Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-Hop Connectivity Probability in Infrastructure-Based Vehicular Networks

Infrastructure-based vehicular networks (consisting of a group of Base Stations (BSs) along the road) will be widely deployed to support Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment (WAVE) and a series of safety and non-safety related applications and services for vehicles on the road. As an important measure of user satisfaction level, uplink connectivity probability is defined as the probability that messages from vehicles can be received by the infrastructure (i.e., BSs) through multi-hop paths. While on the system side, downlink connectivity probability is defined as the probability that messages can be broadcasted from BSs to all vehicles through multi-hop paths, which indicates service coverage performance of a vehicular network. This paper proposes an analytical model to predict both uplink and downlink connectivity probabilities. Our analytical results, validated by simulations and experiments, reveal the trade-off between these two key performance metrics and the important system parameters, such as BS and vehicle densities, radio coverage (or transmission power), and maximum number of hops. This insightful knowledge enables vehicular network engineers and operators to effectively achieve high user satisfaction and good service coverage, with necessary deployment of BSs along the road according to traffic density, user requirements and service types.
The role of synaptic noise in cortical excitability.

The entorhinal cortex (EC) is a vital structure in the mammalian brain, implicated in the processes of learning and memory, and a possible site for the generation of seizures in temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurones in the EC are constantly bombarded with inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitter. This background activity is thought to exert significant control on the excitability and function of neurones in cortical networks, with changes in the levels and proportion of background inhibition (IBg) and excitation (EBg) driving rhythmic oscillations in membrane potential, and even underlying the generation of epileptic seizures.
Mobitopolo: a portable infrastructure to facilitate flexible deployment and migration of distributed applications with virtual topologies

Hosting network services on virtual machines has become appealing for provisioning resources, saving power and enabling migration in case of service disruption, especially in data centers. Network services implemented widely over the Internet may enjoy similar benefits, because general-purpose hosting infrastructures such as PlanetLab and Amazon EC2 are available to host them. However, such infrastructures are piecemeal and heterogeneous in terms of virtualization technologies, which makes it hard to use them all together to their full potential. To ease this challenge, we implemented Mobitopolo, a portable infrastructure service to deploy and migrate distributed network services spanning over heterogeneous hosting infrastructures while preserving the logical connections between the service components. To the best of our knowledge, Mobitopolo is the first virtualized execution environment to integrate all these attributes into one system.
Multiple positive solutions for (n-1, 1)-type semipositone conjugate boundary value problems of nonlinear fractional differential equations

In this paper, we consider (n-1, 1)-type conjugate boundary value problem for the nonlinear fractional differential equation D0+u(t) + λf(t, u(t)) = 0, 0 < t < 1, λ > 0, u(0) = 0, 0 ≤ j ≤ n − 2, u(1) = 0, where λ is a parameter, α ∈ (n − 1, n] is a real number and n ≥ 3, and D0+ is the Riemann-Liouville’s fractional derivative, and f is continuous and semipositone. We give properties of Green’s function of the boundary value problems, and derive an interval of λ such that any λ lying in this interval, the semipositone boundary value problem has multiple positive solutions.
Chemical Composition and Biological Activity of Paris quadrifolia

Paris quadrifolia L. (Trilliaceae) is a small herb occurring locally in temperate and cool areas throughout Europe and Asia. The plant is known to contain steroidal saponins which seem to be responsible for its toxicity (Nohara et al., 1982; Weth, 1997). Nohara et al. (1982) described a stimulating effect of pennogenin 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl(14)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(14)-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(12)]-β-D-glucopyranoside on the isolated bull frog heart. Furthermore, the occurrence of fl avonoid glycosides and ecdysteroids has been described (Nohara et al., 1982; Novosel’skaya et al., 1981). Ethanolic tinctures of the whole plant are used in homeopathy to treat headache and neuralgic pain (Weth, 1997) and are monographed in the current German Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia (HAB, 2007). Since chemical and pharmacological investigations of P. quadrifolia date back to the 1980ies, we carried out a phytochemical reinvestigation of P. quadrifolia leading to the isolation and structural determination of one new steroidal saponin together with two known saponins, two fl avonoid glycosides, and two ecdysteroids. Furthermore, the biological activity of the main isolated saponins was evaluated in an in vitro cellular model system to characterize their effects on heart cells.
Social Learning in Elections

Elections with sequential voting, such as presidential primaries, are widely thought to feature social learning and momentum effects, where the choices of early voters influence the behavior of later voters. Momentum may take time to build, and can depend on how candidates perform in each stage relative to expectations. This paper develops a rational theory of behavior in sequential elections that is consistent with these phenomena. We analyze an election with two candidates in which some voters are uncertain about which candidate is more desirable. Voters obtain private signals and vote in a sequence, observing the history of votes at each point. For a wide class of aggregation rules, we show that even strategic and forward-looking voters can herd on a candidate with positive probability, and such a “bandwagon” can occur with probability approaching one in large electorates.
Oligarchic planetesimal accretion and giant planet formation II

Aims. In the context of the core instability model, we present calculations of in situ giant planet formation. The oligarchic growth regime of solid protoplanets is the model adopted for the growth of the core. This growth regime for the core has not been considered before in full evolutionary calculations of this kind. Methods. The full differential equations of giant planet formation were numerically solved with an adaptation of a Henyey-type code. The planetesimals accretion rate was coupled in a self-consistent way to the envelope’s evolution. Results. We performed several simulations for the formation of a Jupiter-like object by assuming various surface densities for the protoplanetary disc and two different sizes for the accreted planetesimals. We first focus our study on the atmospheric gas drag that the incoming planetesimals suffer. We find that this effect gives rise to a major enhancement on the effective capture radius of the protoplanet, thus leading to an average timescale reduction of ∼30%–55% and ultimately to an increase by a factor of 2 of the final mass of solids accreted as compared to the situation in which drag effects are neglected. In addition, we also examine the importance of the size of accreted planetesimals on the whole formation process. With regard to this second point, we find that for a swarm of planetesimals having a radius of 10 km, the formation time is a factor 2 to 3 shorter than that of planetesimals of 100 km, the factor depending on the surface density of the nebula. Moreover, planetesimal size does not seem to have a significant impact on the final mass of the core.
Prevalence and epidemiology of hepatitis D among patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection: a report from Northern Spain

Background The incidence of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection has decreased during the last decades. However, an increasing trend has been reported recently. Patients and methods We carried out a case–control study to analyze changes in its prevalence in 1215 chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients, diagnosed consecutively in a tertiary center, between 1983 and 2012. According to the year of diagnosis, patients were distributed into two groups: A [1983–1997 (n=786)] and B [1998–2012 (n=429)]. Results The prevalence of anti-HDV was 8.2% (9.4% in group A and 6.1% in group B) (P=0.04). Multivariate regression revealed that intravenous drug use [odds ratio (OR) 261.0; 95% confidence interval (CI), 28.7–2368.5; P<0.001], blood transfusion (OR 28.0; 95% CI, 2.7–295.9; P=0.03), anti-HIV(+) (OR 4.8; 95% CI, 1.6–14.5; P=0.004), and high alanine aminotransferase (OR 14.4; 95% CI, 3.4–60.6; P<0.001) were associated independently with the presence of anti-HDV in group A, whereas in group B, it was associated with immigration (OR 20.0; 95% CI, 4.7–84.9; P<0.001), intravenous drug use (OR 683.5; 95% CI, 52.7–8855.7; P<0.001), promiscuous sexual activity (OR 22.6; 95% CI, 2.2–228.5; P=0.008), and high alanine aminotransferase (OR 3.4; 95% CI, 1.1–10.0; P=0.02). Conclusion Although a significant decrease in the prevalence of HDV infection has been observed, it is still above 5%. Immigration and sexual transmission have emerged as new risk factors for HDV infection.
Sorting out IF networks: consequences of domain swapping on IF recognition and assembly

Vimentin and keratin are coexpressed in many cells, but they segregate into two distinct intermediate filament (IF) networks. To understand the molecular basis for the sorting out of these IF subunits, we genetically engineered cDNAs encoding hybrid IF proteins composed of part vimentin and part type I keratin. When these cDNAs were transiently expressed in cells containing vimentin, keratin, or both IFs, the hybrid IF proteins all recognized one or the other or both networks. The ability to distinguish networks was dependent upon which segments of IF proteins were present in each construct. Constructs containing sequences encoding either helix 1B or helix 2B seemed to be the most critical in conferring IF recognition. At least for type I keratins, recognition was exerted at the level of dimer formation with wild-type type II keratin, as demonstrated by anion exchange chromatography. Interestingly, despite the fact that swapping of helical domains was not as deleterious to IF structure/function as deletion of helical domains, keratin/vimentin hybrids still caused structural aberrations in one or more of the cytoplasmic IF network. Thus, sequence diversity among IF proteins seems to influence not only coiled-coil but also higher ordered associations leading to 10-nm filament formation and/or IF interactions with other cellular organelles/proteins.
Enhanced Endocannabinoid Signaling Elevates Neuronal Excitability in Fragile X Syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) results from deficiency of fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP). FXS is the most common heritable form of mental retardation, and is associated with the occurrence of seizures. Factors responsible for initiating FXS-related hyperexcitability are poorly understood. Many protein-synthesis-dependent functions of group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (Gp1 mGluRs) are exaggerated in FXS. Gp1 mGluR activation can mobilize endocannabinoids (eCBs) in the hippocampus and thereby increase excitability, but whether FMRP affects eCBs is unknown. We studied Fmr1 knock-out (KO) mice lacking FMRP to test the hypothesis that eCB function is altered in FXS. Whole-cell evoked IPSCs (eIPSCs) and field potentials were recorded in the CA1 region of acute hippocampal slices. Three eCB-mediated responses were examined: depolarization-induced suppression of inhibition (DSI), mGluR-initiated eCB-dependent inhibitory short-term depression (eCB-iSTD), and eCB-dependent inhibitory long-term depression (eCB-iLTD). Low concentrations of a Gp1 mGluR agonist produced larger eCB-mediated responses in Fmr1 KO mice than in wild-type (WT) mice, without affecting DSI. Western blots revealed that levels of mGluR1, mGluR5, or cannabinoid receptor (CB1R) were unchanged in Fmr1 KO animals, suggesting that the coupling between mGluR activation and eCB mobilization was enhanced by FMRP deletion. The increased susceptibility of Fmr1 KO slices to eCB-iLTD was physiologically relevant, since long-term potentiation of EPSP–spike (E–S) coupling induced by the mGluR agonist was markedly larger in Fmr1 KO mice than in WT animals. Alterations in eCB signaling could contribute to the cognitive dysfunction associated with FXS.
An Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Scale with a Neutral Wording

In this book chapter I present a multidimensional entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) scale. The scale builds on three established ESE-scales, but the reliability of it is improved compared to the original three scales as the highly discipline-specific jargon is transformed to a more neutral wording of the items. The scale has been tested in a large scale survey including 445 students from twelve different programmes at three universities in Denmark and one university in Sweden. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) has been applied in order to investigate the multidimensionality of the items in the scale, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has been applied to investigate its convergent, discriminatory and nomological validity. The results demonstrate support for a multidimensional ESE-scale with high predictive validity regarding entrepreneurial behaviours and with high reliability as the items are comprehensible to respondents, regardless if they have entrepreneurial experience or not. The scale can thus be used in programme evaluations that include control groups or other type of individuals that lack entrepreneurial experience.
Statistics of Physical Properties of Dark Matter Clusters

We have identified over 2000 well-resolved cluster halos, and also their associated bound subhalos, from the output of a 10243 particle cosmological N-body simulation (of box size 320 h-1 Mpc and softening length 3.2 h-1 kpc). This has allowed us to measure halo quantities in a statistically meaningful way, and for the first time analyze their distribution for a large and well-resolved sample. We characterize each halo in terms of its morphology, concentration, spin, circular velocity, and the fraction of their mass in substructure. We also identify those halos that have not yet reached a state of dynamical equilibrium, using the virial theorem with an additional correction to account for the surface pressure at the boundary. These amount to 3.4% of our initial sample. For the virialized halos, we find a median of 5.6% of halo mass is contained within substructure, with the distribution ranging between no identified subhalos to 65%. The fraction of mass in substructure increases with halo mass with logarithmic slope of 0.44 ± 0.06. Halos tend to have a prolate morphology, becoming more so with increasing mass. Subhalos have a greater orbital angular momentum per unit mass than their host halo. Furthermore, their orbital angular momentum is typically well aligned with that of their host. Overall, we find that dimensionless properties of dark matter halos do depend on their mass, thereby demonstrating a lack of self-similarity.
Is measurement of cyclic guanosine monophosphate in plasma or urine suitable for assessing in vivo nitric oxide production?

To the Editor: In their recently published article on nitric oxide (NO) synthesis in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease Boger et al1 based their conclusions among others on urinary excretion of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). The increasing use of urinary and plasma cGMP as a marker of NO production prompts us to critically comment on the basis of doing this. NO stimulates soluble guanylate cyclase and elevates intracellular cGMP.2 The other isoenzyme of guanylate cyclase, particulate guanylate cyclase, is stimulated by natriuretic peptides, which also leads to an increase in intracellular cGMP.3 The induction of cGMP either by natriuretic peptides, NO, or nitrates in target tissues may cause an egression of cGMP into the supernatant.4 5 We observed a release of cGMP into the medium after stimulation of human internal mammary artery grafts with either atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) or SIN-1 (unpublished results). However, much higher concentrations of SIN-1 were necessary to achieve comparably high cGMP concentrations in the medium. In humans, ANP injections cause a rapid and pronounced increase in plasma and urinary cGMP,6 7 whereas nitroglycerol infusions or molsidomine injections lead to a nonsignificant increase or no increase in peripheral venous plasma cGMP concentrations.6 8 cGMP is only partly eliminated from plasma by glomerular filtration, and most of plasma cGMP is eliminated by extrarenal clearance. Urinary cGMP is primarily of renal cellular origin and correlated with the natriuresis induced by ANP.8 Therefore urinary cGMP has been proposed as a biologic marker for the renal activities of natriuretic peptides in vivo.8 We found no correlation between plasma and urinary cGMP concentrations …
Immunogenicity and Safety of MF59-Adjuvanted H5N1 Influenza Vaccine From Infancy to Adolescence

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the immunogenicity, safety, and tolerability of a MF59-adjuvanted H5N1 vaccine in a population 6 months through 17 years of age. METHODS: Healthy subjects 6 to <36 months, 3 to <9 months, and 9 to <18 years of age were assigned randomly to receive 2 doses of either a MF59-adjuvanted H5N1 vaccine (7.5 μg/dose) or a MF59-adjuvanted trivalent seasonal influenza control vaccine (15 μg/dose for each antigen). Immunogenicity against the A/Vietnam/1194/2004-like vaccine strain was measured before and 3 weeks after the 2-dose primary series, through hemagglutination inhibition (HI), single radial hemolysis (SRH), and microneutralization. Local and systemic reactions were recorded. RESULTS: A total of 335 subjects received the H5N1 vaccine, and 137 subjects received the seasonal vaccine. Rates of seroprotection (HI titer of ≥40) against the H5N1 vaccine antigen were 97% for children 6 to 36 months and 3 to 9 years of age and 89% for older children. All subjects seroconverted in the SRH assay. Microneutralization titers of ≥40 were achieved by 99% of subjects, and ≥98% of subjects, respectively. Local reactions, particularly injection site pain in older children, were common, generally mild to moderate in nature, and transient and resolved spontaneously. Up to 5% of participants. There were no vaccine-related serious adverse events in either group. CONCLUSIONS: In this pediatric population, MF59-adjuvanted H5N1 vaccine was highly immunogenic, had a good safety profile, reactogenicity comparable with that of an adjuvanted seasonal influenza control vaccine.
Day Ahead Scheduling to Optimize Industrial HVAC Energy Cost Based ON Peak/OFF-Peak Tariff and Weather Forecasting

The cost consumption of industrial buildings is increasing, with heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) functions typically comprising half of all cost requirements. These cost requirements are heavily influenced by weather conditions based on the season and time of day, which may require different amounts or types of HVAC to provide habitable working conditions. Similarly, different activities that take place in an industrial building during a 24-h period also have different HVAC requirements. In this paper, we propose an optimal scheduling strategy based on activity type and weather forecasting to conserve HVAC costs. We have formulated the activity scheduling problem as a binary integer linear programming problem (BILP), and solved it using a CPLEX solver. Experimental results show that by scheduling activities, using 8-h time slots, we can achieve a reduction in costs of up to 27%. In addition, with 1-h time slots, optimal activity scheduling can yield up to a 38% reduction in costs.
Stackelberg Routing in Arbitrary Networks

We investigate the impact of Stackelberg routing to reduce the price of anarchy in network routing games. In this setting, an α fraction of the entire demand is first routed centrally according to a predefined Stackelberg strategy and the remaining demand is then routed selfishly by (nonatomic) players. Although several advances have been made recently in proving that Stackelberg routing can, in fact, significantly reduce the price of anarchy for certain network topologies, the central question of whether this holds true in general is still open. We answer this question negatively by constructing a family of single-commodity instances such that every Stackelberg strategy induces a price of anarchy that grows linearly with the size of the network. Moreover, we prove upper bounds on the price of anarchy of the largest-latency-first (LLF) strategy that only depend on the size of the network. Besides other implications, this rules out the possibility to construct constant-size networks to prove an unbounded price of anarchy. In light of this negative result, we consider bicriteria bounds. We develop an efficiently computable Stackelberg strategy that induces a flow whose cost is at most the cost of an optimal flow with respect to demands scaled by a factor of 1 + √1-α. Finally, we analyze the effectiveness of an easy-to-implement Stackelberg strategy, called SCALE. We prove bounds for a general class of latency functions that includes polynomial latency functions as a special case. Our analysis is based on an approach that is simple yet powerful enough to obtain (almost) tight bounds for SCALE in general networks.
Argonaute2 Regulates the Pancreatic β-Cell Secretome*

Argonaute2 (Ago2) is an established component of the microRNA-induced silencing complex. Similar to miR-375 loss-of-function studies, inhibition of Ago2 in the pancreatic β-cell resulted in enhanced insulin release underlining the relationship between these two genes. Moreover, as the most abundant microRNA in pancreatic endocrine cells, miR-375 was also observed to be enriched in Ago2-associated complexes. Both Ago2 and miR-375 regulate the pancreatic β-cell secretome, and by using quantitative mass spectrometry, we identified the enhanced release of a set of proteins or secretion “signatures ” in response to a glucose stimulus using the murine β-cell line MIN6. In addition, the loss of Ago2 resulted in the increased expression of miR-375 target genes, including gephyrin and ywhaz. These targets positively contribute to exocytosis indicating they may mediate the functional role of both miR-375 and Ago proteins in the pancreatic β-cell by influencing the secretory pathway. This study specifically addresses the role of Ago2 in the systemic release of proteins from β-cells and highlights the contribution of the microRNA pathway to the function of this cell type.
Improving the Reading Comprehension of Middle School Students in Inclusive Classrooms.

dents, regardless of individual differences (be they learning disabled, low-achieving, or at-risk students), are fully included in the mainstream of school life (Stainback, Stainback, & Jackson, 1992). In inclusive schools, the regular classroom environment is reorganized to fit the learning needs of all students, both general and special education (Phillips, Sapona, & Lubic, 1995). Zorfass (1994) defines inclusion as creating learning communities that appreciate and respond to the diverse needs of all students. Inclusive education, though prompted by the needs of students with disabilities, has been a movement designed to reconstruct classes so that all children representing the range of diversity present in school communities are welcome