bDepartment of management, universität trier, trier, germany; cDepartment of applied Economics, Erasmus school of Economics, Erasmus university, rotterdam, the netherlands; dDepartment of Entrepreneurship strategy and innovation, lancaster university management school, lancaster university, lancaster, uK
Twenty-six key research questions in urban stream ecology: an assessment of the state of the science

Abstract Urban streams have been the focus of much research in recent years, but many questions about the mechanisms driving the urban stream syndrome remain unanswered. Identification of key research questions is an important step toward effective, efficient management of urban streams to meet societal goals. We developed a list of priority research questions by: 1) soliciting input from interested scientists via a listserv and online survey, 2) holding an open discussion on the questions at the Second Symposium on Urbanization and Stream Ecology, and 3) reviewing the literature in the preparation of this paper. We present the resulting list of 26 questions in the context of a review and summary of the present understanding of urban effects on streams. The key questions address major gaps in our understanding of ecosystem structure and function responses (e.g., what are the sublethal impacts of urbanization on biota? ), characteristics of urban stream stressors (e.g., can we identify clusters of covarying stressors? ), and management strategies (e.g., what are appropriate indicators of ecosystem structure and function to use as management targets? ). The identified research needs highlight our limited understanding of mechanisms driving the urban stream syndrome and the variability in characteristics of the effects of urbanization across different biogeoclimatic conditions, stages of development, government policies, and cultural norms. We discuss how to proceed with appropriate management activities given our current incomplete understanding of the urban stream syndrome.