Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Topology Design for Collector Systems of Offshore Wind Farms With Pure DC Power Systems

This paper presents an analytical design method for the dc collector systems of offshore wind farms and proposes an improved topology to overcome the limitations of the conventional series-parallel (SP) topology. During a severe failure in the SP topology, bypassing the faulty units imposes overvoltage on fault-free units and leads to the disconnection of the series branch from the collector system. By providing auxiliary connection paths, the suggested topology reduces the overvoltage of the units and hence maintains fault-free units operational following a severe failure. Hence, the efficiency of a wind farm increases considerably upon any failure occurrence. To show the merits of the suggested topology, the captured power during a failure has been calculated and fairly compared with that of the conventional SP topology, considering the excess cost of the suggested topology due to additional connection paths. To investigate the performances of both topologies and their feasibility, a collector system including 12 wind turbine generators has been simulated in time domain software environment. Then, various failure scenarios have been investigated to evaluate the transient behavior of the dc collector system following slight and severe failures. The study results reveal the feasibility of the proposed topology as a promising structure for future dc collector systems.
Mitochondrial DNA , Gastrointestinal Motor and Sensory Functions in Health and Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

248 words) Nerve, muscle and inflammatory cells involved in gastrointestinal (GI) function have high-energy requirements, and are affected in mitochondrial disorders. Familial aggregation of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) frequently involves mothers and their children. Since mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is maternally inherited, mtDNA single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) could confer risk to the development of IBS. The mtDNA SNPs, 16519C>T and 3010G>A, are associated with migraine and childhood cyclic vomiting syndrome. Our hypothesis is that these mtDNA SNPs are associated with functional GI disorders (FGIDs) and GI functions. The mt genome was first tested for the 7028C polymorphism (defining haplogroup H) in 699 patients or controls, and those with 7028C further genotyped at 16519 and 3010. Phenotypes were based on symptoms (validated questionnaires and criteria) and GI physiology using validated motor and sensory studies. IBS-C and IBS-Alt are less prevalent in individuals with the 7028C mtDNA polymorphism than in individuals with 7028T. Conversely, 7028C is associated with higher maximum tolerated volume (lower satiation) compared to 7028T. Among those with 7028C, non-specific abdominal pain (chronic abdominal pain or dyspepsia) was significantly associated with 3010A compared to 3010G (odds ratio 3.3, p=0.02), and slower gastric emptying was statistically associated with 3010G. There were no significant associations of mtDNA genotypes tested and stomach volumes, small bowel or colonic transit, rectal compliance, motor or sensory functions. Thus, variation in mtDNA may be associated with satiation, gastric emptying and possibly pain; further studies of mtDNA in appetite regulation and larger numbers of patients with FGIDs are warranted. Camilleri et al 3
A vision-based target tracking control system of a quadrotor by using a tablet computer

This paper proposes a vision-based target tracking system of a quadrotor. The system consists of a vision-based target detection algorithm using color and image moment of a target candidate. A flight control layer working with the vision layer and the low level quadrotor control layer is designed using the offset of the target from the center of the image frame. The image processing and control algorithms are all implemented on a latest tablet computer, which was capable of running those algorithms in real-time. The proposed system was validated on a commercially available quadrotor platform and demonstrated satisfactory target tracking performance.
Association of plasma hormones, nutritional status, and stressful life events in anorexia nervosa patients.

OBJECTIVE The aim of the current study was to analyze the relationships between plasma hormones, body weight parameters and stressful life events in anorexia nervosa (AN). MATERIAL AND METHODS 72 females in the active phase of AN were evaluated. 52 healthy women constituted the control group. RIA kits were used to measure plasma hormone levels. RESULTS The concentrations of leptin, insulin, IGF-1, triiodothyronine, LH, FSH, estradiol, and testosterone were significantly lower and those of cortisol and growth hormone significantly higher in the AN than the control group. No hormonal differences between restrictive and binge-purging AN subtypes were found. Leptin, IGF-1, gonadotropins, and sex steroids correlated significantly negatively and growth hormone positively with total reduction of body weight or the degree of undernutrition. Associations were also found between lower insulin concentration and family violence, lower cortisol and psychiatric diseases in the family, higher testosterone and patient's alcohol or drug abuse. DISCUSSION The changed activity of the somatotropin-somatomedin, gonadal, and corticotrophin axes corresponds to the clinical stage of AN. Plasma IGF-1 seems to be the most sensitive and useful independent hormonal marker of cachexia.
Prenatal food restriction induces poor-quality articular cartilage in female rat offspring fed a post-weaning high-fat diet and its intra-uterine programming mechanisms

Abstract Epidemiological data show that osteoarthritis (OA) is significantly associated with lower birth weight, and that OA may be a type of fetal-originated adult disease. The present study aimed to investigate the prenatal food-restriction (PFR) effect on the quality of articular cartilage in female offspring to explore the underlying mechanisms of fetal-originated OA. Maternal rats were fed a restricted diet from gestational day (GD) 11 to 20 to induce intra-uterine growth retardation. Female fetuses and female adult offspring fed a post-weaning high-fat diet were killed at GD20 and postnatal week 24, respectively. Serum and knee cartilage samples from fetuses and adult female offspring were collected and examined for cholesterol metabolism and histology. Fetal serum corticosterone and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the PFR group were lower than those of the control, but the serum cholesterol level was not changed. The lower expression of IGF-1 in the PFR group lasted into adulthood. The expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) genes, including type II collagen, aggrecan and cholesterol efflux genes including liver X receptor, were significantly induced, but the ATP-binding-cassette transporter A1 was unchanged. PFR could induce a reduction in ECM synthesis and impaired cholesterol efflux in female offspring, and eventually led to poor quality of articular cartilage and OA.
Disruption of the Mouse Rce1 Gene Results in Defective Ras Processing and Mislocalization of Ras within Cells*

Little is known about the enzyme(s) required for the endoproteolytic processing of mammalian Ras proteins. We identified a mouse gene (designated Rce1) that shares sequence homology with a yeast gene (RCE1) implicated in the proteolytic processing of Ras2p. To define the role of Rce1in mammalian Ras processing, we generated and analyzedRce1-deficient mice. Rce1 deficiency was lethal late in embryonic development (after embryonic day 15.5). Multiple lines of evidence revealed that Rce1-deficient embryos and cells lacked the ability to endoproteolytically process Ras proteins. First, Ras proteins from Rce1-deficient cells migrated more slowly on SDS-polyacrylamide gels than Ras proteins from wild-type embryos and fibroblasts. Second, metabolic labeling ofRce1-deficient cells revealed that the Ras proteins were not carboxymethylated. Finally, membranes fromRce1-deficient fibroblasts lacked the capacity to proteolytically process farnesylated Ha-Ras, N-Ras, and Ki-Ras or geranylgeranylated Ki-Ras. The processing of two other prenylated proteins, the farnesylated Gγ1 subunit of transducin and geranylgeranylated Rap1B, was also blocked. The absence of endoproteolytic processing and carboxymethylation caused Ras proteins to be mislocalized within cells. These studies indicate thatRce1 is responsible for the endoproteolytic processing of the Ras proteins in mammals and suggest a broad role for this gene in processing other prenylated CAAX proteins.
Feature Selection with Structural Sparse Mode for Text Categorization

The grouped structure has successfully been embedded in sparse models for feature selection; however, some groups generated by clustering method might be difficult to interpret their semantic information if the number of words in the group is very large. This paper proposes a novel approach in which a group structure is constructed and its corresponding sparse model is used to select features for text categorization. After variable preselection, an algorithm is developed to generate groups, such that each group only contains two or three closely related words, which can reflect more essential semantic meaningful. Finally, structural sparse mode is used to select feature in wrapper way. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves comparable precision and improves the sparsity considerably, which means that the model has better interpretability.
Safety Climate and Culture: Integrating Psychological and Systems Perspectives

Safety climate research has reached a mature stage of development, with a number of meta-analyses demonstrating the link between safety climate and safety outcomes. More recently, there has been interest from systems theorists in integrating the concept of safety culture and to a lesser extent, safety climate into systems-based models of organizational safety. Such models represent a theoretical and practical development of the safety climate concept by positioning climate as part of a dynamic work system in which perceptions of safety act to constrain and shape employee behavior. We propose safety climate and safety culture constitute part of the enabling capitals through which organizations build safety capability. We discuss how organizations can deploy different configurations of enabling capital to exert control over work systems and maintain safe and productive performance. We outline 4 key strategies through which organizations to reconcile the system control problems of promotion versus prevention, and stability versus flexibility.
Efficacy of high-dose alkylating chemotherapy in HER2/neu-negative breast cancer.

BACKGROUND High-dose chemotherapy in the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer has been abandoned by many. PATIENTS AND METHODS 885 patients with stage III primary breast cancer and four or more axillary lymph node metastases were randomised to receive either five courses of FEC (fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide) followed by radiation therapy and tamoxifen, or the same treatment but with high-dose alkylating chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, thiotepa and carboplatin) replacing the fifth course of FEC. Of these patients, 621 had HER2/neu-negative disease, as determined by immunohistochemistry and chromogenic in situ hybridisation. RESULTS At a median follow-up of 84 months, a trend for a better relapse-free survival was observed in the high-dose arm: (hazard ratio (HR) 0.84, P = 0.076, two-sided). The 621 patients with HER2/neu-negative disease benefited from high-dose therapy, while patients with HER2/neu-positive disease did not (test for interaction, P = 0.006). There was a marked relapse-free survival benefit for patients with HER2/neu-negative disease (71.5% versus 59.1%, 5 years after randomisation; HR 0.68, P = 0.002) and also a survival benefit (78.2% versus 71.0% at 5 years; HR 0.72, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS The findings from this subgroup analysis provide additional evidence that HER2/neu-positive breast cancer is relatively resistant to alkylating agents. For HER2/neu-negative tumours, however, high-dose chemotherapy should remain the subject of clinical studies.
Energy-conscious prototype for enabling multi-protocol wireless communications

In this paper, we present a novel hardware prototype implementation of a wireless communication system capable of automatically selecting one of several available commercial standards in order to minimize energy utilization while simultaneously achieving reasonable data rate performance. Without loss in generality, two wireless standards were employed in the prototype implementation, namely: ZigBee and WiFi. These standards were chosen due to their complementary characteristics with respect to data bandwidth and energy efficiency. At the core of the prototype implementation is a decision-making module designed to automatically select the most suitable wireless standard for data transmission based on the instantaneous network load and the operating conditions of the wireless platform, such as battery life. The prototype implementation was evaluated across several data transmission scenarios, including file transfers, web browsing, streaming media and text messaging. By leveraging the concepts of sensing and adaptation often employed in cognitive radio, the prototype system monitors and selects the lowest power intensive wireless protocol while still maintaining an acceptable quality of service for the desired application. Even though performance transparency could not be sacrificed for power efficiency, experimental validation of this network design shows substantial energy savings: more than a 30% reduction in energy consumption of the wireless interfaces is possible, leading to a substantial increase in the effective battery lifetime of a energy-limited wireless networking device.
Bringing Rigor to Evaluations of Large-Scale Programs to Improve Infant and Young Child Feeding and Nutrition: The Evaluation Designs for the Alive & Thrive Initiative

Background The evidence base on the impact of large-scale infant and young child feeding (IYCF) and nutrition programs is limited, partly due to the challenges of rigorously evaluating complex programs including multiple interventions. Objectives To describe the process used to design Alive & Thrive's impact evaluations in the three target countries and discuss the feasibility of developing contextually relevant designs adapted to the country-specific programmatic context. Methods The evaluation designs for Alive & Thrive needed to address several challenges. These included the selection of intervention components to evaluate rigorously; the identification of appropriate comparison groups in the context of rapidly scaling-up programs; the choice of impact indicators; addressing measurement challenges related to evaluating the impact of interventions targeted during the first 2 years of life on stunting; and developing methods and tools to assess implementation, utilization, and program impact pathways within evolving program portfolios. Results In Bangladesh and Vietnam, cluster-randomized probability designs are used for the impact evaluations; in Ethiopia, the impact evaluation uses an adequacy design. In all three countries, repeated cross-sectional surveys, 4 years apart, are used to measure impact, and appropriate age groups are sampled separately to capture change in the main impact indicators. In addition, theory-driven process evaluations are used to study factors that facilitate or prevent achievement of impact and scale. Conclusions We conclude that robust impact and process evaluations of complex, large-scale nutrition programs are feasible, but that early implementer—evaluator engagement and shared vision and motivation to establishing meaningful evaluations are essential.
Up‐regulated expression of Toll‐like receptors mRNAs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Recent studies in animal models for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have shown that Toll‐like receptors (TLR‐7 and TLR‐9) and interferon (IFN)‐α are involved in the pathogenesis of murine lupus. Recent studies using flow cytometry have also shown increased expression of TLR‐9 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from SLE patients. In this study, we performed quantitative real‐time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction analyses of PBMCs from 21 SLE patients and 21 healthy subjects, to estimate TLR2, TLR3, TLR4, TLR5, TLR7, TLR8, TLR9, IFN‐α and LY6E (a type I IFN‐inducible gene) mRNA expression levels. Expression levels of TLR2, TLR7, TLR9, IFN‐α and LY6E mRNAs in SLE patients were significantly higher than those in healthy controls. Expression levels of TLR7 and TLR9 mRNAs correlated with that of IFN‐α mRNA in SLE patients. These results suggest that up‐regulated expression of TLR7 and TLR9 mRNAs together with increased expression of IFN‐α mRNA in PBMCs may also contribute to the pathogenesis of human lupus.
A novel color-context descriptor and its applications

This paper presents a new descriptor for object categorization and pedestrian identification applications. One of the main drawbacks of shape-context descriptor is its vulnerability and distinctness to color images. We propose a spherical descriptor that simultaneously adopts the spatial and color information as a discriminative representation. Based on the descriptor, this paper also contributes a bagof- features framework to pedestrian identification for video surveillance. In contrast to the previous works, the proposed scheme does not require background subtraction stage. Thus the potential problems, such as the susceptibility to shadows and highlights from the background subtraction procedure, are avoided. Experiments validate the discriminant power of the proposed descriptor in object categorization on COIL- 100 database and pedestrian identification in surveillance videos.
Crystal structure of an RNA helix recognized by a zinc-finger protein: an 18-bp duplex at 1.6 A resolution.

The crystal structure of the 19-mer RNA, 5'-GAAUGCCUGCGAGCAUCCC-3' has been determined from X-ray diffraction data to 1.6 A resolution by the multiwavelength anomalous diffraction method from crystals containing a brominated uridine. In the crystal, this RNA forms an 18-mer self-complementary double helix with the 19th nucleotide flipped out of the helix. This helix contains most of the target stem recognized by the bacteriophage Mu Com protein (control of mom), which activates translation of an unusual DNA modification enzyme, Mom. The 19-mer duplex, which contains one A.C mismatch and one A.C/G.U tandem wobble pair, was shown to bind to the Com protein by native gel electrophoresis shift assay. Comparison of the geometries and base stacking properties between Watson-Crick base pairs and the mismatches in the crystal structure suggest that both hydrogen bonding and base stacking are important for stabilizing these mismatched base pairs, and that the unusual geometry adopted by the A.C mismatch may reveal a unique structural motif required for the function of Com.
Glial Cell Reaction tocis-Dichlorodiammine Platinum Treatment in the Immature Rat Cerebellum

In this study we have investigated changes in glial cells of the cerebellum of cis-dichlorodiammine platinum (cisDDP)-treated rats. The expression of S-100 protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), taken as markers of glial cell function, was evaluated using immunocytochemical methods. In parallel, immunoreactivity for calbindin, parvalbumin, and phosphorylated 200-kDa neurofilament protein was observed in Purkinje cells as markers for neuronal integrity and activity. Results showed that, although no difference in the immunostaining of S-100 protein between control and treated animals could be observed, an increase in the frequency of GFAP immunoreactive cells was present in cisDDP-treated rats. In Purkinje cells, immunocytochemical expression of calbindin and parvalbumin was decreased after drug treatment. In addition, following immunoreaction for phosphorylated 200-kDa neurofilament protein, the somata of Purkinje cells, which were negative in control animals, were stained in treated rats. These findings suggest that cisDDP does not significantly interfere with pathways of glial cell activity and that the increased number of GFAP positive astrocytes may be due to an activation of glial cells consequent upon neuronal death.
Model predictive control based trajectory generation for autonomous vehicles — An architectural approach

Research in the field of automated driving has created promising results in the last years. Some research groups have shown perception systems which are able to capture even complicated urban scenarios in great detail. Yet, what is often missing are general-purpose path-or trajectory planners which are not designed for a specific purpose. In this paper we look at path- and trajectory planning from an architectural point of view and show how model predictive frameworks can contribute to generalized path- and trajectory generation approaches for generating safe trajectories even in cases of system failures.
Sentimental Mutual Fund Flows

We show that many stylized empirical patterns for mutual fund flows are driven by investor sentiment. Specifically, when sentiment is high, investors exhibit a stronger tendency of chasing past fund performance; fund flows are less sensitive to fund expenses; and investors are attracted more to funds with sheer visibility. Moreover, the well-documented positive relation between fund flows and future fund performance is significant only during high sentiment periods and is mainly driven by expected component of fund flows. Finally, we show that mutual fund investors exhibit a significantly negative timing ability at the individual fund level when sentiment is high.
Limited proteolysis of lysozyme in trifluoroethanol. Isolation and characterization of a partially active enzyme derivative.

Proteolysis of hen egg-white lysozyme by thermolysin in 50% aqueous trifluoroethanol for 6-24 h at 40-52 degrees C produces a 'nicked' protein species which was purified to homogeneity by reverse-phase HPLC and characterized. Protein chemistry analytical methods were used to establish that thermolysin cleaves the 129-residue chain of lysozyme at peptide bond Lys97-Ile98. Nicked lysozyme, which is therefore constituted by fragments 1-97 and 98-129 cross-linked by disulfide bonds, was approximately 20% and 60% active towards Micrococcus luteus cells in respect to native intact lysozyme when assayed at 25 degrees C or 5 degrees C, respectively. Circular dichroic measurements provided evidence that nicked lysozyme in aqueous buffer at low temperature maintains the secondary structure content of native lysozyme, whereas the microenvironment of the aromatic chromophores, in particular of tryptophan residue(s), was somewhat perturbed. The stability to heat and urea denaturation of nicked lysozyme was dramatically reduced with respect to that of the intact protein. For example, the tm of the nicked species was 28 degrees C in comparison with 73 degrees C for the unmodified enzyme, both at pH 7.0. Inspection of the X-ray structure of hen lysozyme reveals that thermolysin cleaves at the C-terminus of alpha-helix C (residues 88-98) located at the interface of the two structural domains of the protein, thus destabilizing the helix dipole and disrupting important tertiary interactions of the native enzyme. These results were interpreted considering that lysozyme in 50% aqueous trifluoroethanol is an expanded and flexible protein species largely maintaining native-like secondary structure, but lacking tertiary interactions [Buck, M. , Radford, S. E. & Dobson, C. M. (1993) Biochemistry 32, 669-678]. Thus, whereas native lysozyme in its well-packed and rigid structure is quite resistant to proteolysis and only upon thermal unfolding is degraded to many small peptides in an all-or-none process, lysozyme in the trifluoroethanol state is sufficiently flexible to act as a substrate for the protease, but maintains significant secondary structure (helix) precluding extensive proteolytic degradation.