Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Complexities, error probabilities, and capacities of optical OOK-CDMA communication systems

The complexity in the hardware implementation of traditional optical code-division multiple-access correlation receivers with double optical hardlimiters is discussed. A comparison with the implementation of chip-level receivers is presented as well. In addition, the bit error probabilities and the throughput capacities for both chip-level and correlation systems (without hardlimiters) are derived and evaluated under code-correlation constraints equal to one and two. Our results reveal that chip-level receivers are much simpler and their performances are competitive with that of traditional correlation receivers with double optical hardlimiters. Further, the throughput capacity of chip-level systems can be increased by almost a factor of 3.4 when increasing the code-correlation constraint from one to two.
Insect endosymbiont proliferation is limited by lipid availability

Spiroplasma poulsonii is a maternally transmitted bacterial endosymbiont that is naturally associated with Drosophila melanogaster. S. poulsonii resides extracellularly in the hemolymph, where it must acquire metabolites to sustain proliferation. In this study, we find that Spiroplasma proliferation specifically depletes host hemolymph diacylglyceride, the major lipid class transported by the lipoprotein, Lpp. RNAi-mediated knockdown of Lpp expression, which reduces the amount of circulating lipids, inhibits Spiroplasma proliferation demonstrating that bacterial proliferation requires hemolymph-lipids. Altogether, our study shows that an insect endosymbiont acquires specific lipidic metabolites from the transport lipoproteins in the hemolymph of its host. In addition, we show that the proliferation of this endosymbiont is limited by the availability of hemolymph lipids. This feature could limit endosymbiont over-proliferation under conditions of host nutrient limitation as lipid availability is strongly influenced by the nutritional state. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.7554/eLife.02964. 001
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Student feedback about the use of role plays in Sparshanam, a medical humanities module [v1; ref status: indexed, Abstract At KIST Medical College, Lalitpur, Nepal, a Medical Humanities Background: module for first year medical students has been conducted. Role plays are used to explore social, medical and sexual issues in the Nepalese context. The present study obtained student feedback about the role plays used in the module, the difficulties faced, and obtained suggestions for further improvement. The module was conducted from January to August 2011 using a Method: total of 15 role plays. Student feedback was obtained using a semi-structured questionnaire. Informal discussions were held and a questionnaire was circulated among the first year students who had participated in the module. Ninety-eight of the 100 students in the module participated in the Results: study. The overall opinion regarding the role plays was positive. Students stated role plays helped to make module objectives concrete and interesting, made students identify with the problem being investigated and improved communication skills. Role plays were designed to address important health issues in Nepal and prepare students for addressing these issues in future practice. A lack of sufficient time for preparing the role plays and initial problems with group dynamics were mentioned by the respondents during the study. Student feedback about the use of role plays during the module Conclusions: was positive. Role plays helped in making module objectives more concrete and interesting, improved communication skills and addressed important health issues in Nepal. Role plays are not resource intensive and can be considered for use in medical schools in developing nations.
Essays on auctions and Bayesian games with endogenous expectations

The dissertation consists of three self contained, though interrelated chapters. In the first two chapters, I apply the behavioural model of reference dependence to two different games of incomplete information; auctions and bargaining. The main contribution of the models is that they pin down the reference point by endogenising it as the expected price of a good in equilibrium. Modelling games where the utility of a player depends on her beliefs over endogenous variables, introduces mathematical complexity. Indeed, such games lack an existence result, and in the final chapter, I extend methods available in the literature to provide sufficient conditions for the existence of monotone equilibrium in games with endogenous beliefs. In the first chapter, I model auctions where bidders have reference dependent preferences and may be loss averse. The reference point is defined either as the exante or interim expected price of the good, depending on whether bidders are naive or sophisticated. Equilibrium with consistent reference points are shown to exist and are fully characterised. The model predicts that in equilibrium, bidders both overbid and underbid in comparison to the standard risk neutral Nash equilibrium. The second chapter extends the model a two player k-double auction, where players are assumed to have preferences that exhibit reference dependence. The expected price of the good is modelled as a player’s reference point. In equilibrium the endogenous reference point is said to be consistent if behaviour given the reference point, yields an expected price equal to the reference point itself. Bias is introduced
Star formation in the vicinity of the IC 348 cluster

Aims. We present molecular line observations of the southwestern part of the IC 348 young cluster, and we use them together with NIR and mm continuum data to determine the distribution of dense gas, search for molecular outflows, and analyze the ongoing star formation activity in the region. Methods. Our molecular line data consists of C18O(1--0) and N2H+(1--0) maps obtained with the FCRAO telescope at a resolution of about 50'' and CO(2--1) data obtained with the IRAM 30m telescope at a resolution of 11''. Results. The dense gas southwest of IC 348 is concentrated in two groups of dense cores, each of them with a few solar masses of material and indications of CO depletion at high density. One of the core groups is actively forming stars, while the other seems starless. There is evidence for at least three bipolar molecular outflows in the region, two of them powered by previously identified Class 0 sources, while the other one is powered by a still not well characterized low-luminosity object. The ongoing star formation activity is producing a small stellar subgroup in the cluster. Using the observed core characteristics and the star formation rate in the cluster we propose that that similar episodes of stellar birth may have produced the subclustering observed in the halo of IC 348.
Cost-optimisation of screening for latent tuberculosis in close contacts

The aim of the present study was to perform cost-minimisation analysis of contact investigation from a public health perspective using the tuberculin skin test (TST) and a new blood assay, QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G). A decision-analysis model simulated the costs of investigating a cohort of adult close tuberculosis contacts by the public health service following the current German guidelines over a period of 2 yrs. The economic outcomes were compared with alternative screening strategies. These were: 1) QFT-G instead of TST; 2) TST followed by QFT-G; and 3) TST followed by QFT-G in vaccinated (bacille Calmette–Guérin (BCG)) subjects. In a base-case analysis, the costs of TST-based screening were 91.06 Euros (EUR)·contact-1, assuming a 1% tuberculosis-case-finding incidence. The least expensive strategy was TST screening plus subsequent QFT-G testing (52.05 EUR), resulting in a 43% cost reduction. Using QFT-G alone in BCG-vaccinated subjects who tested positive in the TST led to a 39% cost reduction. The savings using QFT-G alone instead of TST amounted to 29.77 EUR·contact-1. The results depended on the acquisition costs assumed and the proportion of positive results in TST-based screening. Screening for tuberculosis by combining tuberculin skin testing and QuantiFERON-TB Gold markedly reduces public health costs compared with tuberculin skin test screening alone.
Delayed-type hypersensitivity to influenza virus. Induction of antigen- specific suppressor T cells for delayed-type hypersensitivity to hemagglutinin during influenza virus infection in mice

Mice infected with A/England/939/69 X A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (Rec 31) influenza virus by aerosol develop significantly lower levels of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) to A/Hong Kong/1/68 X A/Puerto Rico/8/34/ (X31) virus compared to uninfected mice. The suppression of DTH to the hemagglutinin appears to be mediated by suppressor T cells which carry Lyt-1 membrane antigen marker, and not by sy serum antibody. The suppressor T cells for DTH induced by Rec 31 virus (H3N1) infection suppress the DTH response to the variants of the H3 subtype of influenza viruses, but have no effect on the DTH responses to A/Puerto Rico/8/34 virus (H0N1), a B influenza virus or the matrix protein of type A influenza virus. Suppressor T cells for DTH appear 2 wk after infection and are detectable in the spleen for at least 40 d thereafter. T-helper cells for antibody response to hemagglutinin are induced concomitantly with the T-suppressor cells for DTH. Possible implications of the present findings on the regulation of the immune response to viral infection are discussed.
A Comparison of Capillary and Venous Blood Haematocrits of Pregnant Women in Nigeria: The Impact on Diagnosis and Prevalence of Anaemia in Pregnancy

Background. Volume of red cells in capillary blood varies from that of venous blood. The magnitude of this variation as well as its impact on the diagnosis of anaemia in pregnancy needs to be studied. This study demonstrates the disparity between capillary and venous PCV in pregnancy. Objectives. To determine whether capillary blood PCV (cPCV) differed from venous blood PCV (vPCV) of normal pregnant women in Enugu, Nigeria, and its effect on diagnosis and prevalence of anaemia. Methods. PCV was estimated using pairs of venous and capillary blood samples from 200 consecutive pregnant women at the Antenatal Clinic of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Nigeria. Results. Participants' cPCV (median = 34.0%, IQR = 31.0–35.8) was significantly lower than their vPCV (median = 34.0%, IQR = 32.0–37.0) (Z = −6.85, P < 0.001). However, women's cPCV had strong positive correlation with their vPCV (r = 0.883, P < 0.001). The prevalence of anaemia among participants using capillary and venous blood was 33.5% (67/200) and 28.0% (56/200), respectively (O.R = 1.3 (CI 95%: 0.85, 1.98), P = 0.233). Conclusions. Capillary blood PCV was lower than vPCV among pregnant women in Enugu, Nigeria. Nevertheless, the prevalence of anaemia derived from cPCV did not differ significantly from that of vPCV.
SHOCK: A Worst-Case Ensured Sub-Linear Time Pattern Matching Algorithm for Inline Anti-Virus Scanning

To detect viruses, worms and, malware in the multi- gigabit environment, it is crucial for modern content-aware network security appliances to have a fast virus scanning scheme.Signature based multi- pattern matching algorithm is the core technology to enable fast virus scanning accurately and quickly. This paper proposes a multi-pattern matching algorithm with a simple shift/hash technique and a novel heuristic by inspecting overlaps between pairs of patterns to ensure both average and worst-case performance. Experimental results show that our algorithm performs 600Mbps to 1.4Gbps faster than the ClamAV AC and BM-based algorithms and achieves a maximum of 3.8Gbps throughput in inline virus scanning while the memory consumption is nearly the same.
Role of Stress, Arousal, and Coping Skills in Primary Insomnia

Objective Although stress is often presumed to cause sleep disturbances, little research has documented the role of stressful life events in primary insomnia. The present study examined the relationship of stress and coping skills, and the potential mediating role of presleep arousal, to sleep patterns in good sleepers and insomnia sufferers. Methods The sample was composed of 67 participants (38 women, 29 men; mean age, 39.6 years), 40 individuals with insomnia and 27 good sleepers. Subjects completed prospective, daily measures of stressful events, presleep arousal, and sleep for 21 consecutive days. In addition, they completed several retrospective and global measures of depression, anxiety, stressful life events, and coping skills. Results The results showed that poor and good sleepers reported equivalent numbers of minor stressful life events. However, insomniacs rated both the impact of daily minor stressors and the intensity of major negative life events higher than did good sleepers. In addition, insomniacs perceived their lives as more stressful, relied more on emotion-oriented coping strategies, and reported greater presleep arousal than good sleepers. Prospective daily data showed significant relationships between daytime stress and nighttime sleep, but presleep arousal and coping skills played an important mediating role. Conclusions The findings suggest that the appraisal of stressors and the perceived lack of control over stressful events, rather than the number of stressful events per se, enhance the vulnerability to insomnia. Arousal and coping skills play an important mediating role between stress and sleep. The main implication of these results is that insomnia treatments should incorporate clinical methods designed to teach effective stress appraisal and coping skills.
Associations between Croatian Adolescents’ Use of Sexually Explicit Material and Risky Sexual Behavior: A Latent Growth Curve Modeling Approach

Abstract Objectives: The aim of this biobehavioral longitudinal study was to assess the association between sexually explicit material (SEM) use and risky sexual behavior among Croatian adolescents (n = 577). Methods: The data were collected over the period of 15 months. Conditional dual-domain latent growth modeling was used. Results: Male adolescents’ initial SEM use, but not subsequent growth, was related to changes in sexual risk taking over the observed period. Among female adolescents, SEM use and sexual risk taking were significantly related only at baseline. Conclusions: Our findings point to gender-specific association between adolescents’ SEM use and risky sexual behavior.
Parallel evolution in the major haemoglobin genes of eight species of Andean waterfowl

Theory predicts that parallel evolution should be common when the number of beneficial mutations is limited by selective constraints on protein structure. However, confirmation is scarce in natural populations. Here we studied the major haemoglobin genes of eight Andean duck lineages and compared them to 115 other waterfowl species, including the bar‐headed goose (Anser indicus) and Abyssinian blue‐winged goose (Cyanochen cyanopterus), two additional species living at high altitude. One to five amino acid replacements were significantly overrepresented or derived in each highland population, and parallel substitutions were more common than in simulated sequences evolved under a neutral model. Two substitutions evolved in parallel in the αA subunit of two (Ala‐α8) and five (Thr‐α77) taxa, and five identical βA subunit substitutions were observed in two (Ser‐β4, Glu‐β94, Met‐β133) or three (Ser‐β13, Ser‐β116) taxa. Substitutions at adjacent sites within the same functional protein region were also observed. Five such replacements were in exterior, solvent‐accessible positions on the A helix and AB corner of the αA subunit. Five others were in close proximity to inositolpentaphosphate binding sites, and two pairs of independent replacements occurred at two different α1β1 intersubunit contacts. More than half of the substitutions in highland lineages resulted in the acquisition of serine or threonine (18 gains vs. 2 losses), both of which possess a hydroxyl group that can hydrogen bond to a variety of polar substrates. The patterns of parallel evolution observed in these waterfowl suggest that adaptation to high‐altitude hypoxia has resulted from selection on unique but overlapping sets of one to five amino acid substitutions in each lineage.
The Effects of Voxel Localization and Time of Echo on the Diagnostic Accuracy of Cystic Brain Tumors in 3 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Background Although magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has been shown as an effective diagnostic tool in distinguishing inflammation from neoplasm in cystic brain lesions, the optimum approach in selecting the portions of lesions in MRS and the possible effects of different times of echoes (TEs) remains unknown. Objectives To determine the most effective TE in diagnosing neoplastic lesions based on detecting choline (Cho), N acetyl aspartate (NAA) and creatinine (Cr). Moreover, the role of voxel localization on the diagnosis of the neoplastic nature of the lesions is assessed through comparing the abovementioned metabolite ratios in the rim and center of each lesion with the same TE. Patients and Methods In 16 patients with brain cystic tumors, MRS was performed at TEs of 30, 135 and 270 ms for detection of Cho, NAA and Cr metabolites using a 3 tesla MRI unit. The percentage of analyzed ratios greater than a cut-off point of 1.3 for Cho/Cr and 1.6 for Cho/NAA were calculated. Results Cho/Cr and Cho/NAA ratio means at all TEs were more at the central area in comparison with the periphery, although none of the differences were statistically significant. There was no statistically significant difference among the compared TEs. The percentages of ratios above the cut-off point at all TEs were more in the rim compared to the center and in the union of both compared to the rim or center. All the patients had at least one voxel with a Cho/Cr ratio of more than 1.3 when the voxel was chosen according to the hotspots shown in the chemical shift imaging map, regardless of their location at all examined TEs. Conclusions Selection of voxels with the guide of chemical shift imaging map yields to 100% diagnostic sensitivity. If not accessible, the use of the union of peripheral and central voxels enhances the sensitivity when compared to usage of peripheral or central voxels solely.
Disparity based stereo image reversible data hiding

As the popularity of three dimensional video, security of stereo image has become an evident issue to be solved. This paper presents a disparity based stereo image reversible data hiding by using histogram shifting, which can recover the original stereo image from marked stereo image without any distortion. Inter-correlations between left and right views of stereo image are utilized to predict pixels accurately. Then prediction error bins are constructed, and many points are around zero-valued bin for embedding data with low distortion of stereo images. The zero-valued bin is used twice to embed data, so that embedding capacity can reach more than 1 bit per pixel. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms the extended stereo image data hiding methods.
Natural Resources – Food Nexus: Food-Related Environmental Footprints in the Mediterranean Countries

Immediate action is required in the Mediterranean to address environmental degradation that is mainly driven by consumption patterns. Increasing stress on biological and social systems is put by unsustainable consumption patterns. Food consumption patterns are important drivers of environment degradation. The objective of this review paper is to explore natural resources-food nexus in the Mediterranean region by highlighting the environmental footprints of the current consumption and production patterns. Secondary data from different sources such as FAOSTAT, the World Bank, Water Footprint Network (WFN), and Global Footprint Network were used to analyze the situation in 21 Mediterranean countries. The region faces many environmental challenges, e.g., land degradation, water scarcity, environment pollution, biodiversity loss, and climate change. The current consumption patterns imply high ecological, carbon, and water footprints of consumption and unfavorable national virtual-water balances. Food Balance Sheets data show that the contribution of vegetal and animal-based food product groups to food supply is variable among the Mediterranean countries. This has implications also in terms of the WF of food supply, which was calculated for Bosnia, Egypt, Italy, Morocco, and Turkey. The WF of the current diet resulted lower than that of the proposed Mediterranean one in the case of Italy. There is a strong scientific evidence supporting assumption that it is so also for other Mediterranean countries. The Mediterranean is characterized by a high resource use intensity that is further exacerbated by food losses and waste (FLW). In fact, FLW implies the loss of precious resources (water, land, energy) and inputs (fertilizers). Therefore, it is crucial to increase adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet and to reduce FLW in order to foster transition to more sustainable food consumption patterns thus reducing pressure on the scarce resources of the Mediterranean region.
Energy Efficient Power Allocation in Massive MIMO Systems Based on Standard Interference Function

In this paper, energy efficient power allocation for downlink massive MIMO systems is investigated. A constrained non-convex optimization problem is formulated to maximize the energy efficiency (EE), which takes into account the quality of service (QoS) requirements. By exploiting the properties of fractional programming and the lower bound of the user data rate, the non-convex optimization problem is transformed into a convex optimization problem. The Lagrangian dual function method is utilized to convert the constrained convex problem into an unconstrained convex one. Due to the multi-variable coupling problem caused by the intra-user interference, it is intractable to derive an explicit solution to the above optimization problem. Exploiting the standard interference function, we propose an implicit iterative algorithm to solve the unconstrained convex optimization problem and obtain the optimal power allocation scheme. Simulation results show that the proposed iterative algorithm converges in just a few iterations, and demonstrate the impact of the number of users and the number of antennas on the EE.
On Median Graphs: Properties, Algorithms, and Applications

In object prototype learning and similar tasks, median computation is an important technique for capturing the essential information of a given set of patterns. We extend the median concept to the domain of graphs. In terms of graph distance, we introduce the novel concepts of set median and generalized median of a set of graphs. We study properties of both types of median graphs. For the more complex task of computing generalized median graphs, a genetic search algorithm is developed. Experiments conducted on randomly generated graphs demonstrate the advantage of generalized median graphs compared to set median graphs and the ability of our genetic algorithm to find approximate generalized median graphs in reasonable time. Application examples with both synthetic and nonsynthetic data are shown to illustrate the practical usefulness of the concept of median graphs.