Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Space-time channel estimation and performance analysis for wireless MIMO-OFDM systems with spatial correlation

This paper treats channel estimation in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems with correlation at the receive antenna array. A two-step channel estimation algorithm is proposed. Firstly, the iterative quadrature maximum likelihood based time delay and spatial signature estimation is presented by utilizing special training signals with a cyclic structure. The receive spatial correlation matrix of the vector valued channel impulse response is formulated as a function of the spatial signature, the time delay, and the pulse shaping filter. The joint spatio-temporal (JST) filtering based minimum mean squared error channel estimator is derived by virtue of the spatial correlation. In addition, the effect of channel estimation errors on the bit error probability performance of the space-time block coded OFDM system over correlated MIMO channels is derived. The Cramer-Rao lower bound on the time delay estimate is provided for a benchmark of the performance comparison. The performance of proposed algorithms is illustrated based on analysis and computer simulations. The JST channel estimator achieves significant gains in the mean squared error compared to the temporal filtering. It also enables remarkable savings in the pilot symbol power level.
Bed load transport monitoring using seismic observations in a low‐gradient rural gravel bed stream

The characterization of bed load transport in rivers is critical for the fundamental understanding and management of fluvial systems. Bed load monitoring based on seismological observations has recently emerged as a viable noninvasive measurement technique. However, applications of this new approach have been hitherto restricted to the case of sediment transport in steep mountain rivers. Here we further develop and evaluate the approach for a lower gradient gravel bed stream in a rural catchment using seismic observations, in situ hydroacoustic measurements of bed load motion (impact‐plate‐type device), and 3‐D hydromorphodynamic modeling. The results of this joint analysis of seismic measurements, hydroacoustic records, and sediment transport simulations show that the seismic monitoring technique for bed load transport characterization is applicable for a broader range of river systems than previously investigated.
Paleotemperature and paleosalinity inferences and chemostratigraphy across the Aptian/Albian boundary in the subtropical North Atlantic.

[1] Geochemical analyses of extraordinarily well preserved late Aptian–early Albian foraminifera from Blake Nose (Ocean Drilling Program Site 1049) reveal rapid shifts of δ18O, δ13C, and 87Sr/88Sr in the subtropical North Atlantic that may be linked to a major planktic foraminifer extinction event across the Aptian/Albian boundary. The abruptness of the observed geochemical shifts and their coincidence with a sharp lithologic contact is explained as an artifact of a previously undetected hiatus of 0.8–1.4 million years at the boundary contact, but the values before and after the hiatus indicate that major oceanographic changes occurred at this time. 87Sr/88Sr increase by ∼0.000 200, δ13C values decrease by 1.5‰ to 2.2‰, and δ18O values decrease by ∼1.0‰ (planktics) to 0.5‰ (benthics) across the hiatus. Further, both 87Sr/88Sr ratios and δ18O values during the Albian are anomalously high. The 87Sr/88Sr values deviate from known patterns to such a degree that an explanation requires either the presence of inter-basin differences in seawater 87Sr/88Sr during the Albian or revision of the seawater curve. For δ18O, planktic values in some Aptian samples likely reflect a diagenetic overprint, but preservation is excellent in the rest of the section. In well preserved material, benthic foraminiferal values are largely between 0.5 and 0.0‰ and planktic samples are largely between 0.0‰ to −1.0‰, with a brief excursion to −2.0‰ during OAE 1b. Using standard assumptions for Cretaceous isotopic paleotemperature calculations, the δ18O values suggest bottom water temperatures (at ∼1000 –1500 m) of 8–10°C and surface temperatures of 10–14°C, which are 4–6°C and 10–16°C cooler, respectively, than present-day conditions at the same latitude. The cool subtropical sea surface temperature estimates are especially problematic because other paleoclimate proxy data for the mid-Cretaceous and climate model predictions suggest that subtropical sea surface temperatures should have been the same as or warmer than at present. Because of their exquisite preservation, whole scale alteration of the analyzed foraminifera is an untenable explanation. Our proposed solution is a high evaporative fractionation factor in the early Albian North Atlantic that resulted in surface waters with higher δ18O values at elevated salinities than commonly cited in Cretaceous studies. A high fractionation factor is consistent with high rates of vapor export and a vigorous hydrological cycle and, like the Sr isotopes, implies limited connectivity among the individual basins of the Early Cretaceous proto-Atlantic ocean.
A Study on Power Delay Profile Measurement Using IEEE 802.11g Based Long Preamble Signals for WLAN Systems at 2.4 GHz Band

This paper proposes a measurement scheme of power delay profiles using IEEE 802.11g based wireless packets at 2.4 GHz band. In the proposed scheme, at first, a signal analyzer which can save the received Ich and Qch signal receive the OFDM based packets from wireless access point to mobile terminal. Secondly, positions of long preambles in the received IQ data are detected in the cross correlation process using a long preamble signal which is known between a transmitter and a receiver. Thirdly, the power delay profile is calculated by averaging of channel impulse responses which are estimated from received long preamble signals. Computer simulations confirm that the proposed scheme can be expected to achieve almost the same performance with PN sequence based measurement scheme.
Biomedical negation scope detection with conditional random fields

OBJECTIVE Negation is a linguistic phenomenon that marks the absence of an entity or event. Negated events are frequently reported in both biological literature and clinical notes. Text mining applications benefit from the detection of negation and its scope. However, due to the complexity of language, identifying the scope of negation in a sentence is not a trivial task. DESIGN Conditional random fields (CRF), a supervised machine-learning algorithm, were used to train models to detect negation cue phrases and their scope in both biological literature and clinical notes. The models were trained on the publicly available BioScope corpus. MEASUREMENT The performance of the CRF models was evaluated on identifying the negation cue phrases and their scope by calculating recall, precision and F1-score. The models were compared with four competitive baseline systems. RESULTS The best CRF-based model performed statistically better than all baseline systems and NegEx, achieving an F1-score of 98% and 95% on detecting negation cue phrases and their scope in clinical notes, and an F1-score of 97% and 85% on detecting negation cue phrases and their scope in biological literature. CONCLUSIONS This approach is robust, as it can identify negation scope in both biological and clinical text. To benefit text mining applications, the system is publicly available as a Java API and as an online application at http://negscope.askhermes. org.
Semi-Ownership and Sterilisation of Cats and Dogs in Thailand

Simple Summary This study found that less than 15% of Thai nationals engaged in semi-ownership practices, such as feeding, but that few of these stray cats and dogs had been sterilised. Intentions to sterilise in the future were predicted by religious beliefs, attitudes towards sterilisation, perceived pressure from others, and beliefs about personal capacity to sterilise (such as affordability). Community awareness campaigns that approach the issue of sterilisation in a way that is consistent with cultural and religious traditions using Thai role models, such as veterinarians, may go some way in reducing stray animal population growth. Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of cat and dog semi-ownership in Thailand and factors that predict sterilisation. Semi-ownership was defined as interacting/caring for a companion animal that the respondent does not own, such as a stray cat or dog. A randomised telephone survey recruited 494 Thai nationals residing in Thailand. The findings revealed that 14% of respondents (n = 71) engaged in dog semi-ownership and only 17% of these dogs had been sterilised. Similarly, 11% of respondents (n = 55) engaged in cat semi-ownership and only 7% were known to be sterilised. Using Hierarchical Multiple Regression, the findings showed that 62% and 75% of the variance in intentions to sterilise semi-owned dogs and cats, respectively, was predicted by religious beliefs, and psychosocial factors such as attitudes, perceived pressure from others, and perceived behavioural control. Community awareness campaigns that approach the issue of sterilisation in a way that is consistent with cultural and religious traditions using Thai role models, such as veterinarians, may go some way in reducing stray animal population growth.
Analysis and Comparison of the Psychometric Properties of Three Balance Measures for Stroke Patients

Background and Purpose— This study compared the psychometric properties of 3 clinical balance measures, the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Balance subscale of the Fugl-Meyer test (FM-B), and the Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke Patients (PASS), in stroke patients with a broad range of neurological and functional impairment from the acute stage up to 180 days after onset. Methods— One hundred twenty-three stroke patients were followed up prospectively with the 3 balance measures 14, 30, 90, and 180 days after stroke onset (DAS). Reliability (interrater reliability and internal consistency) and validity (concurrent validity, convergent validity, and predictive validity) of each measure were examined. A comparison of the responsiveness of each of the 3 measures was made on the basis of the entire group of patients and 3 separate groups classified by degree of neurological severity. Results— The FM-B and BBS showed a significant floor or ceiling effect at some DAS points, whereas the PASS did not show these effects. The BBS, FM-B, and PASS all had good reliability and validity for patients at different recovery stages after stroke. The results of effect size demonstrated fair to good responsiveness of all 3 measures within the first 90 DAS but, as expected, only a low level of responsiveness at 90 to 180 DAS. The PASS was more responsive to changes in severe stroke patients at the earliest period after stroke onset, 14 to 30 DAS. Conclusions— All 3 measures tested showed very acceptable levels of reliability, validity, and responsiveness for both clinicians and researchers. The PASS showed slightly better psychometric characteristics than the other 2 measures.
BIOME 6000 DB classified plotfile version 1

The file contains BIOME 6000 reconstructions of vegetation at 0, 6, and 21ka at individual sites, where the original published nomenclature for individual regions has been converted to a globally-applicable standardized classification (BIOME 6000 Consolidated Name). Two other standardized classifications are also given: common biome names between BIOME 6000 and the BIOME 4.2 model (BIOME 4.2 BIOME 6000 common names) and the megabiome scheme used by Harrison and Bartlein (2012) (MegaBiome Scheme 2). Additional information to translate BIOME 4.2 outputs into either BIOME 6000 Consolidated Names or BIOME 4.2 BIOME 6000 common names is also given.
Bullying perspectives among rural youth: a mixed methods approach.

INTRODUCTION Few studies have examined violence among rural youth even though it is recognized as a societal concern. A mixed method, descriptive study was conducted to examine violence among rural youth including their perceptions and experiences of it. This article focuses specifically on the perceptions and experiences of bullying among rural youth that were generated from the Qualitative Phase One interviews and Quantitative Phase Two responses. METHOD A mixed method study was conducted in two separate phases. The information generated from the Qualitative Phase One (n = 52) was used to develop a survey instrument employed in the subsequent Quantitative Phase Two (n = 180). The youth who were involved in each phase lived in different geographic areas of a Western Canadian province. The qualitative phase generated a number of comments about the experience of being bullied or how it felt to be a bully. In the survey instrument, specific questions related to bullying were embedded within it. Demographic information was collected in both phases of the study. Research assistants were used to collect the data in each phase. The transcripts from the qualitative phase were analyzed for categories and themes. The survey instrument included demographic questions and seventy questions that included a four-point Likert scale. The data were analyzed using SPSS v14 (SPSS Inc; Chicago, IL, USA). For this article, the survey questions that focused on bullying were considered alongside the qualitative comments in order to more fully understand the perceptions and viewpoints of rural youth regarding this particular aspect of violence. RESULTS Conducting a mixed method study provides a more in-depth understanding of bullying among youth in the rural context. The pain and humiliation of being bullied provided a personalized understanding of the survey responses that indicated which youth are targets of bullying. For example, comments were made about being picked on because of personal characteristics such as being overweight or dressing in an unacceptable manner. In addition, bullies openly talked about the power they gained from their role. The frequency responses to the questions in the survey confirmed that bullies obtain power from their behavior and that youth who are different are bullied. The participants also noted that something needed to be done to address bullying but remarked that they would not seek professionals' help. DISCUSSION The findings negate the myth that rural places are ideal places to raise children. Although the youth did not identify that they would access professionals, it is important for members of rural communities to acknowledge bullying, its impacts and how they can prevent it. Working from the social structure of rural communities is a first step in this process. CONCLUSION Rural communities will benefit as a whole if bullying, an important societal concern, is addressed. Building on the social structure of rural communities is important, However, listening to rural youth themselves is the key if true change is to be implemented.
FcLDP1, a Gene Encoding a Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) Domain Protein, Responds to Brassinosteroids and Abscisic Acid during the Development of Fruits in Fragaria chiloensis

White Chilean strawberries (Fragaria chiloensis) are non-climacteric fruits, with an exotic color and aroma. In order to discover genes involved in the development of these fruits, we identified a fragment of a gene encoding a late embryogenesis abundant domain protein, FcLDP1, that was expressed in early stages of fruit development, particularly in receptacles. Hormones play key roles in regulating the development of non-climacteric fruits. We show that the brassinosteroid content of the white strawberry varies during development. Additionally, FcLDP1 as well as the closest ortholog in the woodland strawberry, F. vesca (FvLDP1) possess multiple brassinosteroid, as well as abscisic acid (ABA) response motifs in the promoter region, consistent with the response of transiently expressed FcLDP1 promoter-GFP fusions to these hormones, and the rise in FcLDP1 transcript levels in white strawberry fruits treated with brassinosteroids or ABA. These findings suggest that both hormones regulate FcLDP1 expression during the development of white strawberries.
Yet more evidence that osteoarthritis is not a cartilage disease

A better insight into the realities behind osteoarthritis In this issue of the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases , Tan et al 1 report the results of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (hrMRI) of interphalangeal joints of 20 subjects who had “clinically osteoarthritic” and painful finger joints for <l year. The MRI observations are supported by histological and radiographic examination of dissecting room specimens of apparently non-arthritic interphalangeal joints from three elderly people, and are an extension of earlier work by the same group of investigators.2 Their findings indicate that structural changes in the collateral ligaments of the interphalangeal joints were uniformly present even when the articular cartilage appeared normal. The authors concluded that “ . the role of ligaments as an initiating or perpetuating factor in the pathogenesis of non-traumatic knee and hip disease merits attention. The damage evident within the small joint collateral ligaments raises the possibility that this is the principal site of wear and tear in early disease. ” Observations such as these emphasise that the aetiology and progression of osteoarthritis should not be thought of as being invariably attributable to a single tissue, such as articular cartilage, but as possibly due to disease in any of the tissues of the affected organ, the diarthrodial joint, including the subchondral bone, synovium, capsule, periarticular muscles, sensory nerve endings and meniscus (if present). Supporting ligaments should be added to the list. Although reviews of osteoarthritis often contain a statement to the effect that it is not merely a disease of cartilage, the large amounts of time, money and brainpower that have been invested in attempts to develop “chondroprotective” drugs and efforts to find the best ways to image minuscule (and clinically meaningless) changes in articular cartilage and to identify biomarkers of cartilage damage in osteoarthritis are evidence that we really …
Emerging Opportunities and Challenges in Cancer Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy strategies against cancer are emerging as powerful weapons for treatment of this disease. The success of checkpoint inhibitors against metastatic melanoma and adoptive T-cell therapy with chimeric antigen receptor T cells against B-cell–derived leukemias and lymphomas are only two examples of developments that are changing the paradigms of clinical cancer management. These changes are a result of many years of intense research into complex and interrelated cellular and molecular mechanisms controling immune responses. Promising advances come from the discovery of cancer mutation-encoded neoantigens, improvements in vaccine development, progress in delivery of cellular therapies, and impressive achievements in biotechnology. As a result, radical transformation of cancer treatment is taking place in which conventional cancer treatments are being integrated with immunotherapeutic agents. Many clinical trials are in progress testing potential synergistic effects of treatments combining immunotherapy with other therapies. Much remains to be learned about the selection, delivery, and off-target effects of immunotherapy used alone or in combination. The existence of numerous escape mechanisms from the host immune system that human tumors have evolved still is a barrier to success. Efforts to understand the rules of immune cell dysfunction and of cancer-associated local and systemic immune suppression are providing new insights and fuel the enthusiasm for new therapeutic strategies. In the future, it might be possible to tailor immune therapy for each cancer patient. The use of new immune biomarkers and the ability to assess responses to therapy by noninvasive monitoring promise to improve early cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Personalized immunotherapy based on individual genetic, molecular, and immune profiling is a potentially achievable future goal. The current excitement for immunotherapy is justified in view of many existing opportunities for harnessing the immune system to treat cancer. Clin Cancer Res; 22(8); 1845–55. ©2016 AACR. See all articles in this CCR Focus section, “Opportunities and Challenges in Cancer Immunotherapy. ”
Development of a functional scoring system for rheumatoid arthritis patients with cervical myelopathy.

OBJECTIVE: To be able to measure disability objectively in rheumatoid arthritis complicated by cervical myelopathy. METHODS: The responses to the Stanford health assessment questionnaire disability index were recorded from 250 consecutive patients (group 1) referred to our unit for spinal surgery. Using principal components analysis the questionnaire was reduced from 20 questions to 10 questions. In the second part of the study, the results of the questionnaire for those patients undergoing surgery from the original group of 250 patients were analysed with respect to outcome. RESULTS: The reduction in the number of questions results in no significant loss of information, reliability (internal consistency Cronbach's alpha = 0.968) or sensitivity. The new scale, the myelopathy disability index, measures only one dimension (Eigen value 6.97) and may be more finely tuned to the measurement of disability in these myelopathic patients. When administered to the 194 patients undergoing cervical spine (group 2) surgery the myelopathy disability index was an accurate predictor of neurological and functional outcome, as well as survival following surgery (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The myelopathy disability index provides a much needed objective and reliable means of assessing disability in patients with rheumatoid involvement of the cervical spine and also in predicting outcome following surgical intervention. It also provides information for both the patient and surgeon alike, on what to realistically expect from surgery. Its adoption should facilitate comparisons between different forms of surgical intervention.
A cis-Acting Diversification Activator Both Necessary and Sufficient for AID-Mediated Hypermutation

Hypermutation of the immunoglobulin (Ig) genes requires Activation Induced cytidine Deaminase (AID) and transcription, but it remains unclear why other transcribed genes of B cells do not mutate. We describe a reporter transgene crippled by hypermutation when inserted into or near the Ig light chain (IgL) locus of the DT40 B cell line yet stably expressed when inserted into other chromosomal positions. Step-wise deletions of the IgL locus revealed that a sequence extending for 9.8 kilobases downstream of the IgL transcription start site confers the hypermutation activity. This sequence, named DIVAC for diversification activator, efficiently activates hypermutation when inserted at non-Ig loci. The results significantly extend previously reported findings on AID-mediated gene diversification. They show by both deletion and insertion analyses that cis-acting sequences predispose neighboring transcription units to hypermutation.