Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The velocity of the decoding wave for spatially coupled codes on BMS channels

We consider the dynamics of belief propagation decoding of spatially coupled Low-Density Parity-Check codes. It has been conjectured that after a short transient phase, the profile of “error probabilities” along the spatial direction of a spatially coupled code develops a uniquely-shaped wavelike solution that propagates with constant velocity ν. Under this assumption and for transmission over general Binary Memoryless Symmetric channels, we derive a formula for ν. We also propose approximations that are simpler to compute and support our findings using numerical data.
Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products Expression on T Cells Contributes to Antigen-Specific Cellular Expansion In Vivo1

Receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) is an activation receptor triggered by inflammatory S100/calgranulins and high mobility group box-1 ligands. We have investigated the importance of RAGE on Ag priming of T cells in murine models in vivo. RAGE is inducibly up-regulated during T cell activation. Transfer of RAGE-deficient OT II T cells into OVA-immunized hosts resulted in reduced proliferative responses that were further diminished in RAGE-deficient recipients. Examination of RAGE-deficient dendritic cells did not reveal functional impairment in Ag presentation, maturation, or migratory capacities. However, RAGE-deficient T cells showed markedly impaired proliferative responses in vitro to nominal and alloantigens, in parallel with decreased production of IFN-γ and IL-2. These data indicate that RAGE expressed on T cells is required for efficient priming of T cells and elucidate critical roles for RAGE engagement during cognate dendritic cell-T cell interactions.
Machine translation system for patent documents combining rule-based translation and statistical post-editing applied to the PatentMT Task

In this article, we describe system architecture, preparation of training data and experimental results of the EIWA group in the NTCIR-9 Patent Translation Task. Our system is combining rule-based machine translation and statistical post-editing. Experimental results for Japanese to English (JE) subtask show 0.3169 BLEU score, 7.8161 NIST score, 0.7404 RIBES score, 3.43 adequacy score and 0.6381 pair wise comparison score for acceptability. Experimental results for Chinese to English (CE) subtask show 0.2597 BLEU score, 7.2282 NIST score, 0.7455 RIBES score, and 3.05 adequacy score.
An evaluation of how small user interface changes can improve scientists' analytic strategies

Subtle changes in analysis system interfaces can be used purposely to alter users' analytic behaviors. In a controlled study subjects completed three analyses at one-week intervals using an analysis support system. Control subjects used one interface in all sessions. Test subjects used modified versions in the last two sessions: a first set of changes aimed at increasing subjects' use of the system and their consideration of alternative hypotheses; a second set of changes aimed at increasing the amount of evidence collected. Results show that in the second session test subjects used the interface 39% more and switched between hypotheses 19% more than in the first session. They then collected 26% more evidence in the third than in the second session. These increases differ significantly (p<0.05) from near constant control rates. We hypothesize that this approach can be used in many real applications to guide analysts unobtrusively towards improved analytic strategies.
A trust-based strategy for addressing residual attacks in the RELOAD architecture

Telephony over IP has undergone a large-scale deployment thanks to the development of high-speed broadband access and the standardization of signalling protocols. A particular attention is currently given to P2PSIP networks which are exposed to many security threats. The RELOAD protocol defines a peer-to-peer signalling overlay designed to support these networks. It introduces a security framework based on certification mechanisms, but P2PSIP networks are still exposed to residual attacks, such as refusals of service. We propose in this work to address these residual attacks by integrating into the RELOAD architecture a dedicated trust model coupled with prevention countermeasures. We mathematically defines this trust-based strategy, and describe the considered prevention mechanisms implemented by safeguards and watchmen. We quantify the benefits and limits of our solution through an extensive set of experiments.
Characteristics of Stochastic Resonance in Asymmetric Duffing oscillator

We study the characteristics of stochastic resonance (SR) in the Duffing oscillator with three types of asymmetries in its double-well potential. The asymmetries controlled by a parameter α are introduced in the potential by varying (i) the depth of the left-well alone, (ii) the location of the minimum of the left-well alone and (iii) both depth and location of the minimum of the left-well alone. The characteristics of SR in the asymmetric cases are different from the symmetric case (α = 1). We find that asymmetry has a strong influence on the optimum noise intensity at which signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is maximum, mean residence time at resonance and the probability distribution of residence time in the left- and right-wells. For a range of values of α, α ≠ 1, SNR is found to be relatively higher than for α = 1.
Ultrastructure of the vitreoretinal interface following plasmin assisted vitrectomy

AIMS To investigate the ultrastructure of the vitreoretinal interface following plasmin induced posterior vitreous detachment. METHODS Plasmin (1 or 2 U/0.1 ml) was injected into the vitreous cavity of 24 eyes of freshly slaughtered pigs. The 24 fellow eyes received calcium-free and magnesium-free PBS and served as a control. After incubation at 37°C for 30 and 60 minutes, the globes were placed in fixative and hemisected. Specimens for light, scanning, and transmission electron microscopy were obtained from the posterior pole, the equator, and the vitreous base using a corneal trephine. RESULTS All plasmin treated eyes showed posterior vitreous detachment. However, the inner limiting membrane (ILM) was covered by remnants of cortical vitreous at the posterior pole and at the equator. There was a direct correlation between the concentration and exposure times of plasmin and the degree of vitreoretinal separation. Eyes exposed to 1 U plasmin for 30 minutes had a dense network of residual collagen fibrils while those exposed to 1 U plasmin for 60 minutes had only sparse collagen fibrils covering the ILM. Eyes treated with 2 U plasmin for 60 minutes had a smooth retinal surface, consistent with a bare ILM. At the vitreous base there was no vitreoretinal separation. In all control eyes the vitreous cortex was completely attached to the retina. There was no evidence of retinal damage in any plasmin treated eye. CONCLUSION Plasmin induces a cleavage between the vitreous cortex and the ILM without morphological changes to the retina. In contrast with previous reports, plasmin produces a smooth retinal surface and additional surgery is not required in this experimental setting. The degree of vitreoretinal separation depends on the concentration and length of exposure to plasmin.
Lead-Binding Proteins: A Review

Lead-binding proteins are a series of low molecular weight proteins, analogous to metallothionein, which segregate lead in a nontoxic form in several organs (kidney, brain, lung, liver, erythrocyte). Whether the lead-binding proteins in every organ are identical or different remains to be determined. In the erythrocyte, delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (ALAD) isoforms have commanded the greatest attention as proteins and enzymes that are both inhibitable and inducible by lead. ALAD-2, although it binds lead to a greater degree than ALAD-1, appears to bind lead in a less toxic form. What may be of greater significance is that a low molecular weight lead-binding protein, approximately 10 kDa, appears in the erythrocyte once blood lead exceeds 39 μg/dL and eventually surpasses the lead-binding capacity of ALAD. In brain and kidney of environmentally exposed humans and animals, a cytoplasmic lead-binding protein has been identified as thymosin β4, a 5 kDa protein. In kidney, but not brain, another lead-binding protein has been identified as acyl-CoA binding protein, a 9 kDa protein. Each of these proteins, when coincubated with liver ALAD and titrated with lead, diminishes the inhibition of ALAD by lead, verifying their ability to segregate lead in a nontoxic form.
Performance evaluation of HTTP/TCP on asymmetric networks

As the Internet users grow, new network technologies are emerging. Those include ADSL and CATV Internet, which essentially provide asymmetric bandwidth for uplink and downlink to the user's connection. In this paper, we investigate the behavior of HTTP/TCP protocols on such asymmetric networks, and present the analytic results of the mean throughput of TCP. The transfer time of Web documents by HTTP over TCP is also derived. In the analysis, we consider newer HTTP/TCP protocols, HTTP/1.1 and TCP Vegas, in addition to HTTP/1.0 and TCP Tahoe. We then investigate the appropriate combination of HTTP and TCP protocols on the asymmetric network. The results show that the effect of HTTP/1.1 is quite small, but TCP Vegas can improve the performance in asymmetric networks if it is appropriately modified as in our proposal.
Automatic Speech Recognition in Adverse Acoustic Conditions

Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology has reached maturity to the extent that it can be used successfully in various applications. However, it is by no means the “solved problem ” that some marketing campaigns are promoting it to be. One o f the biggest challenges that operational ASR systems are faced with, is to maintain recognition performance in adverse acoustic conditions. The training procedures o f most ASR systems yield recognisers with a relatively rigid image o f the world: Only those acous­ tic variations that actually occurred in the training data are accounted for. Since training data is usually clean (in the sense that care is taken to avoid noisy recording environments, channel noise, etc.), noise sources which are present when the system is operational result in a mismatch between the training and the test conditions. Such a mismatch may reduce recognition performance quite significantly. The aim of this research is to determine the extent to which the robustness o f ASR systems against mismatched training and test conditions may be increased using acoustic backing-off as an im­ plementation o f Missing Feature Theory.
Stagnation Analysis in Particle Swarm Optimization

Particle swarm optimization (PSO) has shown to be an efficient, robust and simple optimization algorithm, and has been successfully applied to many different kinds of problems. But it is still an open problem that why PSO can be successful. Most of current PSO studies are empirical, with only a few theoretical analyses, and these theoretical studies concentrate mainly on simplified PSO systems, discarding randomness. In order to improve the understanding of real stochastic PSO algorithm, this paper presents a formal stochastic analysis of the stochastic PSO algorithm, which involves with randomness. The stochastic properties of particle trajectories in stagnation phase are studied in details
Cellular and Molecular Characterization of Microglia: A Unique Immune Cell Population

Microglia are essential for the development and function of the adult brain. Microglia arise from erythro-myeloid precursors in the yolk sac and populate the brain rudiment early during development. Unlike monocytes that are constantly renewed from bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells throughout life, resident microglia in the healthy brain persist during adulthood via constant self-renewal. Their ontogeny, together with the absence of turnover from the periphery and the singular environment of the central nervous system, make microglia a unique cell population. Supporting this notion, recent genome-wide transcriptional studies revealed specific gene expression profiles clearly distinct from other brain and peripheral immune cells. Here, we highlight the breakthrough studies that, over the last decades, helped elucidate microglial cell identity, ontogeny, and function. We describe the main techniques that have been used for this task and outline the crucial milestones that have been achieved to reach our actual knowledge of microglia. Furthermore, we give an overview of the “microgliome” that is currently emerging thanks to the constant progress in the modern profiling techniques.
Randomized Adjuvant Chemotherapy of EGFR-Mutated Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients with or without Icotinib Consolidation Therapy

Background Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations occur in up to 50% of Asian patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Treatment of advanced NSCLC patients with EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) confers a significant survival benefit. This study assessed the efficacy and safety of chemotherapy with or without icotinib in patients undergoing resection of stage IB to ⅢA EGFR-mutated NSCLC. Methods Patients with surgically resected stage IB (with high risk factors) to ⅢA EGFR-mutated NSCLC were randomly assigned (1:1) to one of two treatment plans. One group received four cycles of platinum-based doublet chemotherapy every three weeks, and the other group received platinum-based chemotherapy supplemented with consolidation therapy of orally administered icotinib (125 mg thrice daily) two weeks after chemotherapy. The icotinib treatment continued for four to eight months, or until the occurrence of disease relapse, metastasis or unacceptable icotinib or chemotherapy toxicity. The primary endpoint was disease-free survival (DFS). Results 41 patients were enrolled between Feb 9, 2011 and Dec 17, 2012. 21 patients were assigned to the combined chemotherapy plus icotinib treatment group, while 20 patients received chemotherapy only. DFS at 12 months was 100% for icotinib-treated patients and 88.9% for chemotherapy-only patients (p = 0. 122). At 18 months DFS for icotinib-treated vs. chemotherapy-only patients was 95.2% vs. 83.3% (p = 0. 225), respectively, and at 24 months DFS was 90.5% vs. 66.7% (p = 0. 066). The adverse chemotherapy effects predominantly presented as gastrointestinal reactions and marrow suppression, and there was no significant difference between the two treatment groups. Patients in the chemotherapy plus icotinib treatment group showed favorable tolerance to oral icotinib. Conclusions The results suggest that chemotherapy plus orally icotinib displayed better DFS compared with chemotherapy only, yet the difference in DFS was not significant. We would think the preliminary result here was promising, and further trials with larger sample sizes might confirm the efficiency of adjuvant TKI in selected patients. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02430974
Restless leg syndrome in pregnancy.

prospective study is currently being undertaken by a postgraduate clinical psychologist using standardised psychological techniques. Adjuvant systemic treatment benefits a small number ofwomen. We prefer to use it only in those who will be likely to benefit, and a prospective trial in patients with an extremely poor prognosis, as determined by multiple receptor analysis, is also currently in progress. Ductal carcinoma in situ does pose a considerable problem of management: a quarter of cases subsequently develop into invasive cancer in the ipsilateral breast after excisional biopsy. In just over half of cases (55%) the disease is multicentric. Occult invasion of the breast tissue and axillary nodes occur. Definitive treatment is, therefore, required. This has been given by mastectomy, wide local excision, or wide local excision followed by radiotherapy. In a series reported by Lippman et al the only treatment associated with no subsequent invasion was mastectomy. ' Further evidence of the unsuitability of radiotherapy for premalignant lesions is given by Wang.2 In premalignant lesions of the vocal cords the results of radiotherapy are not as good as those for TINOMO invasive carcinomas. This may be due either to radioinsensitivity of the lesion or perhaps more probably to a second primary arising in an area of field change. In the light of the above, albeit limited, evidence and the difficulties we believe are associated with a randomised trial of two very different methods of treatment our advice after discussion of the above with patients is that mastectomy seems to offer a more satisfactory result than other treatment. In the future we may well alter our views if ongoing studies produce the evidence that the above advice is not satisfactory. We are delighted that one of the main messages of the paper -that the option to have a mastectomy must remain available to women-has the support of Professor Baum and his colleagues.
Forms of Zinc Accumulated in the HyperaccumulatorArabidopsis halleri 1

The chemical forms of zinc (Zn) in the Zn-tolerant and hyperaccumulator Arabidopsis halleri and in the non-tolerant and nonaccumulator Arabidopsis lyrata subsp. petraea were determined at the molecular level by combining chemical analyses, extended x-ray absorption spectroscopy (EXAFS), synchrotron-based x-ray microfluorescence, and μEXAFS. Plants were grown in hydroponics with various Zn concentrations, and A. halleri specimens growing naturally in a contaminated site were also collected. Zn speciation in A. halleri was independent of the origin of the plants (contaminated or non-contaminated) and Zn exposure. In aerial parts, Zn was predominantly octahedrally coordinated and complexed to malate. A secondary organic species was identified in the bases of the trichomes, which contained elevated Zn concentrations, and in which Zn was tetrahedrally coordinated and complexed to carboxyl and/or hydroxyl functional groups. This species was detected thanks to the good resolution and sensitivity of synchrotron-based x-ray microfluorescence and μEXAFS. In the roots of A. halleri grown in hydroponics, Zn phosphate was the only species detected, and is believed to result from chemical precipitation on the root surface. In the roots of A. halleri grown on the contaminated soil, Zn was distributed in Zn malate, Zn citrate, and Zn phosphate. Zn phosphate was present in both the roots and aerial part of A. lyrata subsp. petraea. This study illustrates the complementarity of bulk and spatially resolved techniques, allowing the identification of: (a) the predominant chemical forms of the metal, and (b) the minor forms present in particular cells, both types of information being essential for a better understanding of the bioaccumulation processes.
Solving the Forward Position Problem of an In-Parallel Planar Manipulator in the Gauss Plane

We study determining the posture of an in-parallel planar manipulator, which has three connectors composed of revolute, prismatic and revolute joints, from specified active joint variables. We construct an ideal in the field of complex numbers, and we introduce self inversive polynomials. We provide results for an in-parallel planar manipulator, which has a base and moving platform in right triangular shape. Using Sage computer algebra system, we compute its Groebner bases. We illustrate that the single variable polynomials obtained from the Groebner bases are self reciprocal.
Acupuncture for Functional Dyspepsia: A Single Blinded, Randomized, Controlled Trial

In order to investigate the therapeutic potential of acupuncture on patients with functional dyspepsia (FD), patients were randomized to receive acupuncture at classic acupoints with manipulations (treatment group) versus acupuncture at nonacupoints without manipulation (control group) once every other day, three times a week, for one month and were followed up for three months. The primary outcomes included dyspeptic symptoms, quality of life, and mental status. The secondary outcomes included the fasting serum gastrin concentration, and frequency and propagation velocity of gastric slow waves. Sixty patients with FD were included, among whom, four dropped out. After one month's treatment, patients with FD showed significant improvements in primary (in both groups) and secondary (in the eight patients of the treatment group) outcomes as compared with baseline (P = 0.0078 to <0.0001); treatment group has better outcomes in all primary outcome measures (P < 0.0001 except for SDS (P = 0.0005)). Improvements on dyspeptic symptoms persist during follow-up (better in the treatment group). Acupuncture with manual manipulation had better effects on improving dyspeptic symptoms, mental status, and quality of life in patients with FD. These effects may be related to the increased frequency and propagation speed of gastric slow waves and serum gastrin secretion.
Altered Na/Ca exchange distribution in ventricular myocytes from failing hearts

Na/Ca exchange (NCX) is normally located predominantly in the T tubules of cardiac ventricular myocytes. However, redistribution of NCX occurs in myocytes from failing hearts, resulting in more uniform distribution between T tubule and surface sarcolemma; this alters access of NCX to Ca released from sarcoplasmic reticulum and thus cellular Ca handling.
Visibility Estimation under Night-time Conditions using a Multiband Camera

Various driver-assistance systems are currently being developed that make use of on-vehicle cameras. However, the imaging conditions and the methods used to detect objects are different for each system. Therefore, a special camera is often needed in order to satisfy the requirements of each system. A camera that can be shared by multiple systems will become essential when more systems are put to practical use in the future. Therefore, a multiband camera has been developed that can provide both color images and near-infrared images. The camera includes a special filter that improves on the Bayer filter arrays that are used in single-chip digital color cameras, and it can simultaneously obtain images covering four wavelength bands that have the same optical axes and fields of view. Moreover, a method for estimating the driver's visibility when using the camera is described in this paper.
The Course of PTSD, Major Depression, Substance Abuse, and Somatization After a Natural Disaster

Flood research has used a variety of methods, yielding inconsistent findings. Universal definitions of illness are paramount to the science of psychiatric epidemiology of disasters. St. Louis area survivors (N = 162) of the Great Midwestern Floods of 1993 received a structured diagnostic assessment at 4 and 16 months postdisaster, with 88% follow-up. The purpose of the assessment was to examine predisaster and postdisaster rates of disorders and symptoms. Flood-related posttraumatic stress disorder was diagnosed in 22% and 16% at index and follow-up, respectively. Comorbidity with major depression determined whether the posttraumatic stress disorder would have remitted by 1 year later. Nearly one half of the men in the sample had a pre-existing alcohol use disorder. Virtually no new substance abuse followed the floods, and hence, substance abuse did not develop in response to the disaster or as part of coping with its aftermath. Somatization disorder was not observed; new somatoform symptoms represented a fraction of postflood somatic complaints. Findings are inconsistent with causal attribution of floods in the etiology of alcohol abuse and somatization. Methodological differences may account for much of the apparent discrepancy of these findings, with recent reports of increased alcohol use and somatic symptoms observed after other disasters.