Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Design of Tunable Bandpass Filters With Ferrite Sandwich Materials by Using a Piezoelectric Transducer

With their high relative permeability and high permittivity, magneto-dielectric materials show great potential in tunable bandpass filter designs. This paper presents a novel tunable bandpass filter with magneto-dielectric perturbation by using a piezoelectric transducer (PET) on a microstrip hairpin. Compared to traditional dielectric perturbation, the frequency tunability of the bandpass filter with magneto-dielectric is much larger while the insertion loss is not much affected. NiCo-ferrite films were adopted to laminate magneto-dielectric sandwich structure on a commercially available Rogers substrate. Novel bandpass filter designs with self-biased NiCo-ferrite films on one layer to five layers of the sandwich structure were compared and investigated. A maximum frequency shift of 240 MHz with respect to the unperturbed condition has been achieved.
Use of Frontal Lobe Hemodynamics as Reinforcement Signals to an Adaptive Controller

Decision-making ability in the frontal lobe (among other brain structures) relies on the assignment of value to states of the animal and its environment. Then higher valued states can be pursued and lower (or negative) valued states avoided. The same principle forms the basis for computational reinforcement learning controllers, which have been fruitfully applied both as models of value estimation in the brain, and as artificial controllers in their own right. This work shows how state desirability signals decoded from frontal lobe hemodynamics, as measured with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), can be applied as reinforcers to an adaptable artificial learning agent in order to guide its acquisition of skills. A set of experiments carried out on an alert macaque demonstrate that both oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin concentrations in the frontal lobe show differences in response to both primarily and secondarily desirable (versus undesirable) stimuli. This difference allows a NIRS signal classifier to serve successfully as a reinforcer for an adaptive controller performing a virtual tool-retrieval task. The agent's adaptability allows its performance to exceed the limits of the NIRS classifier decoding accuracy. We also show that decoding state desirabilities is more accurate when using relative concentrations of both oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin, rather than either species alone.
C1 neurons: the body’s EMTs

Guyenet PG, Stornetta RL, Bochorishvili G, DePuy SD, Burke PG, Abbott SB. C1 neurons: the body’s EMTs. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 305: R187–R204, 2013. First published May 22, 2013; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00054. 2013. — The C1 neurons reside in the rostral and intermediate portions of the ventrolateral medulla (RVLM, IVLM). They use glutamate as a fast transmitter and synthesize catecholamines plus various neuropeptides. These neurons regulate the hypothalamic pituitary axis via direct projections to the paraventricular nucleus and regulate the autonomic nervous system via projections to sympathetic and parasympathetic preganglionic neurons. The presympathetic C1 cells, located in the RVLM, are probably organized in a roughly viscerotopic manner and most of them regulate the circulation. C1 cells are variously activated by hypoglycemia, infection or inflammation, hypoxia, nociception, and hypotension and contribute to most glucoprivic responses. C1 cells also stimulate breathing and activate brain stem noradrenergic neurons including the locus coeruleus. Based on the various effects attributed to the C1 cells, their axonal projections and what is currently known of their synaptic inputs, subsets of C1 cells appear to be differentially recruited by pain, hypoxia, infection/inflammation, hemorrhage, and hypoglycemia to produce a repertoire of stereotyped autonomic, metabolic, and neuroendocrine responses that help the organism survive physical injury and its associated cohort of acute infection, hypoxia, hypotension, and blood loss. C1 cells may also contribute to glucose and cardiovascular homeostasis in the absence of such physical stresses, and C1 cell hyperactivity may contribute to the increase in sympathetic nerve activity associated with diseases such as hypertension.
Effects of Training of Processing Speed on Neural Systems

Processing speed (PS) training improves performance on untrained PS tasks in the elderly. However, PS training's effects on the PS of young adults and on neural mechanisms are still unknown. In humans, we investigated this issue using psychological measures, voxel-based morphometry, the n-back task [a typical task for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies with conditions of 0-back (simple cognitive processes) and 2-back tasks (working memory; WM)], resting-state fMRI for the analysis of functional connectivity between brain regions during rest (resting-FC), and intensive adaptive training of PS. PS training was associated with (1) significant or substantial improvement in the performance of PS measures, (2) changes in the gray matter structures of the left superior temporal gyrus and the bilateral regions around the occipitotemporal junction, (3) changes in functional activity that are related to simple cognitive processes (but not those of WM) in the left perisylvian region, and (4) increased resting-FC between the left perisylvian area and the area that extends to the lingual gyrus and calcarine cortex. These results confirm the PS-training-induced plasticity in PS and the training-induced plasticity of functions and structures that are associated with speeded cognitive processes. The observed neural changes caused by PS training may give us new insights into how PS training, and possibly other cognitive training, can improve PS.
A Model-Based Intrusion Detection System for Smart Meters

Smart meters have gained wide adoption as an integral part of the smart grid. However, their security remains problematic as many attacks are discovered against them. Smart meters are embedded devices that are constrained in terms of computing power and memory. They are also deployed on a large scale which imposes specific requirements (e.g., no false positives) on any IDS developed for them. In this paper, we propose a model-based technique for building intrusion detection systems (IDS) for smart meters, that takes these constraints into account. We implement our IDS on an open source smart meter platform. We show that our IDS imposes little performance overhead, even under severe memory constraints, and effectively detects a wide range of both known and unknown attacks. In comparison, existing IDSs incur unacceptable performance overheads on the meter.
The SUMO E3 ligase RanBP2 promotes modification of the HDAC4 deacetylase

Transcriptional repression mediated through histone deacetylation is a critical component of eukaryotic gene regulation. Here we demonstrate that the class II histone deacetylase HDAC4 is covalently modified by the ubiquitin‐related SUMO‐1 modifier. A sumoylation‐deficient point mutant (HDAC4‐K559R) shows a slightly impaired ability to repress transcription as well as reduced histone deacetylase activity. The ability of HDAC4 to self‐aggregate is a prerequisite for proper sumoylation in vivo. Calcium/calmodulin‐dependent protein kinase (CaMK) signalling, which induces nuclear export, abrogates SUMO‐1 modification of HDAC4. Moreover, the modification depends on the presence of an intact nuclear localization signal and is catalysed by the nuclear pore complex (NPC) RanBP2 protein, a factor newly identified as a SUMO E3 ligase. These findings suggest that sumoylation of HDAC4 takes place at the NPC and is coupled to its nuclear import. Finally, modification experiments indicate that the MEF2‐interacting transcription repressor (MITR) as well as HDAC1 and ‐6 are similarly SUMO modified, indicating that sumoylation may be an important regulatory mechanism for the control of transcriptional repression mediated by both class I and II HDACs.
A Long Memory Model with Mixed Normal GARCH for US Inflation Data

We introduce a time series model that captures both long memory and conditional heteroskedasticity and assess their ability to describe the US inflation data. Specifically, the model allows for long memory in the conditional mean formulation and uses a normal mixture GARCH process to characterize conditional heteroskedasticity. We find that the proposed model yields a good description of the salient features, including skewness and heteroskedasticity, of the US inflation data. Further, the performance of the proposed model compares quite favorably with, for example, ARMA and ARFIMA models with GARCH errors characterized by normal, symmetric and skewed Student-t distributions.
Transforming growth factor (type beta) promotes the addition of chondroitin sulfate chains to the cell surface proteoglycan (syndecan) of mouse mammary epithelia

Cultured monolayers of NMuMG mouse mammary epithelial cells have augmented amounts of cell surface chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan (GAG) when cultured in transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), presumably because of increased synthesis on their cell surface proteoglycan (named syndecan), previously shown to contain chondroitin sulfate and heparan sulfate GAG. This increase occurs throughout the monolayer as shown using soluble thrombospondin as a binding probe. However, comparison of staining intensity of the GAG chains and syndecan core protein suggests variability among cells in the attachment of GAG chains to the core protein. Characterization of purified syndecan confirms the enhanced addition of chondroitin sulfate in TGF-beta: (a) radiosulfate incorporation into chondroitin sulfate is increased 6.2-fold in this proteoglycan fraction and heparan sulfate is increased 1.8-fold, despite no apparent increase in amount of core protein per cell, and (b) the size and density of the proteoglycan are increased, but reduced by removal of chondroitin sulfate. This is shown in part by treatment of the cells with 0.5 mM xyloside that blocks the chondroitin sulfate addition without affecting heparan sulfate. Higher xyloside concentrations block heparan sulfate as well and syndecan appears at the cell surface as core protein without GAG chains. The enhanced amount of GAG on syndecan is partly attributed to an increase in chain length. Whereas this accounts for the additional heparan sulfate synthesis, it is insufficient to explain the total increase in chondroitin sulfate; an approximately threefold increase in chondroitin sulfate chain addition occurs as well, confirmed by assessing chondroitin sulfate ABC lyase (ABCase)-generated chondroitin sulfate linkage stubs on the core protein. One of the effects of TGF-beta during embryonic tissue interactions is likely to be the enhanced synthesis of chondroitin sulfate chains on this cell surface proteoglycan.
Multidimensional text analysis for eRulemaking

To support rule-writers, we are developing techniques to automatically analyze large number of public comments on proposed regulations. A document is analyzed in various ways including argument structure, topics, and opinions. The individual results are integrated into a unified output. The experiments reported here were performed on comments submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency in response to their proposed rule for mercury regulation.
A Survey on Security Issues in Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing holds the potential to eliminate the requirements for setting up of high-cost computing infrastructure for the IT-based solutions and services that the industry uses. It promises to provide a flexible IT architecture, accessible through internet for lightweight portable devices. This would allow many-fold increase in the capacity or capabilities of the existing and new software. In a cloud computing environment, the entire data reside over a set of networked resources, enabling the data to be accessed through virtual machines. Since these data centers may lie in any corner of the world beyond the reach and control of users, there are multifarious security and privacy challenges that need to be understood and taken care of. Also, one can never deny the possibility of a server breakdown that has been witnessed, rather quite often in the recent times. There are various issues that need to be dealt with respect to security and privacy in a cloud computing scenario. This extensive survey paper aims to elaborate and analyze the numerous unresolved issues threatening the Cloud computing adoption and diffusion affecting the various stake-holders linked to it.
Correlations between polymorphisms in genes coding elements of dopaminergic pathways and body mass index in overweight and obese women.

INTRODUCTION Dopamine is considered to be crucial for food craving and intake, drug abuse and electrical brain stimulation. Increased levels of dopamine occur after energy intake in the dorsal striatum. In the ventral tagmental area, dopamine is responsible for motivation. There is a natural synaptic dopamine level, and as a result its activity is controlled by density of receptors, amount of released neurotransmitter, and defectiveness of re-uptake by specific transporters. In our study, we wanted to investigate if there is a correlation between mean BMI values and VNTR polymorphisms in SLC6A3 (rs28363170) and DRD4 genes. MATERIAL AND METHODS Chosen gene fragments were amplified using polymerase chain reaction on the DNA template obtained from 506 women. The products of the reaction were electrophoresed and visualised in 3% agarose gel. The genotyping data was analysed with Kruskal-Wallis tests (p 〈 0.05). RESULTS In the case of SLC6A3, statistically significant differences in mean BMI were found in the group of obese women (p 〈 0.05) but not for the whole population of women with normal weight or with overweight (p 〉 0.05). The mean BMI was higher for the SS genotype than for combined LL and LS genotypes. The difference in mean BMI values for variants of DRD4 was significant for the whole studied population and in the obese group (p 〉 0.05), and the higher value was correlated with the presence of a variant with seven or more repeats of 48 bp motif. CONCLUSIONS When the two analysed polymorphisms were combined, the spread between the mean BMI values became greater than for single genes. This suggests that the effect on body mass of these two polymorphisms may combine and cause hypo-functionality of the dopaminergic reward system.
Evaluation of subjective fatigue tool - a study addressing restaurant employees in Indonesia

Fatigue is a complex phenomenon, which may interfere productivity in many occupational settings. Nowadays, restaurant industry does not only offer good food, but also a pleasant experience and hospitality. To assess how restaurants employees in Indonesia perceived fatigue related to their job, assessment conducted using Swedish Occupational Fatigue Index (SOFI) in Indonesian language. The study involved 180 employees from 9 casual dining restaurants. Translated SOFI has good reliability and validity test result based on Cronbach Alpha value and internal consistency coefficient. Using F-test, the null hypothesis is rejected, and it can be concluded that the fatigue level of each dimension and employees from each restaurant is different. The greatest level of fatigue experienced by employees from restaurant ninth and employees from restaurant first is the lowest. Level of fatigue was acceptable (light to moderate), as indicated by the average value for most dimensions (less than 3.5 on scale of 1–7).
Branch and bound algorithms for rate-distortion optimized media streaming

We consider the problem of rate-distortion optimized streaming of packetized multimedia data over a single quality-of-service network using feedback and retransmissions. For a single data unit, we prove that the problem is NP-hard and provide efficient branch and bound algorithms that are much faster than the previously best solution based on dynamic programming. For a group of interdependent data units, we show how to compute optimal solutions with branch and bound algorithms. The branch and bound algorithms for a group of data units are much slower than the current state of the art, a heuristic technique known as sensitivity adaptation. However, in many real-world situations, they provide a significantly better rate-distortion performance.
Do mouse models reflect the diversity of osteoarthritis in humans?

While osteoarthritis (OA) is a “whole joint” disorder involving all joint tissues, progressive cartilage erosion is the major pathological indicator leading to joint replacement surgery. We have learned much about the molecular mechanisms driving cartilage destruction from studies of gene and protein expression in clinical material and in cell culture models, derived from human tissues. However, it is not possible to follow human patients longitudinally with regard to changes in gene expression in joint tissues in situ, since observations must be made as endpoints in operative specimens. Furthermore, biomarkers in synovial fluid, serum, and urine, as well as MRI, for early diagnosis or therapeutic outcome have yet to be fully characterized for use in cohorts, let alone in individual patients.
Genetic Variation in SULF2 Is Associated with Postprandial Clearance of Triglyceride-Rich Remnant Particles and Triglyceride Levels in Healthy Subjects

Context Nonfasting (postprandial) triglyceride concentrations have emerged as a clinically significant cardiovascular disease risk factor that results from accumulation of remnant triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRLs) in the circulation. The remnant TRLs are cleared from the circulation by hepatic uptake, but the specific mechanisms involved are unclear. The syndecan-1 heparan sulfate proteoglycan (HSPG) pathway is important for the hepatic clearance of remnant TRLs in mice, but its relevance in humans is unclear. Objective We sought to determine whether polymorphisms of the genes responsible for HSPG assembly and disassembly contribute to atherogenic dyslipoproteinemias in humans. Patients And Design We performed an oral fat load in 68 healthy subjects. Lipoproteins (chylomicrons and very low density lipoproteins 1 and 2) were isolated from blood, and the area under curve and incremental area under curve for postprandial variables were calculated. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes encoding syndecan-1 and enzymes involved in the synthesis or degradation of HSPG were genotyped in the study subjects. Results Our results indicate that the genetic variation rs2281279 in SULF2 associates with postprandial clearance of remnant TRLs and triglyceride levels in healthy subjects. Furthermore, the SNP rs2281279 in SULF2 associates with hepatic SULF2 mRNA levels. Conclusions In humans, mild but clinically relevant postprandial hyperlipidemia due to reduced hepatic clearance of remnant TRLs may result from genetic polymorphisms that affect hepatic HSPG.
Modelling of specific grinding energy for Inconel 718 superalloy

The present work is an attempt to model the components of specific grinding energy in a pragmatic manner. This work explores the contribution of specific energy constituents such as shearing, primary rubbing, secondary rubbing, and ploughing energy while grinding Inconel 718 (IN-718) superalloy. Specific shearing energy has been calculated using the dynamic yield strength of IN-718 as obtained by adopting the Johnson–Cook material model. Specific rubbing energy has been estimated using real contact length measured experimentally. Rubbing grit density has been estimated by considering grinding infeed, grit size, wheel structure, and work material hardness unlike the previous models, where it was mostly taken as a constant value. Single grit grinding experiments have been performed with 36 and 20 mesh size single alumina grits to obtain the insight of ductile flow in IN-718 grinding. These experiments have been conducted at grinding speeds of 5, 10, and 15 m/s using vacuum brazed single alumina grit shank fitted into aluminium make dummy grinding wheel. Specific ploughing energy has been estimated after suitably apportioning the tangential forces as obtained from single grit grinding. Two-dimensional study of the scratch profiles has been performed using a compound microscope to investigate plausible ploughing mechanisms of IN-718. The present studies indicate that at lower infeeds, micro-fracturing of alumina grits is more recurrent, whereas wear flattening is more common at higher infeed. The higher pile-up ratio at lower infeed signifies more ploughing resulting into inefficient cutting causing more energy consumption. The micro-fracturing of single alumina grit while scratching has also been observed. The present model for specific grinding energy is an improved version of earlier energy models as it incorporates variables which are much closer to the actual grinding conditions.
No Evidence for Human Papillomavirus in the Etiology of Colorectal Polyps

Background: While some studies have reported detection of oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) in colorectal tumors, others have not. Methods: We examined the association between oncogenic HPV infection and colorectal polyps in a case–control study of individuals with colorectal adenomas (n = 167), hyperplastic polyps (n = 87), and polyp-free controls (n = 250). We carried out real-time PCR for HPV-16 and -18 DNA, and SPF PCR covering 43 HPV types, on lesional and normal colorectal tissue samples. Plasma antibodies for oncogenic HPV types were assessed via a bead-based multiplex Luminex assay. Results: HPV DNA was not found in any of the 609 successfully assayed colorectal tissue samples from adenomas, hyperplastic polyps, normal biopsies adjacent to polyps, or normal biopsies of the rectum of disease-free controls. Also, there was no association between HPV seropositivity for all oncogenic HPV types combined, for either polyp type, and for men or women. When analyses were restricted to participants without a history of polyps, among men [adenomas (n = 31), hyperplastic polyps (n = 28), and controls (n = 68)], there was an association between seropositivity and hyperplastic polyps when all oncogenic HPV types were combined (OR = 3.0; 95% CI: 1.1–7.9). Conclusions: Overall, our findings do not support an etiologic relationship between HPV and colorectal adenomas or hyperplastic polyps; however, our finding suggesting an association between HPV seropositivity and hyperplastic polyps in men may warrant further investigations. Impact: After stringent controls for contamination and three methods to assess HPV infection, we report no evidence for HPV in the etiology of colorectal neoplasia for either men or women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 20(10); 2288–97. ©2011 AACR.
Anomaly Detection in Video Using Predictive Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory Networks

Automating the detection of anomalous events within long video sequences is challenging due to the ambiguity of how such events are defined. We approach the problem by learning generative models that can identify anomalies in videos using limited supervision. We propose end-to-end trainable composite Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory (Conv-LSTM) networks that are able to predict the evolution of a video sequence from a small number of input frames. Regularity scores are derived from the reconstruction errors of a set of predictions with abnormal video sequences yielding lower regularity scores as they diverge further from the actual sequence over time. The models utilize a composite structure and examine the effects of conditioning in learning more meaningful representations. The best model is chosen based on the reconstruction and prediction accuracy. The Conv-LSTM models are evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively, demonstrating competitive results on anomaly detection datasets. Conv-LSTM units are shown to be an effective tool for modeling and predicting video sequences.