Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multi-static coherent sparse aperture approach to precision target detection and engagement

Radar systems have long been plagued by poor cross range (azimuthal) resolution due to the standoff range of the sensors and limitations of aperture size and beamwidth. This problem is especially an issue for sensors operating in the VHF and UHF bands due to the large physical aperture required to achieve reasonable beamwidths. A coherent sparse sensor network can improve both angle and range resolution of radar systems while limiting the required system bandwidth. In fact, a key advantage of the proposed technique is that the target localization achievable, both in range and cross range, is not limited by the bandwidth or aperture of the individual receiver systems employed in the sensor network. This paper discuss the benefits and performance of coherent sparse aperture techniques. In addition the impact of system errors on performance and error mitigation techniques are discussed.
Air fraction estimation for multiple combustion mode diesel engines with dual-loop EGR systems

This paper describes an observer-based air fraction estimation method for diesel engines with dual-loop exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems to conduct multiple and alternative combustion modes for significant engine emission reduction. An observer is designed to estimate the air fractions in all the engine intake/exhaust sections using standard sensors equipped on the engines. The observer provides indispensable information for the engine controller to exercise closed-loop control on in-cylinder conditions, in particular the high-pressure EGR gas and low-pressure EGR gas amounts and the ratio, which are crucial for engines running alternative combustion modes with dual- loop EGR systems. The convergence stability of the observer is proved based on a Lyapunov analysis assisted by physical insights into the engine systems. The observer is also experimentally evaluated on a modern light-duty diesel engine with a dual-loop EGR system.
Deep Reinforcement Learning from Self-Play in Imperfect-Information Games

Many real-world applications can be described as large-scale games of imperfect information. To deal with these challenging domains, prior work has focused on computing Nash equilibria in a handcrafted abstraction of the domain. In this paper we introduce the first scalable end-to-end approach to learning approximate Nash equilibria without prior domain knowledge. Our method combines fictitious self-play with deep reinforcement learning. When applied to Leduc poker, Neural Fictitious Self-Play (NFSP) approached a Nash equilibrium, whereas common reinforcement learning methods diverged. In Limit Texas Holdem, a poker game of real-world scale, NFSP learnt a strategy that approached the performance of state-of-the-art, superhuman algorithms based on significant domain expertise.
Online Video Object Detection Using Association LSTM

Video object detection is a fundamental tool for many applications. Since direct application of image-based object detection cannot leverage the rich temporal information inherent in video data, we advocate to the detection of long-range video object pattern. While the Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) has been the de facto choice for such detection, currently LSTM cannot fundamentally model object association between consecutive frames. In this paper, we propose the association LSTM to address this fundamental association problem. Association LSTM not only regresses and classifiy directly on object locations and categories but also associates features to represent each output object. By minimizing the matching error between these features, we learn how to associate objects in two consecutive frames. Additionally, our method works in an online manner, which is important for most video tasks. Compared to the traditional video object detection methods, our approach outperforms them on standard video datasets.
Migration, Relative Deprivation, and Psychological Well-Being in China

This article investigates how rural-to-urban migration influences migrants’ perception of relative deprivation, and how relative deprivation mediates the effects of migration on psychological well-being in China. During the past three decades, China has experienced large-scale rural-to-urban migration. Because of the institutional barriers to their permanent settlement in cities, Chinese migrants are often “sojourners” in cities and maintain close bonds with their sending communities; return migration is common. It is therefore unclear to what extent current and return migrants use an urban or rural frame of reference when they assess their social positions and how that assessment influences their psychological well-being. The data come from the 2012 China Labor Dynamics Survey, a nationally representative survey. The analytical sample consists of 13,204 individuals. The positive aspect of psychological well-being is measured by happiness and the negative aspect is measured by the frequency of emotional problems affecting role functioning. Relative deprivation is indexed by two variables: subjective position on a 10-rung social ladder and perceived fairness of current living standard. The findings suggest that after moving to cities, migrants may have adopted an urban frame of reference and suffered institutional exclusion and personal discrimination. Consequently, current migrants are more likely to perceive relative deprivation than both rural and urban nonmigrants of similar characteristics. The urban frame of reference had lingering effects after migrants returned to rural areas, so that return migrants reported more relative deprivation than their rural counterparts. The higher level of relative derivation perceived by migrants and return migrants contributed to their lower levels of happiness, as compared with urban and rural nonmigrants. There is little evidence that relative deprivation mediates the relationship between migration and the frequency of emotional problems affecting role functioning. This study theorizes and provides evidence for a previously overlooked psychosocial pathway between migration and psychological well-being.
The million-dollar question: can internships boost employment?

Higher education institutions are increasingly concerned with the professional insertion of graduates in the labour market and with the design of institutional mechanisms to facilitate students’ transition from higher education to work, particularly given the context of scarcity of financial resources and the rise of graduate unemployment. This issue has been addressed, inter alia, through the creation of study programmes with internships. Despite the public discourse encouraging the use of such strategies, there is a general consensus regarding the absence of empirical studies on the professional value of these strategies. This article aims to assess two interrelated questions: the extent to which measures of graduate unemployment rate tend to decrease after the introduction of internships in Portuguese study programmes; and the extent to which this effect applies to the different institutions that comprise the Portuguese tertiary education landscape. It also seeks to contribute to the debate on the relevance of the structure and nature of internships, which are factors frequently neglected in the literature.
Unmet Needs for Supportive Services

Abstract This study examined residence differences in unmet needs for seven commonly used supportive services including respite/adult day care, personal care, homemaker, home-delivered/congregate meals, transportation, home modification, and assistive devices services. Data were extracted from the 1999 National Long-Term Care Survey and included 848 caregivers of an adult who was over 65 years old, was community dwelling, and used one or more supportive services. Over one-third of caregivers reported that supportive services provided did not meet the needs of old adults. The prevalence rate of unmet needs differs across the seven supportive services. Using multivariate logistic regression tests, rural versus urban differences in unmet needs were found for personal care, homemaker, and assistive devices services. Rural older adults were less likely to experience unmet needs for these services than their urban counterparts.
Nuclear Expression of Hepatitis B Virus X Protein Is Associated with Recurrence of Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinomas: Role of Viral Protein in Tumor Recurrence

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) plays well-known roles in tumorigenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in infected patients. However, HBV-associated protein status in tumor tissues and the relevance to tumor behavior has not been reported. Our study aimed to examine the expression of HBV-associated proteins in HCC and adjacent nontumorous tissue and their clinicopathologic implication in HCC patients. Methods: HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), HBV core antigen (HBcAg), and HBV X protein (HBx) were assessed in 328 HBV-associated HCCs and in 155 matched nontumorous tissues by immunohistochemistry staining. Results: The positive rates of HBsAg and cytoplasmic HBx staining in tumor tissue were lower than those in nontumorous tissue (7.3% vs. 57.4%, p < .001; 43.4% vs. 81.3%, p < .001). Conversely, nuclear HBx was detected more frequently in tumors than in nontumorous tissue (52.1% vs. 30.3%, p < .001). HCCs expressing HBsAg, HBcAg, or cytoplasmic HBx had smaller size; lower Edmondson-Steiner (ES) nuclear grade, pT stage, and serum alpha-fetoprotein, and less angioinvasion than HCCs not expressing HBV-associated proteins. Exceptionally, nuclear HBx-positive HCCs showed higher ES nuclear grade and more frequent large-vessel invasion than did nuclear HBx-negative HCCs. In survival analysis, only nuclear HBx-positive HCCs had shorter disease-free survival than nuclear HBx-negative HCCs in pT1 and ES nuclear grade 1–2 HCC subgroup (median, 126 months vs. 35 months; p = .015). Conclusions: Our data confirmed that expression of normal HBV-associated proteins generally decreases in tumor cells in comparison to nontumorous hepatocytes, with the exception of nuclear HBx, which suggests that nuclear HBx plays a role in recurrence of well-differentiated and early-stage HCCs.
Meeting Quality Standards for Mobile Application Development in Businesses: A Framework for Cross-Platform Testing

How do you test the same application developed for multiple mobile platforms in an effective way? Companies offering apps have to develop the same features across several platforms in order to reach the majority of potential users. However, verifying that these apps work, as intended across a set of heterogeneous devices and operating systems is not trivial. Manual testing can be performed, but this is time consuming, repetitive and error-prone. Automated tools exist through frameworks, such as Frank and Robotium, however they lack the possibility to run repeated tests across multiple heterogeneous devices. This article presents an extensible architecture and conceptual prototype that showcase and combines parallel cross-platform test execution with performance measurements. In so doing, this work contributes to a quality-assurance process by automating parts of a regression test for mobile cross-platform applications.
The Hemodynamically-Regulated Vascular Microenvironment Promotes Migration of the Steroidogenic Tissue during Its Interaction with Chromaffin Cells in the Zebrafish Embryo

Background While the endothelium-organ interaction is critical for regulating cellular behaviors during development and disease, the role of blood flow in these processes is only partially understood. The dorsal aorta performs paracrine functions for the timely migration and differentiation of the sympatho-adrenal system. However, it is unclear how the adrenal cortex and medulla achieve and maintain specific integration and whether hemodynamic forces play a role. Methodology and Principal Findings In this study, the possible modulation of steroidogenic and chromaffin cell integration by blood flow was investigated in the teleostean counterpart of the adrenal gland, the interrenal gland, in the zebrafish (Danio rerio). Steroidogenic tissue migration and angiogenesis were suppressed by genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of blood flow, and enhanced by acceleration of blood flow upon norepinephrine treatment. Repressed steroidogenic tissue migration and angiogenesis due to flow deficiency were recoverable following restoration of flow. The regulation of interrenal morphogenesis by blood flow was found to be mediated through the vascular microenvironment and the Fibronectin-phosphorylated Focal Adhesion Kinase (Fn-pFak) signaling. Moreover, the knockdown of krüppel-like factor 2a (klf2a) or matrix metalloproteinase 2 (mmp2), two genes regulated by the hemodynamic force, phenocopied the defects in migration, angiogenesis, the vascular microenvironment, and pFak signaling of the steroidogenic tissue observed in flow-deficient embryos, indicating a direct requirement of mechanotransduction in these processes. Interestingly, epithelial-type steroidogenic cells assumed a mesenchymal-like character and downregulated β-Catenin at cell-cell junctions during interaction with chromaffin cells, which was reversed by inhibiting blood flow or Fn-pFak signaling. Blood flow obstruction also affected the migration of chromaffin cells, but not through mechanosensitive or Fn-pFak dependent mechanisms. Conclusions and Significance These results demonstrate that hemodynamically regulated Fn-pFak signaling promotes the migration of steroidogenic cells, ensuring their interaction with chromaffin cells along both sides of the midline during interrenal gland development.
Quasi-Lumped - Open-Loop Suspended Stripline Bandpass Filters

In this paper, a combined quasi-lumped-open-loop resonator (QL-OLR) is introduced and applied for filter design. The resonator can have single and dual-band behavior. Two bandpass filters as well as two dual-band bandpass filters have been designed, fabricated, and tested, that consist of two resonators each. The bandpass filters show the behavior of four return loss poles (fourth order filter), and by slitting these resonators a dual-band bandpass filter can be achieved (each band has two return loss poles). Transmission zeroes can be easily introduced into the filter response as well by utilizing the properties of both quasi-lumped and open-loop resonators
A kit formulation for the preparation of 188Re-lipiodol: preclinical studies and preliminary therapeutic evaluation in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma

A lyophilized kit formulation for the efficient labelling of lipiodol with generator-produced rhenium-188 is described. The preliminary preparation of the lipophilic complex bis-(diethyldithiocarbamato)nitrido rhenium-188 (188ReN-DEDC) was carried out using a two-vial kit containing S-methyl-N-methyl-dithiocarbazate, SnCl2 and sodium oxalate in the first vial, and diethyldithiocarbamate and a carbonate buffer in the second vial. After mixing of the reaction solution with lipiodol, the complex 188ReN-DEDC was quantitatively extracted and retained by this hydrophobic substance, thus allowing the stable incorporation of the &bgr;-emitting radionuclide. The radiochemical purity of the complex 188ReN-DEDC was 97±2%. The activity extracted into the lipiodol phase was 96±3% of the initial activity, indicating that the complex 188ReN-DEDC was almost quantitatively removed from the aqueous reaction solution. In vitro stability studies in human plasma, at 37°C, demonstrated the release of less than 15% of the activity within three half-lives. The biodistribution of 188Re-lipiodol in non-tumour-bearing Wistar rats at 6, 24, 48 and 72 h after intraportal venous injection showed one-third of total activity in the liver at 6 h, declining to 2% retention at 72 h. Bowel uptake at 6 and 24 h declined to low levels at 48 and 72 h. Renal activity peaked at 1.7%, diminishing to 0.6% over 48 h. Rat whole body gamma imaging showed gut activity in addition to hepatic uptake at 6 and 24 h, but only liver was evident from 48 to 72 h. Kidneys were not demonstrable at any imaging time point. In nine patients, activity was localized in the tumours immediately following intrahepatic arterial injection. Computed tomography/single-photon emission computed tomography (CT/SPECT) imaging at 1 and 24 h confirmed the retention of 188Re-lipiodol in the hepatoma, with minimal gut uptake and no lung activity over 24 h. These patients were subsequently treated with activities of 2.5–5 GBq of 188Re-lipiodol fractions without adverse effects. Six patients followed for up to 2 years in the pilot study achieved stable disease and there was objective partial response in one patient. Repeated treatments were performed on two to three occasions in three patients without evident toxicity. An additional patient given 6 GBq of 188Re-lipiodol demonstrated myelosuppression, which recovered with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) and platelet support. It is concluded that 188Re-lipiodol, prepared using our novel kit formulation, is stable in vivo and provides safe and effective therapy of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma when given via the hepatic artery, either alone or in combination with transarterial chemoembolization.
Conversion of Neuropeptide K to Neurokinin A and Vesicular Colocalization of Neurokinin A and Substance P in Neurons of the Guinea Pig Small Intestine

Abstract: The highest concentration of neurokinin A‐like immunoreactivity and substance P‐like immunoreactivity in the guinea pig small intestine was associated with the myenteric plexus‐containing longitudinal muscle layer. Chromatographic analysis of extracts of this tissue demonstrated the presence of neurokinin A and neuropeptide K but the probable absence of neurokinin B. A fraction of synaptic vesicles of density 1.133 ± 0.003 g/ml was prepared from the myenteric plexus‐containing tissue by density gradient centrifugation in a zonal rotor and was enriched 29 ± 12‐fold in the concentration of neurokinin A‐like immunoreactivity and 43 ± 13‐fold in the concentration of substance P‐like immunoreactivity. This fraction was separated from the fraction of vasoactive intestinal peptide‐containing vesicles (density, 1.154 ± 0.009 g/ml). Chromatographic analysis of lysates of the vesicles indicated the presence of neurokinin A but not neuropeptide K. It is postulated that β‐pre‐protachykinin is processed to substance P, neurokinin A, and neuropeptide K in the cell bodies of myenteric plexus neurons but that conversion of neuropeptide K to neurokinin A takes place during packaging into storage vesicles for axonal transport. The data are consistent with the proposal that neurokinin A and substance P are stored in the same synaptic vesicle, but the possibility of cosedimentation of different vesicles of very similar density cannot be excluded.
The HER-2/neu oncogene: prognostic factor, predictive factor and target for therapy.

The HER-2/neu oncogene encodes a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor with extensive homology to the epidermal growth factor receptor. HER-2/neu has been widely studied in breast cancer. The potential value of HER-2/neu status for the prediction of disease outcome and response to therapy in breast cancer is presented in the light of a series of recently published studies showing a range of impact on the outcome of patients treated with hormonal, cytotoxic and radiation therapies. This review includes the application of serum-based HER-2/neu testing and the use of antibody-based therapies directed against the HER-2/neu protein and their potential to become a new modality for breast cancer treatment.
Registration-based segmentation of murine 4D cardiac micro-CT data using symmetric normalization

Micro-CT can play an important role in preclinical studies of cardiovascular disease because of its high spatial and temporal resolution. Quantitative analysis of 4D cardiac images requires segmentation of the cardiac chambers at each time point, an extremely time consuming process if done manually. To improve throughput this study proposes a pipeline for registration-based segmentation and functional analysis of 4D cardiac micro-CT data in the mouse. Following optimization and validation using simulations, the pipeline was applied to in vivo cardiac micro-CT data corresponding to ten cardiac phases acquired in C57BL/6 mice (n = 5). After edge-preserving smoothing with a novel adaptation of 4D bilateral filtration, one phase within each cardiac sequence was manually segmented. Deformable registration was used to propagate these labels to all other cardiac phases for segmentation. The volumes of each cardiac chamber were calculated and used to derive stroke volume, ejection fraction, cardiac output, and cardiac index. Dice coefficients and volume accuracies were used to compare manual segmentations of two additional phases with their corresponding propagated labels. Both measures were, on average, >0.90 for the left ventricle and >0.80 for the myocardium, the right ventricle, and the right atrium, consistent with trends in inter- and intra-segmenter variability. Segmentation of the left atrium was less reliable. On average, the functional metrics of interest were underestimated by 6.76% or more due to systematic label propagation errors around atrioventricular valves; however, execution of the pipeline was 80% faster than performing analogous manual segmentation of each phase.
X-Ray Emission from the Radio Jet in 3C 120

We report the discovery of X-ray emission from a radio knot at a projected distance of 25'' from the nucleus of the Seyfert galaxy 3C 120. The data were obtained with the ROSAT HRI. Optical upper limits for the knot preclude a simple power-law extension of the radio spectrum, and we calculate some of the physical parameters for thermal bremsstrahlung and synchrotron self-Compton models. We conclude that no simple model is consistent with the data, but if the knot contains small regions with flat spectra, these could produce the observed X-rays (via synchrotron emission) without being detected at other wave bands.
On prior distributions which give rise to a dominated Bayesian experiment

When the statistical experiment is dominated (i.e. when all the sampling distributions are absolutely continuous w.r.t. a-nite measure), all the probability measures on the parameter space are prior distributions which give rise to a dominated Bayesian experiment. In this paper we shall consider the familyD of prior distributions which give rise to a dominated Bayesian experiment (w.r.t. a xed statistical experiment not necessarily dominated) and we shall think the set of all the probability measures on the parameter space endowed by the total variation metric d. Then we shall illustrate the relationship between d(;D )( where is the prior distribution) and the probability to have sampling distributions absolutely continuous w.r. t. the predictive distribution. Finally we shall study some properties of D in terms of convexity and extremality and we shall illustrate the relationship between d(;D )a nd the probability to have posteriors and prior mutually singular.
Voice-based Person Perception: Two Dimensions and Their Phonetic Properties

This paper proposes a two-dimensional model of voice-based person perception, building on previous findings from social cognition. These two dimensions (warmth or valence and competence or dominance) are compared with two dimensions of animal vocalizations (affective state and size). This two-dimensional model appears compatible with findings from previous studies on vocal stereotypes and visual face trait evaluation.