Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Denoising of Hyperspectral Imagery Using Principal Component Analysis and Wavelet Shrinkage

In this paper, a new denoising method is proposed for hyperspectral data cubes that already have a reasonably good signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) (such as 600 : 1). Given this level of the SNR, the noise level of the data cubes is relatively low. The conventional image denoising methods are likely to remove the fine features of the data cubes during the denoising process. We propose to decorrelate the image information of hyperspectral data cubes from the noise by using principal component analysis (PCA) and removing the noise in the low-energy PCA output channels. The first PCA output channels contain a majority of the total energy of a data cube, and the rest PCA output channels contain a small amount of energy. It is believed that the low-energy channels also contain a large amount of noise. Removing noise in the low-energy PCA output channels will not harm the fine features of the data cubes. A 2-D bivariate wavelet thresholding method is used to remove the noise for low-energy PCA channels, and a 1-D dual-tree complex wavelet transform denoising method is used to remove the noise of the spectrum of each pixel of the data cube. Experimental results demonstrated that the proposed denoising method produces better denoising results than other denoising methods published in the literature.
Novel Topic Maps to RDF/RDF Schema Translation Method

We propose an enhanced method for translating Topic Maps to RDF/RDF Schema, to realize the Semantic Web. A critical issue for the Semantic Web is to efficiently and precisely describe Web information resources, i.e., Web metadata. Two representative standards, Topic Maps and RDF have been used for Web metadata. RDF-based standardization and implementation of the Semantic Web have been actively performed. Since the Semantic Web must accept and understand all Web information resources that are represented with the other methods, Topic Maps-to-RDF translation has become an issue. Even though many Topic Maps to RDF translation methods have been devised, they still have several problems (e.g. semantic loss, complex expression, etc.). Our translation method provides an improved solution to these problems. This method shows lower semantic loss than the previous methods due to extract both explicit semantics and implicit semantics. Compared to the previous methods, our method reduces the encoding complexity of resulting RDF. In addition, in terms of reversibility, the proposed method regenerates all Topic Maps constructs in an original source when is reverse translated.
Structure-Function Study of MalF Protein by Random Mutagenesis

ABSTRACT MalF is one of the two integral inner membrane proteins of the maltose-maltodextrin transport system. To identify functional regions in this protein, we characterized a collection of malFmutants obtained by random mutagenesis. We analyzed their growth on maltose and maltodextrins, the steady-state levels and subcellular localization of the mutant proteins, and the subcellular localization of MalK. Only 2 of the 21 MalF mutant proteins allowed growth on maltose and maltodextrins. Most mutations resulting in immunodetectable proteins mapped to hydrophilic domains, indicating that insertions affecting transmembrane segments gave rise to unstable or lethal proteins. All MalF mutant proteins, even those C-terminally truncated or with large N-terminal deletions, were inserted into the cytoplasmic membrane. Having identified mutations leading to reduced steady-state level, to partial mislocation, and/or to misfolding, we were able to assign to some regions of MalF a role in the assembly of the MalFGK2 complex and/or in the transport mechanism.
Synthesis of Flux Switching Permanent Magnet Machines

This paper investigates the nature of a flux switching permanent magnet (FSPM) machine based on the flux harmonic theory. First, analytical expressions for air-gap flux density distribution, back-electromagnetic force (EMF), and torque are developed to analyze the electromagnetic features of FSPM machines. It is found that the conventional winding theory, such as star of slots, can be directly employed to analyze FSPM machines without any modification. Combinations of stator and rotor teeth, winding connection, and conditions for symmetrical-phase back-EMF waveform are analyzed and obtained using star of slots. The armature winding pole pairs of FSPM machines are redefined. Based on this new concept and the proposed analytical expressions, slots per phase per pole and winding factor in FSPM machines are derived, a new type winding configuration with overlapping windings for FSPM machines is predicted and verified to be with ~90% larger back EMF than those of conventional FSPM machines with nonoverlapping windings. All these analysis results are validated by finite element analyzes.
Rapid Stabilization of Vulnerable Carotid Plaque Within 1 Month of Pitavastatin Treatment in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome

We determined time course of stabilization of echolucent carotid plaques by statin therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Treatment with 4 mg/d pitavastatin (n = 33) or placebo (n = 32) was initiated within 3 days after onset of ACS in 65 patients with echolucent carotid plaque. Vulnerable carotid plaques were assessed by measuring plaque echolucency using carotid ultrasound with integrated backscatter (IBS) analysis before and 1 month after treatment in all patients. The calibrated IBS value (intima-media IBS value minus adventia IBS) of vulnerable carotid plaques favorably changed at 1 month after treatment in both groups, but the echolucency at 1 month improved more in the pitavastatin than in the placebo group (pitavastatin group: -18.7 ± 3.3 dB at pretreatment versus -12.7 ± 2.3 dB at 1 month *P < 0.001; placebo: -19.0 ± 3.5 dB versus -16.9 ± 3.2 dB, P < 0.05, *P < 0.01 versus the value at 1 month in placebo group). Levels of CRP, VEGF, and TNFα at 1 month were significantly lower in pitavastatin than placebo group. In conclusion, pitavastatin improved carotid plaque echolucency within 1 month of therapy in patients with ACS, in association with decrease in the inflammatory biomarkers related to vulnerable plaques.
Proteins without 3D structure: definition, detection and beyond

MOTIVATION Predictions, and experiments to a lesser extent, following the decoding of the human genome showed that a significant fraction of gene products do not have well-defined 3D structures. While the presence of structured domains traditionally suggested function, it was not clear what the absence of structure implied. These and many other findings initiated the extensive theoretical and experimental research into these types of proteins, commonly known as intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). Crucial to understanding IDPs is the evaluation of structural predictors based on different principles and trained on various datasets, which is currently the subject of active research. The view is emerging that structural disorder can be considered as a separate structural category and not simply as absence of secondary and/or tertiary structure. IDPs perform essential functions and their improper functioning is responsible for human diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders.
Physiological and emotional responses to subjective social evaluative threat in daily life

Background and Objectives: This study examined concurrent and delayed emotional and cardiovascular correlates of naturally occurring experiences with subjective social evaluative threat (SSET) and tested whether individual differences in social interaction anxiety moderated those associations. Methods: Sixty-eight participants wore ambulatory blood pressure monitors for three days. Following each blood pressure reading, participants reported on SSET and negative emotions, yielding 1770 momentary measures. Results: Multilevel modeling suggested that reports of greater SSET uniquely predicted elevations in anxiety and embarrassment, with elevations in anxiety, embarrassment, and shame extending to the hour following SSET. Reports of concurrent and previous-hour SSET also predicted cardiovascular elevations. Linkages between SSET and anxiety and shame, but not cardiovascular measures, were moderated by social interaction anxiety. Those higher in social interaction anxiety showed especially strong associations between SSET and both concurrent and delayed anxiety and greater delayed shame. Conclusions: This research suggests an important role for anxiety, embarrassment, and shame as emotional consequences of naturally occurring evaluative threat, especially for those who are more socially anxious. Further, this work replicates other naturalistic studies that have documented increased blood pressure at times of SSET and extends that work by documenting cardiovascular responses into the following hour.
Progesterone receptor up-regulation: a diagnostic tool for the illicit use of oestrogens in adult beef cattle

The monitoring of gene regulation via mRNA levels to detect anabolic sex steroid administration in cattle is a novel approach to detecting the illicit treatment of livestock in meat production. A previous study revealed that progesterone receptor (PR) gene expression levels were increased in the bulbourethral glands and prostates of 17β-oestradiol-treated prepubertal calves, suggesting that the PR can be used as a specific molecular biomarker for oestrogen treatment. The aim of this study was to verify the specificity and applicability of the PR to detect the illegal use of 17β-oestradiol in sexually mature beef cattle. Accessory sex glands were sampled from 42 male beef cattle that were divided into six experimental groups, including two control groups, K1 and K2. Group A cattle were treated with 17β-oestradiol (five weekly intramuscular doses of 20 mg), and group B cattle were treated with dexamethasone (40 daily doses of 0.7 mg per os). Group C cattle received an implant of Revalor-200 (200 mg of trenbolone acetate and 20 mg of 17β-oestradiol), and group D cattle received Revalor-200 plus dexamethasone (0.7 mg daily per os). 17β-Oestradiol, either alone or in combination with other steroids, up-regulated the PR gene and protein expression, even in the absence of detectable histological changes in the accessory sex glands, confirming the high sensitivity of PR gene expression as an indirect diagnostic screening tool to detect illicit oestrogen treatment in sexually mature male bovine.
Income and Price Elasticities of Crude Oil Demand in Pakistan

This study is an attempt to examine the income and price elasticities of crude oil demand in Pakistan using annual data from 1981 to 2013. The short-and long-run relationship was analysed by autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. The results reveal that income and exchange rate show significant positive relationship with crude oil demand in short run as well as in long run. The analyses also show that crude oil price and domestic production have negative effect in both short and long run on crude oil demand. The income is found to be a strong determinant of crude oil demand in both short and long run. This study suggests that strategies would be formulated and adopted which may control the demand of crude oil without affecting the economic growth of Pakistan.
How Do Family Firms Launch New Businesses? A Developmental Perspective on Internal Corporate Venturing in Family Business

This conceptual work depicts internal corporate venturing in family business as consisting of two separate and sequential strategic choices: first, the decision about the degree of relatedness between the parent firm and the venture; second, the definition of the level of venture autonomy. Drawing on stewardship theory, we argue that family business dynamics, and in particular the development of the ownership structure, influence how family firms pursue internal corporate venturing and make decisions related to such two steps. We also discuss the contingent effect of corporate governance characteristics and of the national legal system.
Cancer-Expanded Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells Induce Anergy of NK Cells through Membrane-Bound TGF-β11

NK cells, the important effector of innate immunity, play critical roles in the antitumor immunity. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), a population of CD11b+Gr-1+ myeloid cells expanded dramatically during tumor progression, can inhibit T cells and dendritic cells, contributing to tumor immune escaper. However, regulation of NK cell innate function by MDSC in tumor-bearing host needs to be investigated. In this study, we found that the function of NK cells from liver and spleen was impaired significantly in all tumor-bearing models, indicating the impairment of hepatic NK cell function by tumor is a universal phenomenon. Then we prepared the orthotopic liver cancer-bearing mice as tumor model to investigate how hepatic NK cells are impaired. We show that down-regulation of NK cell function is inversely correlated with the marked increase of MDSC in liver and spleen. MDSC inhibit cytotoxicity, NKG2D expression, and IFN-γ production of NK cells both in vitro and in vivo. After incubation with MDSC, NK cells could not be activated to produce IFN-γ. Furthermore, membrane-bound TGF-β1 on MDSC is responsible for MDSC-mediated suppression of NK cells. The impaired function of hepatic NK cells in orthotopic liver cancer-bearing mice could be restored by depletion of MDSC, but not regulatory T cells. Therefore, cancer-expanded MDSC can induce anergy of NK cells via membrane-bound TGF-β1. MDSC, but not regulatory T cells, are main negative regulator of hepatic NK cell function in tumor-bearing host. Our study provides new mechanistic explanations for tumor immune escape.
A digital crystal-less clock generation scheme for wireless biomedical implants

A miniature implantable medical device (IMD) needs a quality clock source for its communication and control circuits. Crystal device is hardly suitable for the in-body clock generator because of the device size limitation. In this paper, a new digital crystal-less clock generation scheme is presented. It uses a digitally controlled oscillator with coarse-fine-tuning structure as the clock source. As the current IMDs are commonly inductively-powered, a strong inductive power carrier is transferred into the in-body system. We propose to leverage the power carrier as the reference clock. We introduce a new all-digital frequency locked loop to track the power carrier frequency. This loop improves the frequency accuracy and stability of the in-body clock source against voltage variation and process variation. Results from post-layout simulation show that the frequency accuracy of the proposed clock source is 0.025%. The RMS and peak-to-peak period jitters of the output clock are 11.3 ps and 60 ps at a frequency of 2 MHz, respectively. The clock generator consumes 0.51 mW with a supply voltage of 1.8 V (required by analog circuits). The core silicon area of the clock generator is 0.036 μm2 in the 0.18-μm CMOS process.
Terrorism and travel advisory effects on international tourism

ABSTRACT The paper applies dynamic panel modeling to investigate the impact of terrorism and travel advice on global tourism. Annual arrivals data for 49 destinations and 15 leading countries of origin for the period 2010–2014 are used. Results indicate that casualties or fatalities from terrorism, absent travel advice, significantly reduce tourism demand. However, casualties (fatalities) combined with travel advice have a relatively larger adverse impact on tourism demand. The effects identified, however, are sensitive to country characteristics. Casualties (fatalities) as well as travel advice significantly weaken tourism demand for low-income countries but have no significant effect in high-income countries.
Long‐term in vivo assessment of bioengineered skin substitutes: a clinical study

The aim of the study was an objective in vivo assessment of skin properties after reconstruction with two artificial dermal substitutes, Integra® and Hyalomatrix®. Twenty‐seven patients underwent reconstruction of 36 skin‐loss sites with full‐thickness skin graft, split‐thickness skin graft, Hyalomatrix® bioengineered skin substitute and sequential split‐thickness skin graft and Integra® bioengineered skin substitute and sequential split‐thickness skin graft. Objective assessments were carried out using three instrumental devices: Multi Probe Adapter System MPA; 22 MHz ultrasound skin scan; and Primos Pico for a three‐dimensional (3D) skin scan. The skin parameters under study in our sample were: corneometry, transepidermal water loss, elastometry, colorimetry, skin thickness and 3D skin surface pattern. A skin reconstruction with Hyalomatrix seemed to most closely approach the hydration, transepidermal water loss and skin surface 3D pattern of normal skin. A skin reconstruction with Integra seemed to demonstrate the best skin colour feature and elastic properties. Although no statistically significant differences were observed, the descriptive analysis of the outcomes might suggest a better cell regulation, regenerated extracellular matrix and neoangiogenesis with the use of Hyalomatrix, and the formation of a more elastic regenerated dermis, with overall better physical, mechanical and optical properties, with the use of Integra. © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
The Effect of Monomers and of Micellar and Vesicular Forms of Non‐ionic Surfactants (Solulan C24 and Solulan 16) on Caco‐2 Cell Monolayers

Measurements of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER), the MTT (3‐(4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyl‐2H‐tetrazolium bromide) test and monitoring of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) transport have been used to study the effects of the non‐ionic surfactants Solulan C24 and Solulan 16, either free in solution or as an integral part of niosome bi‐layers, on intestinal epithelial cells from man (Caco‐2 cell monolayers).
Sequence evaluation of FGF and FGFR gene conserved non‐coding elements in non‐syndromic cleft lip and palate cases

Non‐syndromic cleft lip and palate (NS CLP) is a complex birth defect resulting from multiple genetic and environmental factors. We have previously reported the sequencing of the coding region of genes in the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling pathway, in which missense and non‐sense mutations contribute to approximately 5%–6% NS CLP cases. In this article we report the sequencing of conserved non‐coding elements (CNEs) in and around 11 of the FGF and FGFR genes, which identified 55 novel variants. Seven of variants are highly conserved among ≥8 species and 31 variants alter transcription factor binding sites, 8 of which are important for craniofacial development. Additionally, 15 NS CLP patients had a combination of coding mutations and CNE variants, suggesting that an accumulation of variants in the FGF signaling pathway may contribute to clefting. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Selecting Metrics, Reflecting Norms

To thrive in the digital age, local news outlets must inform audiences and funders of civic-oriented journalism’s impact in their communities. There is little scholarly research on how journalists conceptualize and discuss impact. Literature commonly focuses on non-profit news outlets with a national audience and an investigative bent—an important but small part of the news ecosystem. Through in-depth interviews, this study examines how journalists (n = 20) from varied types of local news organizations (n = 13) in one U.S. city with a diverse news environment define, measure, and discuss their work’s impact. Results show that journalists considered impact as central to their mission, had no qualms about discussing impact with colleagues, but some were hesitant to discuss it outside the newsroom. They defined and measured impact in many ways, including audience analytics and effect-oriented metrics such as audience awareness, public discourse, and public policy. Findings shed light on how journalists view their mission, assess their civic contributions, and perceive professional norms. Ways to expand the definition of measurable journalism are explored.
Progesterone triggers rapid transmembrane calcium influx and/or calcium mobilization from endoplasmic reticulum, via a pertussis‐insensitive G‐protein in granulosa cells in relation to luteinization process

We investigated the early effects (5–60 s) of progesterone (1 pM–0.1 μM) on cytosolic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) and inositol 1,4,5‐trisphosphate (InsP3) formation in nonluteinized and in vitro luteinized porcine granulosa cells (pGCs). Progesterone increased [Ca2+]i and InsP3 formation within 5 s in both cell types. Progesterone induced calcium mobilization from the endoplasmic reticulum via the activation of a phospholipase C linked to a pertussis‐insensitive G‐protein. This process was controlled by protein kinases C and A. In contrast, only nonluteinized pGCs showed a Ca2+ influx via dihydropyridine‐insensitive calcium channel. In both cell types, the nuclear progesterone receptor antagonist RU‐38486 did not inhibit the progesterone‐induced increase in [Ca2+]i; progesterone immobilized on bovine serum albumin, which did not enter the cell, increased [Ca2+]i within 5 s and was a full agonist, but less potent than the free progesterone; pertussis toxin did not inhibit progesterone effect on InsP3. In conclusion, progesterone may interact with membrane unconventional receptors that belong to the class of membrane receptors coupled to a phospholipase C via a pertussis toxin‐insensitive G‐protein. The source of the Ca2+ for the progesterone‐induced increase in [Ca2+]i also depends on the stage of cell luteinization. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Knowledge and use of evidence-based nutrition: a survey of paediatric dietitians.

OBJECTIVE To survey paediatric dietitians' knowledge and use of evidence-based nutrition (EBN). DESIGN Cross-sectional survey using reply-paid questionnaires. SUBJECTS Paediatric dietitians in Australian teaching hospitals. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Age, sex, appointment, clinical practice, research activities; attitudes to, training in and use of EBN; and perceived barriers to use of EBN. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Data were analysed using descriptive statistics (SPSS). RESULTS Fifty-nine (86%) of 69 questionnaires were returned. Most (97%) dietitians were women working full-time (63%), mean age 37 years (+/-9 SD). Most (75%) dietitians encountered knowledge gaps less than five times per week and most (87%) questions related to therapy. The majority (95%) performed their own literature searches, less than five times per month. All had access to >or=1 electronic literature databases including Medline (n = 58, 98%), Cochrane Library (n = 44, 75%) and CINAHL (n = 35, 59%). Information sources used most often were Medline and consultation with colleagues. Reported barriers to using EBN were lack of time (n = 53, 90%) or lack of skills for critical appraisal of published articles (n = 51, 86%) or literature searching (n = 48, 81%). While 53 (90%) believed in an evidence-based approach, 43 (73%) either did not practise EBN or rated themselves as beginners. CONCLUSION Most dietitians favoured evidence-based practice, but reported lack of time, skills or rapid access to electronic databases as barriers to its practice.