Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Versatile Split-Field 1-D Propagator for Perfect FDTD Plane Wave Injection

A new staggered field design and formulation for the one-dimensional propagator of the total-field/scattered-field source implementation in finite-difference time domain (FDTD) scattering simulations are presented. The new equations are based on split-field Maxwell's equations and the resulting technique extends the functionality of the multipoint auxiliary propagator to sourcing FDTD lattices hosting extended-stencil high-order algorithms. This technique virtually eliminates numerical dispersion, field location and polarization mismatches between propagator and main grid. The resulting machine accuracy-level leakage error from implementing this technique is confirmed for the standard low and high-order FDTD schemes as well as the M24 high-order algorithm. Normalized field leakage for all three algorithm implementations outside the total-field region was measured at below - 295 dB.
A NOVEL GCP MATCHING MODEL FOR IMAGE GEOMETRIC CORRECTION BY BIOLOGICAL SEQUENCE ALGORITHMS

The present study develops a novel partly automatic ground control point (GCP) matching model, which can resolve the problem of GCP matching when carrying out geometric correction for two digital aerial images (DAI). The study uses two DAIs taken at different periods as its cases. The first image is the base image, while the second image is the warp image. We first use the Needleman-Wunsch algorithm (NWA) as a global object alignment technique to match objects in the two images. After we have identified objects that can be successfully matched, we then use the Smith-Waterman algorithm (SWA) as a local features alignment technique to extract the GCPs of the successfully matched objects. At same times, we use the polynomial model method to carry out geometric correction and asses the merits of our model. Finally, the results show that appropriate GCPs can be automatically extracted from the images used in this study. Following geometric correction, the RMSE (Root-Mean-Square Error) value was 0.8611, appropriate for application on high-resolution images.
A SET quantizer circuit aiming at digital communication system

A SET based quantizer circuit has been developed in this work for the purposes of application to digital communication systems. The proposed circuit, which consists of only two SET devices, offers ultra low power dissipation, small quantization noise error and zero granular noise error. The proposed circuit does not require any external sampling signal for sampling the baseband signal. The sampling rate can be controlled simply by varying the device capacitor.
Global Outsourcing Relationships and Innovation: A Conceptual Framework and Research Propositions

Increasing globalization and the rapid growth of information technologies, including the Internet, have resulted in drastic changes in international activities of companies. Once limited to manufactured goods, currently, global outsourcing encompasses a wide variety of knowledge-based services, such as accounting, financial services, taxation, customer service, information technology, engineering drawings, human resources, research and development (RD (2) it takes a broader perspective of outsourcing, including globalization, knowledge-based services, and core activities of the firm; and (3) using a parsimonious set of theoretical concepts based on control theory, it develops several research propositions to clarify the linkages between variables. Based on our theorizing, outsourcing top management should ask two questions when planning outsourcing of knowledge-based services to generate innovations in a globalized world. These two questions are: (1) How close is the task to our core competence? And (2) how much tacit knowledge is involved in doing the outsourced task? Next, managers must identify global providers and then spend considerable thought in operational execution of the transition of the task for that is the only time that both complete teams will work together. For tasks that are close to core competence, rigid-explicit behavioral controls should be put in place; however, for tasks that have high tacit knowledge content, high norms-based relational control would be more effective. These different types of controls would lead to different innovation outcomes. Rigid-explicit behavioral controls would produce incremental innovation while relational norms-based controls would encourage radical innovation.
Local averaging of heterogeneous regression models

Many learning problems involve an exploration of relationships between features in heterogeneous datasets, where different learning models can be more suitable for different regions. We propose herein a technique of localized averaging of regression models. This technique identifies local regions which have similar characteristics and then uses the average value of local experts to describe the relationship between the predictive feature values and the target value. We performed a comparison with other famous combining methods on standard benchmark datasets, and the correlation coefficient of the proposed method was higher.
"False-positive" myocardial perfusion scintigraphy findings in patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries: insights from intravascular sonography studies.

UNLABELLED Abnormal exercise perfusion findings have been described as false-positive for coronary artery disease in patients with suspected angina and angiographically normal coronary arteries. METHODS The significance of this finding was further investigated by obtaining intravascular sonograms and Doppler guidewire measurements of at least 2 coronary arteries in 20 consecutive patients who had chest pain, normal coronary angiography findings, and positive stress-rest sestamibi SPECT findings. The summed reversible score was used to describe the extent and severity of reversible perfusion defects. On the basis of scintigraphy findings, vessels were grouped as supplying underperfused myocardial segments (target vessels, n = 20) or normal territories (reference vessels, n = 25). The presence and extension of atherosclerotic disease of the epicardial arteries were assessed by intracoronary sonography. Measurements of plaque area (PA), vessel area (VA), and relative cross-sectional PA (RPA) (RPA = PA/VA) were obtained at the site of maximum plaque concentration. The coronary flow velocity reserve (CFR) was assessed during adenosine-induced hyperemia, and the relative flow reserve was calculated as the target-to-reference coronary reserve ratio. RESULTS The median summed reversible score was 3 (range, 1-6). Intracoronary sonography showed occult atherosclerosis in 19 patients (95%), with RPA greater than 40% in 16 patients (80%). Mean RPA was significantly greater in the target vessels (46% +/- 14%) than in reference vessels (12% +/- 18%; P < 0.0001). Doppler flow velocity measurements showed abnormal vasodilation capacity (CFR < 2.5) in 14 patients (70%). Mean CFR was significantly lower in the target vessels than in the reference vessels (2.3 +/- 0.5 versus 3.1 +/- 0.6; P < 0.0001). A significant inverse correlation was seen between the summed reversible score and the coronary reserve ratio (y = 9.05x - 9.9; r = 0.70; P < 0.005). CONCLUSION Reversible perfusion defects seen on SPECT images are often associated with angiographically unrecognized occult atherosclerotic changes and an abnormal vasodilation capacity of the coronary circulation. The tendency to dismiss abnormal exercise perfusion findings as false-positive in these patients may be unjustified.
A Theory of Hostile Takeovers

In this paper, a consistent picture of the multifaceted mechanism of a hostile leveraged takeover is provided. The analysis points out two basic issues. The first is the financial problem caused by the leveraged acquisition, which calls for detailed strategic planning in order to ascertain the feasibility of the operation with respect to the capital structure of the target company. The second issue is the agency problem caused by the delegation of the acquisition to a raider, who possesses the unique skills needed for such a task. A coherent framework has thus been developed, which enables the raider to evaluate different potential targets and the lender to guarantee the optimal behaviour of the agent.
Totipotency and pluripotency of embryonic nuclei in the mouse

INTRODUCTION The development of a mouse egg starts a t fertilization. Fertilized eggs divide regularly and when the embryos reach the 32-cell stage, blastocoelia are formed and differentiation follows. Fertilized eggs have totipotency. Blastomeres separated at the 2-cell stage develop into identical twin mice (Tsunoda and McLaren, 1983). Transplantation of a single nucleus from a 4-cell embryo into the enucleated blastomeres of 2-cell embryos has resulted in identical twin and triplet mice (Kono et al., 1991). The nuclei of 2-cell and 4-cell embryos thus have totipotency. That enucleated 2-cell embryos, which received two (not one) nuclei from 8-cell embryos (Tsunoda et al., 1987a), and/or one blastomere aggregated with parthenogenetic embryos (Tsunoda et al., 1987b1, develop to term strongly indicates that the nuclei of 8-cell embryos also have totipotency. The nuclear transplantation of ICM cells into enucleated oocytes is followed by development into blastocysts (Tsunoda et al., 1989), but these do not go to term. However, when ICM cells are injected into blastocysts or aggregated with 8to 16-cell embryos, some reconstituted embryos develop into chimaeric animals (Gardner, 1968; Prather, 1989). Thus, some nuclei of the ICM have pluripotency. Embryonic stem cells (ES-cells) are also pluripotent, since chimaeras can be produced (Allan et al., 1984; Allan, 1987). Attempts were made to demonstrate the pluripotency of fetal germ cells isolated from genital ridges of fetuses from 12.5 to 17.5 days postcoitum, but without success (Kato and Tsunoda, 1991; 1992b). In this paper, totipotency and pluripotency of mouse embryonic nuclei are considered.
The origin of descending pathways in the dorsolateral funiculus of the spinal cord of the cat and rat: Further studies on the anatomy of pain modulation

There is considerable evidence that the dorsolateral funiculus (DLF) of the spinal cord contains descending pathways critical for both opiate and brainstem stimulation‐produced analgesia. To obtain a comprehensive map of brainstem neurons projecting to the spinal cord via the DLF, large injections of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were made into the lumbosacral spinal cord of cat and rat. These injections were made caudal to midthoracic lesions which spared only a single DLF or ventral quadrant (VQ); thus only those neurons whose axons descended in the spared funiculus would be labelled.
Cloning and characterization of alternative mRNA forms for the rat metabotropic glutamate receptors mGluR7 and mGluR8

Novel mRNA isoforms for two members of the group III metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), called mGluR7b and mGluR8b, were identified from rat brain cerebral cortex and hippocampus. In both cases, the alternative splicing is generated by a similar out‐of‐frame insertion in the carboxyl‐terminus that results in the replacement of the last 16 amino acids of mGluR7 and mGluR8 by 23 and 16 different amino acids, respectively. Distribution analysis for mGluR7 and mGluR8 isoforms revealed that the two splice variants are generally coexpressed in the same brain areas. The few exceptions were the olfactory bulb, in which only the mGluR7a form could be detected by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction, and the lateral reticular and ambiguus nuclei, which showed only mGluR8a labelling. Despite expression in the same regions, different mRNA abundance for the two variants of each receptor were observed. When transiently coexpressed in HEK 293 cells with the phospholipase C‐activating chimeric Gαqi9‐G‐protein, the a and b forms for both receptor subtypes showed a similar pharmacological profile. The rank order of potencies for both was: dl‐amino‐4‐phosphonobutyrate > l‐serine‐O‐phosphate > glutamate. However, the agonist potencies were significantly higher for mGluR8a, b compared with mGluR7a,b. In Xenopus oocytes, glutamate evoked currents only with mGluR8 when coexpressed with Kir 3.1 and 3.4. Glutamate‐induced currents were antagonized by the group II/III antagonist (RS)‐α‐cyclopropyl‐4‐phosphonophenylglycine. In conclusion, the two isoforms of each receptor have identical pharmacological profiles when expressed in heterologous systems, despite structural differences in the carboxyl‐terminal domains.
Prospective comparative study of the EUS guided 25‐gauge FNA needle with the 19‐gauge Trucut needle and 22‐gauge FNA needle in patients with solid pancreatic masses

Background and Study Aims: The aim of this prospective study was to compare fine‐needle aspiration guided by endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS‐FNA) using 25‐gauge and 22‐gauge needles with the EUS‐guided 19‐gauge Trucut needle biopsy (EUS‐TNB) in patients with solid pancreatic mass.
Values in Computing

Whether it is in the form of software, system architecture or interface design, anything digital is inevitably affected by values: the organizational values of the project sponsor, the values of the research partners, and the values of each developer and designer. Some values (e.g. commercial success, academic prestige) are easier to quantify than others (e.g. social justice, care for the environment) with the latter often dismissed in decision making processes as lacking of measurable 'evidence'. However, less easy to measure values are not less real: they are simply less visible. The aim of this one-day workshop is precisely to investigate mechanisms which give more exposure to those values in computing that are less frequently considered. We do so by bringing together practitioners from different computing backgrounds (e.g. software engineering, interaction design, information systems) who have first-hand experience of trying to represent on an equal footing all human values in computing.
Thrombocytopenia in polycythemic mice.

Significant and sustained thrombocytopenia in mice maintained in a polycythemic state with weekly injections of washed packed RBCs prompted the examination of the relationship between the observed thrombocytopenia and the polycythemic state. Platelet production was determined by measurement of 75SeM incorporation into platelets. Platelet survival was studied with 51Cr-labeled platelets. Platelet sequestration was assessed by measuring the trapped platelet 51Cr-bound radioactivity in the spleens of these animals. Blood volume was calculated by measuring the dilution of injected 59Fe-tagged RBCs. These studies failed to reveal decreased platelet production, a shortening of the platelet survival, or significant splenic pooling as factors contributing to the observed thrombocytopenia. The blood volumes in the polycythemic group of animals were 8.9% +/- 0.15 (1 S.D.) body weight vs. 6.4% +/- 0.69 in the normals (p less than 0.001). Contrary to what has been reported for hypoxia-induced polycythemia, our results indicate that transfusion-induced polycythemia does not cause thrombocytopenia by decreasing platelet production. We suggest instead that the observed thrombocytopenia is mainly due to dilution of the circulating platelet mass by the expanded blood volume.
Active sensor fusion for collision avoidance

Presently, mobile robots are navigated by means of a number of methods, using navigating systems such as the sonar-sensing system or the visual-sensing system. These systems each have their strengths and weaknesses. To fully utilise the strengths of both the sonar and visual sensing systems, this paper proposes a fusion of navigating methods involving both the sonar and visual systems as primary sources to produce a fast, efficient and reliable obstacle-avoiding and navigating system. Furthermore, to further enhance a better perception of the surroundings and to improve the navigation capabilities of the mobile robot, active sensing modules are also included. The result is an active sensor fusion system for the collision avoiding behaviour of mobile robots, This behaviour can then be incorporated into other purposive behaviours (e.g. object seeking, path finding etc.). The validity of this system is also shown in real robot experiments.
Functionality constraints in feedforward neuromorphic learning systems

The multilayer perceptron has been shown to excel in pattern classification tasks and the mapping of clusters of input vectors to well defined output vectors. Futhermore, when used in conjunction with powerful gradient descent based learning algorithms such as the back-error propagation scheme, the MLP has demonstrated an ability to learn incompletely specified problems producing networks which can generalise to previously unseen data. Unfortunately, the commonly used BackProp algorithm requires several user supplied parameters including a candidate neural architecture in order to function. Should inappropriate parameters be provided then BackProp will fail to produce a network which supports the training set. BackProp solutions are obtained by the traversal of an N-dimensional error surface where roots correspond to networks capable of correctly mapping all the training vectors. Particularly where learning functions are complex, the corresponding error surface is known to contain many nonoptimal local minima which can trap a suitably parameterised gradient descent scheme in an erroneous solution. We demonstrate in this thesis that the search for a minimum in network weight/error space is normally performed without taking any account of the functionality information implied by the training set such functionality might imply a suitable solution. By utilising techniques developed for digital circuit fault testing, functionality of training sets is represented as propagations of binary 0/1 transitions. Where training sets are completely specified and linearly separable, counts of such transitions are shown to provide neuron weights for a single layer network capable of supporting the training vectors. In the instances where training data is non-linearly separable, functionality information isshown to provide detections of mono tonicity violations and a breakdown in the ordering of required network weights. By detecting I-mono tonicity violations, constraints can be developed which direct BackProp weight updates during training of non-unate but completely specified binary functions. Ensuring constraints are adhered to has been shown to prevent BackProp from falling into non-optimal local minima, and to greatly reduce the training times required. Extensionsare then provided which enable feature level or fully trained networks to be generated for non-unate binary sets which are incompletely specified. In the case of feature level trained networks, the resulting architectures may be passed to a conventional weight update scheme such as BackProp for training completion. Networks developed from functionality information are shown to learn more reliably, avoiding non-optimal local minima, and to generalise better to previously unseen data. In later sections, we consider K-monotonicity for K> J. Here, the emphasis is on detecting a breakdown in the ordering of required network weights. By isolating such breakdowns in weight order, techniques are proposed which can develop neural architectures capable of ensuring that propagation of all required 0/1 transitions issupported.
The Effect of Extrusion Conditions on the Physicochemical Properties and Sensory Characteristics of Millet-Cowpea Based Fura

A three-factor three level Response surface methodology central composite retortable design (CCRD) was adopted to study the effect of feed composition (X1), feed moisture content (X2) and screw speed (X3) on proximate compositin, amino acid and sensory evaluation during extrusion of pearl millet and cowpea flour mixtures for the purpose of fura production. The mean observed value of protein for the fura extrudates ranged from 11.2 – 16.8%. Analysis of variance indicates that linear and quadratic effects significantly (P Feed Moisture (X2)>Screw Speed (X3). The optimum values obtained for feed composition, feed moisture and screw speed are 36.5% cowpea level, 22.3% feed moisture content and 186.7 rpm Research Article European Journal of Food Research & Review, 2(1): 1-23, 2012 2 respectively. The corresponding optimum values of lysine, protein content, expansion ratio and bulk density are 6.6g/100g protein, 16.6%, 2.8 and 0.52 Kgm -3 respectively. The data obtained from the study could be used for control of product characteristics and possible projection for the commercial production of fura or any enriched protein based food from the blends pearl millet and cowpea.
Italian monitoring registries: a tool for a safer use of innovative drugs? Data from the national pharmacovigilance system

ABSTRACT Objectives: Our aim was to investigate the ADR reports of drugs with a monitoring registry (MR drugs), in particular those related to abuse/misuse, medication error, overdose, which might indicate an unsafe use. We compared these reports with those of similar drugs without a registry (non-MR drugs), thus verifying whether the registries could be useful tools for a safer use of innovative drugs. Methods: All ADR reports included in the Italian Pharmacovigilance Network database from January 1st 2013 to December 31st 2015 (vaccines and literature cases excluded) were analysed. We compared the ADR reports of MR and non-MR drugs with the same ATC class at III level. Results: The percentage of ADR reports with a completed ‘Section 7’ was significantly lower for MR compared to non-MR drugs (2.0 versus 6.2, p < 0.001). The difference concerned in particular the ADR reports related to abuse/misuse, medication errors and overdose. These reports, more strictly related to inappropriate use, were less frequent for MR drugs in all the considered ATC classes. Conclusions: Our study suggests that monitoring registries could be a useful tool for the reduction of frequency of ADRs related to inappropriate use, besides the control of pharmaceutical budget.
Destruction of organohalides in water using metal particles: carbon tetrachloride/water reactions with magnesium, tin, and zinc.

As a possible method for degrading chlorocarbons in contaminated water supplies, the reactions of metallic magnesium, tin, and zinc with CCl4/H2O mixtures have been studied. In the case of Mg, oxidation by water overwhelmed the Mg-CCl4 reaction. However, Sn and Zn were successfully used to degrade CCl4. Sn and Zn behave quite differently with the final carbon-containing product, with Zn being CH4 but with Sn being CO2. This is rationalized by the competing reactions of a possible intermediate Cl3CMCl, which can be protonated by H2O to give CHCl2 or eliminate CCl2 (which subsequently reacts with water to form CO2 and HCl). Metal surface areas are also important, and the most active metal samples were prepared by a metal vapor-solvent codeposition method (SMAD cryo-particles). However, conventional Zn dust and Sn granules were also effective, only with lower reaction rates.