Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Energy Harvesting Broadband Communication Systems With Processing Energy Cost

Communication over a broadband fading channel powered by an energy harvesting transmitter is studied. Assuming non-causal knowledge of energy/data arrivals and channel gains, optimal transmission schemes are identified by taking into account the energy cost of the processing circuitry as well as the transmission energy. A constant processing cost for each active sub-channel is assumed. Three different system objectives are considered: 1) throughput maximization, in which the total amount of transmitted data by a deadline is maximized for a backlogged transmitter with a finite capacity battery; 2) energy maximization, in which the remaining energy in an infinite capacity battery by a deadline is maximized such that all the arriving data packets are delivered; and 3) transmission completion time minimization, in which the delivery time of all the arriving data packets is minimized assuming infinite size battery. For each objective, a convex optimization problem is formulated, the properties of the optimal transmission policies are identified, and an algorithm which computes an optimal transmission policy is proposed. Finally, based on the insights gained from the offline optimizations, low-complexity online algorithms performing close to the optimal dynamic programming solution for the throughput and energy maximization problems are developed under the assumption that the energy/data arrivals and channel states are known causally at the transmitter.
When is cAMP not cAMP? Effects of compartmentalization.

Many important cellular processes are controlled via stimulation (or inhibition) of signal transduction systems, among which heptahelical G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) figure prominently. A classical example in cardiac myocytes is the β-adrenergic receptor (β-AR) cascade (see Figure, panel A), which leads to positive inotropic and lusitropic effects.1 Occupation of the β-ARs by an agonist activates a GTP binding protein (Gs), such that the α subunit dissociates and activates adenylyl cyclase (AC), thereby producing cAMP. The increase in cAMP leads to the dissociation of the regulatory and catalytic subunits of protein kinase A (PKA). PKA can be tethered near its substrates by an A-kinase anchoring protein (AKAP). The PKA catalytic subunit phosphorylates several key myocyte proteins involved in excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling, including the L-type Ca2+ channel, phospholamban (PLB), ryanodine receptor (RyR), myosin binding protein C, and troponin I (TnI). These effects produce PKA-dependent increases in Ca2+ current ( I Ca), sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca2+ uptake and release, as well as a desensitization of the myofilaments to Ca2+. The net result is the characteristic positive inotropic and lusitropic effects of β-AR activation in cardiac myocytes. A, Local β-AR signaling cascade in cardiac myocytes. B, GLP-1 signaling cascade. In this pathway, cAMP may activate glycolysis but cannot activate I Ca, PLB, or TnI phosphorylation. Epi indicates epinephrine; PFK, phosphofructokinase; and ATPase, SR Ca2+-ATPase (see text for other abbreviations). The stimulatory effects of GPCR activation can be inhibited at several levels. The receptor can be desensitized by G protein receptor kinases (eg, β-ARK) and arrestins.2 The activation of AC by Gsα can be antagonized by an inhibitory G protein (Gi), which can be activated by muscarinic receptors (and may also be coactivated during β2-AR activation). 3–5 The effects of …
Improved Localization of Cortical Activity By Combining EEG and MEG with MRI Cortical Surface Reconstruction

We describe a comprehensive linear approach to the problem of imaging brain activity with high temporal as well as spatial resolution based on combining EEG and MEG data with anatomical constraints derived from MRI images. The “inverse problem” of estimating the distribution of dipole strengths over the cortical surface is highly underdetermined, even given closely spaced EEG and MEG recordings. We have obtained much better solutions to this problem by explicitly incorporating both local cortical orientation as well as spatial covariance of sources and sensors into our for-
Bone morphogenetic proteins in tissue engineering: the road from the laboratory to the clinic, part I (basic concepts)

Discovered in 1965, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are a group of cytokines from the transforming growth factor‐β (TGFβ) superfamily with significant roles in bone and cartilage formation. BMPs are used as powerful osteoinductive components of diverse tissue‐engineering products for the healing of bone. Several BMPs with different physiological roles have been identified in humans. The purpose of this review is to cover the biological function of the main members of BMP family, the latest research on BMPs signalling pathways and advances in the production of recombinant BMPs for tissue engineering purposes. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Anti‐adipogenic effect of PDGF is reversed by PKC inhibition

Healthy adipose tissue function depends on adipogenesis. The capacity to form new adipocytes prevents the emergence of insulin‐resistant hypertrophied adipocytes, as well as the deleterious lipid deposition in muscle, liver, and pancreas. It is therefore important to understand how adipogenesis is modulated. Platelet‐derived growth factor (PDGF) is anti‐adipogenic, but the stage of differentiation that it targets, and the signaling pathways that it triggers, are not defined. We have studied the inhibitory effect of PDGF on murine 3T3‐L1 preadipocyte and human preadipocyte differentiation. There was a significant attenuation in the protein expression of the adipogenic transcription factors, PPARγ and C/EBPα, as well as in the levels of later differentiation markers, including adiponectin, aP2, and fatty acid synthase. PDGF treatment resulted in the persistence of PDGF receptor and PKCα expression, in contrast to the expected downregulation of both proteins that occurs during differentiation. Inactivation of conventional PKC isoforms, by bisindolylmaleimide I or PKC pseudosubstrate M20–28, partially reversed the inhibition of 3T3‐L1 and human preadipocyte differentiation by PDGF, as assessed by fatty acid synthase expression and morphological appearance. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Comparison of endoscopic submucosal dissection and surgical resection for treating gastric subepithelial tumours

Abstract Objective For subepithelial tumours (SETs) of the stomach, surgical resection is the gold standard treatment. With the recent advent of endoscopic resection techniques and devices, endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has been considered as an alternative treatment for SETs. The aim of our study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of ESD for treating gastric SETs compared with surgical resection. Methods Between January 2006 and September 2014, 55 patients with gastric SETs (13 gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GISTs), 27 leiomyomas, and 15 others) were treated by ESD and 27 patients (19 GISTs, two leiomyomas, and six others) underwent surgical resection. We retrospectively reviewed the therapeutic outcomes, procedure-related complications, post-procedure hospital stays, and medical costs of the two groups. Results The complete resection rate of the ESD group was lower than that of the surgery group (81.8% vs. 100%, p = 0.026). Although the incidence of complications that occurred with ESD was higher than that associated with surgical resection, there were no significant between-group differences (12.5% vs. 3.7%, p = 0.261), and all complicated cases were successfully treated without mortality. The ESD group had significantly shorter post-procedural hospital stays (median five days vs. eight days, p = 0.034) and lower medical costs (median $2374 vs. $4954, p <0.001) than the surgery group. There were no recurrences in either group during the follow-up period. Conclusions ESD is an efficient treatment tool for gastric SETs in selected patients. Additionally, ESD has the advantages of shorter hospital stays and lower medical costs compared with surgery.
Abundances of refractory elements in the atmospheres of stars with extrasolar planets

Aims. This work presents a uniform and homogeneous study of chemical abundances of refractory elements in 101 stars with and 93 without known planetary companions. We carry out an in-depth investigation of the abundances of Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Na, Mg and Al. The new comparison sample, spanning the metallicity range -0.70 < [Fe/H] < 0.50, fills the gap that previously existed, mainly at high metallicities, in the number of stars without known planets. Methods. We used an enlarged set of data including new observations, especially for the field "single" comparison stars. The line list previously studied by other authors was improved: on average we analysed 90 spectral lines in every spectrum and carefully measured more than 16600 equivalent widths (EW) to calculate the abundances. Results. We investigate possible differences between the chemical abundances of the two groups of stars, both with and without planets. The results are globally comparable to those obtained by other authors, and in most cases the abundance trends of planet-host stars are very similar to those of the comparison sample. Conclusions. This work represents a step towards the comprehension of recently discovered planetary systems. These results could also be useful for verifying galactic models at high metallicities and consequently improve our knowledge of stellar nucleosynthesis and galactic chemical evolution.
Research Resources for Nuclear Receptor Signaling Pathways

Nuclear receptor (NR) signaling pathways impact cellular function in a broad variety of tissues in both normal physiology and disease states. The complex tissue-specific biology of these pathways is an enduring impediment to the development of clinical NR small-molecule modulators that combine therapeutically desirable effects in specific target tissues with suppression of off-target effects in other tissues. Supporting the important primary research in this area is a variety of web-based resources that assist researchers in gaining an appreciation of the molecular determinants of the pharmacology of a NR pathway in a given tissue. In this study, selected representative examples of these tools are reviewed, along with discussions on how current and future generations of tools might optimally adapt to the future of NR signaling research.
NK‐cell‐dependent acute xenograft rejection in the mouse heart‐to‐rat model

Abstract: Background: Acute humoral xenograft rejection is characterized by widespread intravascular thrombosis with a significant NK‐cell and macrophage infiltrate. Although in vitro and ex vivo data have shown that NK cells are capable of killing xenogeneic tissue, the precise role they play in vivo is still not certain. Consequently, there are few tested strategies for dealing with NK‐cell‐mediated rejection, should this prove to be a problem. One reason for this has been the lack of a relevant rodent model in which rejection by these cells can be easily studied.
Levels of consciousness and awareness about evidence-based medicine among consultants in tertiary health care institutions in Nigeria.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Evidence-based medicine (EBM) incorporates results of health care research when making decisions about the clinical care of individuals. Information and communication technologies now play significant roles in organizing available research results in EBM software suites. This study examines the level of consciousness and awareness about EBM of consultants in tertiary health institutions in Nigeria. METHODS A total of 100 consultants were randomly selected from 10 of the 29 teaching hospitals in Nigeria and data were collected using a questionnaire and an interview schedule. From this data, 64 EBM awareness and utilization variables were identified and data on the dynamics of their inter-relationships were reported by 89 of the participants. RESULTS Of the 89 respondents, less than half (47.19%) have knowledge about EBM that could be considered as high, while EBM knowledge is low for the remaining respondents (52.81%). Evidence Summaries appear to be a more popular tool among the respondents than the resources of Journals and Clinical Guidelines. CONCLUSIONS Consultants in the teaching hospitals appeared not to have the high level of EBM consciousness and awareness that would be expected of them, although there is a consciousness that EBM will foster ease of access and promote equity in health care services.
The ‘good farmer’: farmer identities and the control of exotic livestock disease in England

Exotic livestock disease outbreaks have the capacity to significantly impact individual livestock keepers, as well as devastate an entire industry sector. However, there has been limited research undertaken to understand how farmers think about and carry out exotic disease control practices within the social sciences. Drawing on aspects of Social Identity Theory and Self-Categorisation Theory, this paper explores how the ‘good farmer’ identity concept influences farmers’ exotic livestock disease control practices. Using findings from an in-depth, large-scale qualitative study with animal keepers and veterinarians, the paper identifies three context specific and at times conflicting ‘good farmer’ identities. Additionally, a defensive component is noted whereby farmers suggest an inability to carry out their role as a ‘good farmer’ due to government failings, poor practice undertaken by ‘bad farmers’, as well as the uncontrollable nature of exotic disease.
The Role of Religion in the Problem-Solving Process

The primary goal of the study was to describe the role of religion in the problem-solving efforts of college students. Toward this end, a general descriptive model of religion in problem solving was devised and examined. Results indicated that subjects tended to use religion most extensively for emotional support and for redefining their difficulties. The secondary goal of the study was to investigate two hypotheses. The first hypothesis was that persons who are more intrinsically religious would use religion in their problem-solving efforts more extensively than persons who are less intrinsically religious. This hypothesis was supported. The second hypothesis was that persons facing more challenging life events would be more likely to use religion in their problemsolving efforts than persons who are less challenged in this way. This hypothesis was not supported. Various explanations for this finding were discussed. Generally, the results underscore the value of a problem-solving frameworkfor the study of religion.
Challenges of the Implementation of ICT Strategy in the University Students Loans’ Scheme: A perspective of The University of Nairobi government Sponsored Medical Students

XI CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1Background of the Study . 1 1.1.1 Concept of Strategy . 2 1.1. 2. Strategy Implementation and Challenges . 3 1.1. 3. ICT Strategy . 4 1.1. 4. University Loans Program in Kenya . 4 1.1. 5. Government Sponsored Medical Students . 5 1.2Research Problem . 6 1.3Research Objectives . 8 1.4Value of the Study . 8 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW . 10 2.
Why we tag: motivations for annotation in mobile and online media

Why do people tag? Users have mostly avoided annotating media such as photos -- both in desktop and mobile environments -- despite the many potential uses for annotations, including recall and retrieval. We investigate the incentives for annotation in Flickr, a popular web-based photo-sharing system, and ZoneTag, a cameraphone photo capture and annotation tool that uploads images to Flickr. In Flickr, annotation (as textual tags) serves both personal and social purposes, increasing incentives for tagging and resulting in a relatively high number of annotations. ZoneTag, in turn, makes it easier to tag cameraphone photos that are uploaded to Flickr by allowing annotation and suggesting relevant tags immediately after capture. A qualitative study of ZoneTag/Flickr users exposed various tagging patterns and emerging motivations for photo annotation. We offer a taxonomy of motivations for annotation in this system along two dimensions (sociality and function), and explore the various factors that people consider when tagging their photos. Our findings suggest implications for the design of digital photo organization and sharing applications, as well as other applications that incorporate user-based annotation.
Comparing the cariogenic species Streptococcus sobrinus and S. mutans on whole genome level

Background Two closely related species of mutans streptococci, namely Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus, are associated with dental caries in humans. Their acidogenic and aciduric capacity is directly associated with the cariogenic potential of these bacteria. To survive acidic and temporarily harsh conditions in the human oral cavity with hundreds of other microbial co-colonizers as competitors, both species have developed numerous mechanisms for adaptation. Objectives The recently published novel genome information for both species is used to elucidate genetic similarities but especially differences and to discuss the impact on cariogenicity of the corresponding phenotypic properties including adhesion, carbohydrate uptake and fermentation, acid tolerance, signaling by two component systems, competence, and oxidative stress resistance. Conclusions S. sobrinus can down-regulate the SpaA-mediated adherence to the pellicle. It has a smaller number of two-component signaling systems and bacteriocin-related genes than S. mutans, but all or even more immunity proteins. It lacks the central competence genes comC, comS, and comR. There are more genes coding for glucosyltransferases and a novel energy production pathway formed by lactate oxidase, which is not found in S. mutans. Both species show considerable differences in the regulation of fructan catabolism. However, both S. mutans and S. sobrinus share most of these traits and should therefore be considered as equally virulent with regard to dental caries.
Spatial and temporal variation of methane emissions in drained eutrophic peat agro-ecosystems: drainage ditches as emission hotspots

Our research investigates the spatial and temporal variability of methane (CH4) emissions in two drained eutrophic peat areas (one intensively managed and the other less intensively managed) and the correlation between CH4 emissions and soil temperature, air temperature, soil moisture content and water table. We stratified the landscape into landscape elements that represent different conditions in terms of topography and therefore differ in moisture conditions. There was great spatial variability in the fluxes in both areas; the ditches and ditch edges (together 27% of the landscape) were methane hotspots whereas the dry fields had the smallest fluxes. In the intensively managed site the fluxes were significantly higher by comparison with the less intensively managed site. In all the landscape element elements the best explanatory variable for CH4 emission was temperature. Neither soil moisture content nor water table correlated significantly with CH4 emissions, except in April, where soil moisture was the best explanatory variable.
Training SVMs Without Offset

We develop, analyze, and test a training algorithm for support vector machine classifiers without offset. Key features of this algorithm are a new, statistically motivated stopping criterion, new warm start options, and a set of inexpensive working set selection strategies that significantly reduce the number of iterations. For these working set strategies, we establish convergence rates that, not surprisingly, coincide with the best known rates for SVMs with offset. We further conduct various experiments that investigate both the run time behavior and the performed iterations of the new training algorithm. It turns out, that the new algorithm needs significantly less iterations and also runs substantially faster than standard training algorithms for SVMs with offset.
The Convergence of Fracture Repair and Stem Cells: Interplay of Genes, Aging, Environmental Factors and Disease

The complexity of fracture repair makes it an ideal process for studying the interplay between the molecular, cellular, tissue, and organ level events involved in tissue regeneration. Additionally, as fracture repair recapitulates many of the processes that occur during embryonic development, investigations of fracture repair provide insights regarding skeletal embryogenesis. Specifically, inflammation, signaling, gene expression, cellular proliferation and differentiation, osteogenesis, chondrogenesis, angiogenesis, and remodeling represent the complex array of interdependent biological events that occur during fracture repair. Here we review studies of bone regeneration in genetically modified mouse models, during aging, following environmental exposure, and in the setting of disease that provide insights regarding the role of multipotent cells and their regulation during fracture repair. Complementary animal models and ongoing scientific discoveries define an increasing number of molecular and cellular targets to reduce the morbidity and complications associated with fracture repair. Last, some new and exciting areas of stem cell research such as the contribution of mitochondria function, limb regeneration signaling, and microRNA (miRNA) posttranscriptional regulation are all likely to further contribute to our understanding of fracture repair as an active branch of regenerative medicine. © 2014 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.
Kinematics of the outer stellar halo

We test whether the simple model for the kinematics of the Galactic stellar halo (in particular the outer halo) proposed by Sommer-Larsen, Flynn & Christensen (SLFC) is physically realizable, by directly integrating particles in a three­ dimensional model of the Galactic potential. We are able to show that the SLFC solution can be realized in terms of a distribution of particles with stationary statistical properties in phase space. Hence the SLFC model, which shows a notable change in the anisotropy from markedly radial at the Sun to markedly tangential beyond about Galactocentric radius r = 20 kpc, seems a tenable description of outer halo kinematics. SLFC's results indicate that the halo kinematics are tan­ gentially anisotropic in the outer halo, compared with radially anisotropic near the Sun. Specifically, near the Sun, a, ~ 140 km S-1 and at ~ 90-100 km s-t, whereas SLFC find a major kinematic change in the outer halo (r~ 10-20 kpc), where a,~80-100 km S-1 and at ~ 130-150 km S-I. The solution to the Jeans equation provides only the second moments of the velocity distribution in the halo. To demonstrate that the solution for (a" at) is actually physical, one must show that the velocity dispersions can be realized in terms of a stationary phase-space distribution function f which is everywhere non-negative in phase space. Although there are methods in the literature for recovering the distri­ bution function from simple potential-density pairs and the velocity dispersions (see Binney & Tremaine 1987, and references therein), the extension of these methods to the case of the Galactic potential is a formidable analytic task. Since we would nevertheless like to test that the SLFC model is physical, we have taken in this paper a less ambi­ tious and more direct approach: we place a large number of test particles with the kinematic characteristics of the SLFC-type model (using a simple assumption about their velocity distribution) into a realistic three-dimensional model of the Galaxy's potential, and integrate the orbits over a Hubble time, allowing the system to phase-mix. We show in this way that a stationary system can be realized with the kinematic and spatial properties of the SLFC model.