Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Accurate spectral efficiency analysis for non orthogonal multiple access

This paper presents theoretical analysis on non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) for both downlink and uplink communications. Based on accurate evaluation, we propose closed-form expressions of NOMA downlink and uplink spectral efficiency. In terms of channel modelling, we map the channel conditions with Nakagami and Rayleigh models in which both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight are included. For uplink transmission, we extend our work to the case of random active users. The random nature is matched to appropriate probability models. These make our presented expressions very comprehensive and benefit us to study the impacts of channel conditions, random number of users, and other key system parameters on the NOMA spectral efficiency.
A laparoscopic telesurgical workstation

In this paper, various aspects of robotic telesurgery are studied. After a general introduction to laparoscopic surgery and medical applications of robotics, the UC Berkeley/Endorobotics Inc./UC San Francisco Telesurgical Workstation, a master-slave telerobotic system for laparoscopic surgery, is introduced, followed by its kinematic analysis, control, and experimental results. Some conceptual and future issues on telesurgery are discussed, including teleoperation and hybrid control, focusing on the special requirements of telesurgery.
3,4,5-Trihydroxycinnamic Acid Inhibits LPS-Induced iNOS Expression by Suppressing NF-κB Activation in BV2 Microglial Cells

Although various derivatives of caffeic acid have been reported to possess a wide variety of biological activities such as neuronal protection against excitotoxicity and anti-inflammatory property, the biological activity of 3,4,5-trihydroxycinnamic acid (THC), a derivative of hydroxycinnamic acids, has not been clearly examined. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of THC on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV2 microglial cells. THC significantly suppressed LPS-induced excessive production of nitric oxide (NO) and expression of iNOS, which is responsible for the production of iNOS. THC also suppressed LPS-induced overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and TNF-α in BV2 microgilal cells. Furthermore, THC significantly suppressed LPS-induced degradation of IκB, which retains NF-κB in the cytoplasm. Therefore, THC attenuated nuclear translocation of NF-κB, a major pro-inflammatory transcription factor. Taken together, the present study for the first time demonstrates that THC exhibits anti-inflammatory activity through the suppression of NF-κB transcriptional activation in LPS-stimulated BV2 microglial cells.
Energy-optimized dynamic deferral of workload for capacity provisioning in data centers

This paper explores the opportunity for energy cost saving in data centers that utilizes the flexibility from the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and proposes a novel approach for capacity provisioning under bounded latency requirements of the workload. We investigate how many servers to keep active and how much workload to delay for energy saving while meeting latency constraints. We present an offline LP formulation for capacity provisioning by dynamic deferral and give two online algorithms to determine the capacity of the data center and the assignment of workload to servers dynamically. We prove the feasibility of the online algorithms and show that their worst case performances are bounded by constant factors with respect to the offline formulation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first formulation for capacity provisioning in data centers considering workload deferral with bounded latency. We validate our algorithms on MapReduce workload by provisioning capacity on a Hadoop cluster and show that the algorithms actually perform much better in practice compared to the naive `follow the workload' provisioning, resulting in 20-40% cost-savings.
Compact architecture for high-throughput regular expression matching on FPGA

In this paper we present a novel architecture for high-speed and high-capacity regular expression matching (REM) on FPGA. The proposed REM architecture, based on nondeterministic finite automaton (RE-NFA), efficiently constructs regular expression matching engines (REME) of arbitrary regular patterns and character classes in a uniform structure, utilizing both logic slices and block memory (BRAM) available on modern FPGA devices. The resulting circuits take advantage of synthesis and routing optimizations to achieve high operating speed and area efficiency. The uniform structure of our RE-NFA design can be stacked in a simple way to produce multi-character input circuits to scale up throughput further. An n-state m-character input REME takes only O (n X log2 m) time to construct and occupies no more than O (n X m) logic units. The REMEs can be staged and pipelined in large numbers to achieve high parallelism without sacrificing clock frequency. Using the proposed RE-NFA architecture, we are able to implement 3 copies of two-character input REMEs, each with 760 regular expressions, 18715 states and 371 character classes, onto a single Xilinx Virtex 4 LX-100-12 device. Each copy processes 2 characters per clock cycle at 300 MHz, resulting in a concurrent throughput of 14.4 Gbps for 760 REMEs. Compared with the automatic NFA-to-VHDL REME compilation [13], our approach achieves over 9x throughput efficiency (Gbps*state/LUT). Compared with state-of-the-art REMEs on FPGA, our approach also indicates up to 70% better throughput efficiency.
Epicardial Substrate and Outcome With Epicardial Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia in Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy/Dysplasia

Background— Efficacy of endocardial ventricular tachycardia (VT) ablation in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia may be limited by epicardial VT, right ventricular thickening, or both. We sought to characterize the endocardial versus epicardial substrate, measure right ventricular free wall thickness, and determine epicardial ablation efficacy in patients with right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia. Methods and Results— Thirteen consecutive patients (3 female; aged 43±15 years; range, 17 to 70 years) undergoing endocardial and epicardial sinus rhythm voltage mapping and epicardial VT ablation after failed endocardial VT ablation were included. In each patient, the low bipolar voltage area (<1.0 mV for epicardium and <1.5 mV for endocardium) was more extensive on the epicardium (95±47 versus 38±32 cm2; P<0.001) and was uniformly marked by multicomponent and late electrograms. The basal right ventricular thickness assessed by electroanatomic map was >10 mm in 6 of 13 patients compared with 5 to 10 mm in 4 reference patients without structural disease. Twenty-seven VTs were targeted on the epicardium with the use of activation, entrainment, or pace mapping with focal/linear ablation and targeting of late potentials. Epicardial VTs were targeted opposite normal endocardium in 10 patients (77%) and/or opposite ineffective endocardial ablation sites in 11 patients (85%). During 18±13 months, 10 of the 13 patients (77%) had no VT, with 2 patients having only a single VT at 2 and 38 months, respectively. Conclusions— Patients with right ventricular cardiomyopathy/dysplasia and VT after endocardial ablation have a more extensive epicardial area of electrogram abnormalities and frequently have basal right ventricular wall thickening. Epicardial substrate and VT mapping identifies targets, and ablation results in VT control.
Prevalence of hemoglobinopathy, ABO and rhesus blood groups in rural areas of West Bengal, India

Background: Hemoglobinopathies are a group of inherited disorders of hemoglobin synthesis. It could be formed a fatal scenario in concern of lacking of actual information. Beside this, ABO and Rh blood grouping are also important matter in transfusion and forensic medicine and to reduce new born hemolytic disease (NHD). Materials and Methods: The spectrum and prevalence of various hemoglobinopathies, ABO and rhesus (Rh) blood groups was screened among patients who visited B.S. Medical College and Hospital, Bankura, West Bengal, India. This study was carried out on 958 patients of different ages ranging from child to adults from January to June 2011. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), complete blood count (CBC) and hemagglutination technique were performed for the assessment of abnormal hemoglobin variants, ABO and Rh blood groups, respectively. Results: Results from this study had been shown that there was high prevalence of hemoglobinpathies (27.35%) where β-thalassemia in heterozygous state occurred more frequent than other hemoglobinopathies. Out of 958 patients, 72.65% were HbAA and 27.35% were hemoglobinopathies individuals where 17.64% β-thalassemia heterozygous, 2.92% β-thalassemia homozygous, 3.86% HbAE, 1.15% HbAS trait, 1.25% HbE-β thalassemia trait and 0.52% HbS-β thalassemia trait were found. No incidence of HbSS, HbSC, HbCC, HbD and other variants of hemoglobinpathies were observed. The gene frequencies with respect to ABO systems had been shown as O > B > A > AB. Blood group O was the highest (35.8%) and the least percentage distribution was blood group AB (6.68%). Rhesus positive (Rh+) were 97.7%, while the remaining was 2.3% Rhesus negative (Rh-). The frequencies of A+, B+, AB+, and O+ blood groups were 22.44%, 33.61%, 6.58%, and 35.07%, respectively. Conclusions: Remarkable percentages of hemoglobinopathies were prevalent from the present study. An extensive screening of the population is needed to assess the prevalence of hemoglobinopathies, which will help in identification of carriers of hemoglobinopathies and further it will be of assistance in taking adequate therapeutic and preventive measures.
Transcriptome Analysis of the Arabidopsis Megaspore Mother Cell Uncovers the Importance of RNA Helicases for Plant Germline Development

Germ line specification is a crucial step in the life cycle of all organisms. For sexual plant reproduction, the megaspore mother cell (MMC) is of crucial importance: it marks the first cell of the plant “germline” lineage that gets committed to undergo meiosis. One of the meiotic products, the functional megaspore, subsequently gives rise to the haploid, multicellular female gametophyte that harbours the female gametes. The MMC is formed by selection and differentiation of a single somatic, sub-epidermal cell in the ovule. The transcriptional network underlying MMC specification and differentiation is largely unknown. We provide the first transcriptome analysis of an MMC using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana with a combination of laser-assisted microdissection and microarray hybridizations. Statistical analyses identified an over-representation of translational regulation control pathways and a significant enrichment of DEAD/DEAH-box helicases in the MMC transcriptome, paralleling important features of the animal germline. Analysis of two independent T-DNA insertion lines suggests an important role of an enriched helicase, MNEME (MEM), in MMC differentiation and the restriction of the germline fate to only one cell per ovule primordium. In heterozygous mem mutants, additional enlarged MMC-like cells, which sometimes initiate female gametophyte development, were observed at higher frequencies than in the wild type. This closely resembles the phenotype of mutants affected in the small RNA and DNA-methylation pathways important for epigenetic regulation. Importantly, the mem phenotype shows features of apospory, as female gametophytes initiate from two non-sister cells in these mutants. Moreover, in mem gametophytic nuclei, both higher order chromatin structure and the distribution of LIKE HETEROCHROMATIN PROTEIN1 were affected, indicating epigenetic perturbations. In summary, the MMC transcriptome sets the stage for future functional characterization as illustrated by the identification of MEM, a novel gene involved in the restriction of germline fate.
EVIDENCE FOR IMPACTS OF NONINDIGENOUS MACROALGAE: A META‐ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTAL FIELD STUDIES 1

Invasions by nonindigenous macroalgal species (NIMS) potentially cause severe impacts on native species. We conducted a meta‐analysis of 18 field‐based manipulative experiments to quantify the direction and magnitude of impacts (Hedges effect size d, hereafter ES). We found significant small‐to‐medium negative effects on “macrophyte abundance” (cover, biomass of native taxa; EScumulative = −0.30) and medium‐to‐large negative effects on “macrophyte assemblages” (richness, diversity, total abundance; EScumulative = −0.70). In contrast, EScumulative were not significant for “macrophyte processes” (growth, mortality; EScumulative = −0.39), “animal abundance” (densities; EScumulative = −0.13), or “animal assemblages” (richness, diversity; EScumulative = 0.75). The nonsignificant effect sizes were characterized by low sample sizes and should be interpreted with caution. Three study‐specific effect sizes were particularly large (<−2.0), showing that, in specific cases, impacts can be highly negative. From a conservation perspective, focus could be on such worst‐case scenarios. Still, the reported EScumulative are likely biased toward larger effects because only the most conspicuous NIMS have been tested and because nonsignificant results are less likely to be published. To better understand the impacts of NIMS, more manipulative experiments are needed, testing more species and under contrasting environmental conditions. Future studies should include procedural control treatments and report the abundance of the NIMS to avoid ambiguous interpretations. In conclusion, current experimental evidence shows that NIMS have, on average, small‐to‐large negative impacts on native plant species and assemblages. It is possible that these effects can result in severe consequences when accumulated over long time periods and large spatial scales.
Relationship of antiphospholipid antibodies to cardiovascular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE Although antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) are associated with arterial and venous thrombosis in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the extent to which they influence other cardiovascular manifestations is either controversial or uncertain. We undertook this study to examine the relationships of aPL with valvular, myocardial, and arterial disease in SLE. METHODS Two hundred patients in an SLE registry, recruited at the time of outpatient visits, underwent comprehensive interviews, physical examinations, laboratory assessments, echocardiography to assess left ventricular (LV) and valvular status, carotid ultrasonography to detect atherosclerosis (discrete plaque), and radial applanation tonometry to measure arterial stiffness. RESULTS Antiphospholipid antibodies were present(defined as IgG or IgM anticardiolipin > or =40 IU/ml or the presence of lupus anticoagulant) in 42 patients (21%). Mitral valve nodules and moderate-to-severe mitral regurgitation were more common in aPL-positive patients (both 14.3% versus 4.4%; P = 0.02). Thirty-one percent of patients with high titers of IgG aPL (>80 IU/ml) had mitral valve nodules, compared with 20% of patients with mildly to moderately elevated levels of IgG aPL (16-80 IU/ml) and 4% of patients without IgG aPL (overall P < 0.001). Levels of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors were higher in the presence of both aPL and mitral valve nodules. LV dimensions, systolic function, and carotid artery stiffness as well as prevalences of Raynaud's phenomenon, pulmonary hypertension, and atherosclerosis were similar in aPL-positive and aPL-negative patients. CONCLUSION Antiphospholipid antibodies in SLE are associated with mitral valve nodules and significant mitral regurgitation, possibly due to valvular endothelial cell activation. However, in this population, they are not associated with evidence of myocardial hypertrophy, systolic dysfunction, coronary or carotid atherosclerosis, or other vascular abnormalities.
Membrane interaction of retroviral Gag proteins

Assembly of an infectious retroviral particle relies on multimerization of the Gag polyprotein at the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane. The three domains of Gag common to all retroviruses – MA, CA, and NC – provide the signals for membrane binding, assembly, and viral RNA packaging, respectively. These signals do not function independently of one another. For example, Gag multimerization enhances membrane binding and is more efficient when NC is interacting with RNA. MA binding to the plasma membrane is governed by several principles, including electrostatics, recognition of specific lipid head groups, hydrophobic interactions, and membrane order. HIV-1 uses many of these principles while Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) appears to use fewer. This review describes the principles that govern Gag interactions with membranes, focusing on RSV and HIV-1 Gag. The review also defines lipid and membrane behavior, and discusses the complexities in determining how lipid and membrane behavior impact Gag membrane binding.
Democracy and Trade—Evidence along the Distribution of Trading Activity

This paper analyzes the impact of democracy on trade along the distribution of countries' trading activity. We find a stronger relationship between democracy and trade at the lower quantiles of the trading activity, especially for the importing activity. Our results imply that the impact of democratization on trade is more important at a lower level of trading activity. Democratization's marginal benefit decreases over the distribution of the trading activity. We specially focus on a widely neglected issue in the literature: economies with higher trading activity are not necessarily the most democratic countries in the world. We find particular differences in the case of China, Malaysia, Mexico and Russia. Quantile regressions offer a powerful tool to detect these interdependencies. Using a conditional mean estimation methodology only leads to the wrong conclusion that the relationship between democracy and trade remains the same across the distribution of the trading activity and across different countries. See above See above
T-Type Calcium Channel: A Privileged Gate for Calcium Entry and Control of Adrenal Steroidogenesis

Intracellular calcium plays a crucial role in modulating a variety of functions such as muscle contraction, hormone secretion, gene expression, or cell growth. Calcium signaling has been however shown to be more complex than initially thought. Indeed, it is confined within cell microdomains, and different calcium channels are associated with different functions, as shown by various channelopathies. Sporadic mutations on voltage-operated L-type calcium channels in adrenal glomerulosa cells have been shown recently to be the second most prevalent genetic abnormalities present in human aldosterone-producing adenoma. The observed modification of the threshold of activation of the mutated channels not only provides an explanation for this gain of function but also reminds us on the importance of maintaining adequate electrophysiological characteristics to make channels able to exert specific cellular functions. Indeed, the contribution to steroid production of the various calcium channels expressed in adrenocortical cells is not equal, and the reason has been investigated for a long time. Given the very negative resting potential of these cells, and the small membrane depolarization induced by their physiological agonists, low threshold T-type calcium channels are particularly well suited for responding under these conditions and conveying calcium into the cell, at the right place for controlling steroidogenesis. In contrast, high threshold L-type channels are normally activated by much stronger cell depolarizations. The fact that dihydropyridine calcium antagonists, specific for L-type channels, are poorly efficient for reducing aldosterone secretion either in vivo or in vitro, strongly supports the view that these two types of channels differently affect steroid biosynthesis. Whether a similar analysis is transposable to fasciculata cells and cortisol secretion is one of the questions addressed in the present review. No similar mutations on L-type or T-type channels have been described yet to affect cortisol secretion or to be linked to the development of Cushing syndrome, but several evidences suggest that the function of T channels is also crucial in fasciculata cells. Putative molecular mechanisms and cellular structural organization making T channels a privileged entry for the “steroidogenic calcium” are also discussed.
Local intra-arterial thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We performed a retrospective analysis of the prognostic factors in patients treated with local intra-arterial thrombolysis (LIT). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of LIT using urokinase in patients with acute ischemic stroke of the anterior or posterior circulation and to determine the influence of clinical and radiological parameters on outcome. METHODS Forty-three patients were treated with LIT using urokinase (median dose, 0.75x10(6) IU). The median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score at hospital admission was 18 (range, 9 to 36). Nine patients had occlusions of the internal carotid artery (ICA), 23 of the middle cerebral artery (MCA), 1 of the anterior cerebral artery, and 10 of the basilar artery (BA). Outcome was assessed after 3 months and classified as good for Rankin Scale (RS) scores of 0 to 3 and poor for RS scores of 4 or 5 and death. RESULTS Nine patients (21%) recovered to RS scores 0 or 1, 17 (40%) to scores of 2 or 3, and 7 (16%) to scores of 4 or 5. Ten patients (23%) died. Outcome was good in 17 patients (80%) with MCA occlusions, in 3 patients (33%) with ICA, and in 5 patients (50%) with BA occlusions. Good outcome was associated with an initial NIHSS score of <20 (P<0.001), improvement by 4 or more points on NIHSS score within 24 hours (P=0.001), and vessel recanalization (P=0.02). Recanalization was more likely if LIT was started within 4 hours (P=0.01). Symptomatic cerebral hemorrhage occurred in 2 patients (4.7%). CONCLUSIONS LIT was most efficacious in patients with MCA and BA occlusions when the initial NIHSS score was less than 20 and when treated within 4 hours. It is of limited value in patients with distal ICA occlusions.
A singular Poincaré lemma

We prove a Poincare lemma for a set of r smooth functions on a 2n-dimensional smooth manifold satisfying a commutation relation determined by r singular vector fields associated to a Cartan subalgebra of sp(2r, R). This result has a natural interpretation in terms of the cohomology associated to the infinitesimal deformation of a completely integrable system.
Effect of light regimen under various ambient temperatures on sow and litter performance.

Primiparous Large White females were exposed to one of two light regimens characterized by an increase (from 12 to 16 h/d, LONG treatment) or a decrease (from 12 to 8 h/d, SHORT treatment) in photoperiod during gestation. Two successive replicates were conducted, and farrowings occurred in January and July. During the last month of gestation, during lactation and after weaning, ambient temperatures varied between 18 and 25 degrees C and between 25 and 38 degrees C for the first and second replicates, respectively. Weaning occurred at 3 wk postpartum. Percentage of sows in estrus within 10 d after weaning was higher (P < .05) in the SHORT than in the LONG group for both replicates and when farrowing occurred in January compared with July for both photoperiod groups (SHORT-January: 92%, LONG-January: 53%, SHORT-July: 32%, LONG-July: 14%). Loss of live weight in sows during lactation was higher in July than in January and higher in the SHORT than in the LONG photoperiod (P < .05). Live weight of pigs at birth was higher in July than in January, whereas growth rate of pigs until weaning was higher in January (P < .05). Temperature may have a greater influence on sow and litter performance than photoperiod.