Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Single-Carrier Modulation Versus OFDM for Millimeter-Wave Wireless MIMO

This paper presents results on the achievable spectral efficiency and on the energy efficiency for a wireless multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) link operating at millimeter wave frequencies (mmWave) in a typical 5G scenario. Two different single-carrier modem schemes are considered, i.e., a traditional modulation scheme with linear equalization at the receiver, and a single-carrier modulation with cyclic prefix, frequency-domain equalization and fast Fourier transform-based processing at the receiver; these two schemes are compared with a conventional MIMO orthogonal frequency division multiplexing transceiver structure. Our analysis jointly takes into account the peculiar characteristics of MIMO channels at mmWave frequencies, the use of hybrid (analog-digital) pre-coding and post-coding beamformers, the finite cardinality of the modulation structure, and the non-linear behavior of the transmitter power amplifiers. Our results show that the best performance is achieved by single-carrier modulation with time-domain equalization, which exhibits the smallest loss due to the non-linear distortion, and whose performance can be further improved by using advanced equalization schemes. Results also confirm that performance gets severely degraded when the link length exceeds 90–100 m and the transmit power falls below 0 dBW.
FTU results with a liquid lithium limiter

Since the end of 2005 most of the plasma–wall interaction experiments on FTU have been focused on the possible use of liquid lithium as the plasma facing material. Liquid lithium limiter is an active method to deposit, during the plasma discharge, a lithium film on the walls with prolonged beneficial effects. Reliable operation with very clean plasmas, very low wall particle recycling, spontaneous peaking of the density profile for line-averaged density values have been obtained. These results have allowed us to extend the density limit to the highest value so far obtained ( at Ip = 0.7 MA and BT = 7.1 T, qa = 5.0, by gas puffing only) and to increase the energy confinement time by almost 50% with respect to the average value of 50 ms of the old ohmic FTU database. An accurate analysis of these plasmas has been carried out by means of a gyrokinetic code to establish the role of collisionality and density gradients on the observed phenomenology.
The Relationship between Associative Learning, Transfer Generalization, and Homocysteine Levels in Mild Cognitive Impairment

Previous studies have shown that high total homocysteine levels are associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In this study, we test the relationship between cognitive function and total homocysteine levels in healthy subjects (Global Dementia Rating, CDR = 0) and individuals with MCI (CDR = 0.5). We have used a cognitive task that tests learning and generalization of rules, processes that have been previously shown to rely on the integrity of the striatal and hippocampal regions, respectively. We found that total homocysteine levels are higher in MCI individuals than in healthy controls. Unlike what we expected, we found no difference between MCI subjects and healthy controls in learning and generalization. We conducted further analysis after diving MCI subjects in two groups, depending on their Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) scores: individuals with very mild cognitive decline (vMCD, GDS = 2) and mild cognitive decline (MCD, GDS = 3). There was no difference among the two MCI and healthy control groups in learning performance. However, we found that individuals with MCD make more generalization errors than healthy controls and individuals with vMCD. We found no difference in the number of generalization errors between healthy controls and MCI individuals with vMCD. In addition, interestingly, we found that total homocysteine levels correlate positively with generalization errors, but not with learning errors. Our results are in agreement with prior results showing a link between hippocampal function, generalization performance, and total homocysteine levels. Importantly, our study is perhaps among the first to test the relationship between learning (and generalization) of rules and homocysteine levels in healthy controls and individuals with MCI.
Arginine Deprivation With Pegylated Arginine Deiminase in Patients With Argininosuccinate Synthetase 1–Deficient Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance Preclinical studies show that arginine deprivation is synthetically lethal in argininosuccinate synthetase 1 (ASS1)-negative cancers, including mesothelioma. The role of the arginine-lowering agent pegylated arginine deiminase (ADI-PEG20) has not been evaluated in a randomized and biomarker-driven study among patients with cancer. Objective To assess the clinical impact of arginine depletion in patients with ASS1-deficient malignant pleural mesothelioma. Design, Setting, and Participants A multicenter phase 2 randomized clinical trial, the Arginine Deiminase and Mesothelioma (ADAM) study, was conducted between March 2, 2011, and May 21, 2013, at 8 academic cancer centers. Immunohistochemical screening of 201 patients (2011-2013) identified 68 with advanced ASS1-deficient malignant pleural mesothelioma. Interventions Randomization 2:1 to arginine deprivation (ADI-PEG20, 36.8 mg/m2, weekly intramuscular) plus best supportive care (BSC) or BSC alone. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary end point was progression-free survival (PFS) assessed by modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) (target hazard ratio, 0.60). Secondary end points were overall survival (OS), tumor response rate, safety, and quality of life, analyzed by intention to treat. We measured plasma arginine and citrulline levels, anti–ADI-PEG20 antibody titer, ASS1 methylation status, and metabolic response by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography. Results Median (range) follow-up in 68 adults (median [range] age, 66 [48-83] years; 19% female) was 38 (2.5-39) months. The PFS hazard ratio was 0.56 (95% CI, 0.33-0.96), with a median of 3.2 months in the ADI-PEG20 group vs 2.0 months in the BSC group (P = .03) (absolute risk, 18% vs 0% at 6 months). Best response at 4 months (modified RECIST) was stable disease: 12 of 23 (52%) in the ADI-PEG20 group vs 2 of 9 (22%) in the BSC group (P = .23). The OS curves crossed, so life expectancy was used: 15.7 months in the ADI-PEG20 group vs 12.1 months in the BSC group (difference of 3.6 [95% CI, −1.0 to 8.1] months; P = .13). The incidence of symptomatic adverse events of grade at least 3 was 11 of 44 (25%) in the ADI-PEG20 group vs 4 of 24 (17%) in the BSC group (P = .43), the most common being immune related, nonfebrile neutropenia, gastrointestinal events, and fatigue. Differential ASS1 gene-body methylation correlated with ASS1 immunohistochemistry, and longer arginine deprivation correlated with improved PFS. Conclusions and Relevance In this trial, arginine deprivation with ADI-PEG20 improved PFS in patients with ASS1-deficient mesothelioma. Targeting arginine is safe and warrants further clinical investigation in arginine-dependent cancers. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01279967
Are Elderly Patients With Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer Overtreated? Exploring Heterogeneity in Survival Effects

Background:Clinical trial evidence shows minimal survival gains and higher complication rates from radical prostatectomy (RP) versus watchful waiting (WW) for elderly men with localized prostate cancer (PCa). It is believed that these patients are overtreated. The current analyses aim to explore patient-level heterogeneity in survival effects, examine matching of patients to treatments in practice, and identify patient characteristics driving heterogenous effects, in order to present more comprehensive evidence about the concerns of overtreatment. Methods:Eleven-year all-cause and PCa-specific survival among SEER-Medicare patients diagnosed during 1996–2002 were analyzed using local instrumental variable approaches. Results:A total of 8462 (77%) of 11,036 patients received RP. The average effects of RP over WW on 11-year overall and cancer-specific survival were 1.1 months (95%CI, −25, 28; P=0.94) and 1.7 months (95%CI, −25, 29; P=0.90) respectively; effects did not differ significantly according to age, race, grade, and stage. Fewer than 1% of patients had significant cancer-specific survival benefit from RP at the 10% level; 6% were expected to gain over 15 months from RP. However, patients with larger expected survival gains from RP were much more likely to receive RP in practice. Such positive self-selection was driven by PCa-specific survival than overall survival. Several comorbidities may play a critical role in predicting who could benefit from RP. Conclusions:Our analyses corroborate concerns about PCa overtreatment. A small fraction of screen-detected PCa patients derive survival benefits from RP. Prediction tools should account for patient comorbidities to accurately predict survival benefits of RP over WW.
Increased frequencies of CD4+CD25high regulatory T cells in acute dengue infection

Dengue virus infection is an increasingly important tropical disease, causing 100 million cases each year. Symptoms range from mild febrile illness to severe hemorrhagic fever. The pathogenesis is incompletely understood, but immunopathology is thought to play a part, with antibody-dependent enhancement and massive immune activation of T cells and monocytes/macrophages leading to a disproportionate production of proinflammatory cytokines. We sought to investigate whether a defective population of regulatory T cells (T reg cells) could be contributing to immunopathology in severe dengue disease. CD4+CD25highFoxP3+ T reg cells of patients with acute dengue infection of different severities showed a conventional phenotype. Unexpectedly, their capacity to suppress T cell proliferation and to secrete interleukin-10 was not altered. Moreover, T reg cells suppressed the production of vasoactive cytokines after dengue-specific stimulation. Furthermore, T reg cell frequencies and also T reg cell/effector T cell ratios were increased in patients with acute infection. A strong indication that a relative rise of T reg cell/effector T cell ratios is beneficial for disease outcome comes from patients with mild disease in which this ratio is significantly increased (P < 0.0001) in contrast to severe cases (P = 0.2145). We conclude that although T reg cells expand and function normally in acute dengue infection, their relative frequencies are insufficient to control the immunopathology of severe disease.
Th17 Responses to Collagen Type V, kα1‐Tubulin, and Vimentin Are Present Early in Human Development and Persist Throughout Life

T helper 17 (Th17)–dependent autoimmune responses can develop after heart or lung transplantation and are associated with fibro‐obliterative forms of chronic rejection; however, the specific self‐antigens involved are typically different from those associated with autoimmune disease. To investigate the basis of these responses, we investigated whether removal of regulatory T cells or blockade of function reveals a similar autoantigen bias. We found that Th17 cells specific for collagen type V (Col V), kα1‐tubulin, and vimentin were present in healthy adult peripheral blood mononuclear cells, cord blood, and fetal thymus. Using synthetic peptides and recombinant fragments of the Col V triple helical region (α1[V]), we compared Th17 cells from healthy donors with Th17 cells from Col V–reactive heart and lung patients. Although the latter responded well to α1(V) fragments and peptides in an HLA‐DR–restricted fashion, Th17 cells from healthy persons responded in an HLA‐DR–restricted fashion to fragments but not to peptides. Col V, kα1‐tubulin, and vimentin are preferred targets of a highly conserved, hitherto unknown, preexisting Th17 response that is MHC class II restricted. These data suggest that autoimmunity after heart and lung transplantation may result from dysregulation of an intrinsic mechanism controlling airway and vascular homeostasis.
Local Risk-Minimization Under Transaction Costs

We propose a new approach to the pricing and hedging of contingent claims under transaction costs in a general incomplete market in discrete time. Under the assumptions of a bounded mean-variance tradeoff, substantial risk and a nondegeneracy condition on the conditional variances of asset returns, we prove the existence of a locally risk-minimizing strategy inclusive of transaction costs for every square-integrable contingent claim. Then we show that local risk-minimization is robust under the inclusi on of transaction costs: The preceding strategy which is locally risk-minimizing inclusive of transaction costs in a model with bid-ask spreads on the underlying asset is also locally risk-minimizing without transaction costs in a fictitious model which i s frictionless and where the fictitious asset price lies between the bid and ask price processes of the original model. In particular, our results apply to any nondegenerate model with a finite state space if the transaction cost parameter is sufficiently small.
The RACAI speech translation system challenges of morphologically rich languages

Recent advances in Multilingual Machine Translation and in Speech Processing, coupled with the unprecedented computing power increase of mobile devices, served by faster communication means, made possible the implementation of operational Speech to Speech (S2S) translation systems on smart phones and tablets. Through S2S, a text spoken in one language is automatically recognized, translated and synthesized in another language. This article presents an overview of the first version of our Android-based Romanian-English bi-directional speech translation system and covers the methods and technologies used for implementing it. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first bidirectional S2S for Romanian-English implemented on mobile devices.
Three hours of intermittent hypoxia increases circulating glucose levels in healthy adults

An independent association exists between sleep apnea and diabetes. Animal models suggest exposure to intermittent hypoxia, a consequence of sleep apnea, results in altered glucose metabolism and fasting hyperglycemia. However, it is unknown if acute exposure to intermittent hypoxia increases glucose concentrations in nondiabetic humans. We hypothesized plasma glucose would be increased from baseline following 3 h of intermittent hypoxia in healthy humans independent of any effect on insulin sensitivity. Eight (7M/1F, 21–34 years) healthy subjects completed two study visits randomized to 3 h of intermittent hypoxia or continuous normoxia, followed by an oral glucose tolerance test. Intermittent hypoxia consisted of 25 hypoxic events per hour where oxygen saturation (SpO2) was significantly reduced (Normoxia: 97 ± 1%, Hypoxia: 90 ± 2%, P < 0.01). Venous plasma glucose concentrations were measured on both visits before and after the 3 h protocol. No changes in plasma glucose were observed from baseline after 3 h of continuous normoxia (5.1 ± 0.2 vs. 5.1 ± 0.1 mmol/L, P > 0.05). In contrast, circulating glucose concentrations were increased after 3 h of intermittent hypoxia when compared to baseline (5.0 ± 0.2 vs. 5.3 ± 0.2 mmol/L, P = 0.01). There were no detectable changes in insulin sensitivity following intermittent hypoxia when compared to continuous normoxia, as assessed by the oral glucose tolerance test (P > 0.05). Circulating glucose is increased after 3 h of intermittent hypoxia in healthy humans, independent of any lasting changes in insulin sensitivity. These novel findings could explain, in part, the high prevalence of diabetes in patients with sleep apnea and warrant future studies to identify underlying mechanisms.
Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Behaviour and Strength of Composite Steel-CFRP Members

The use of advanced composite materials to strengthen and repair existing structures is increasing rapidly. One specific area in which the technique has recently been introduced is the strengthening of metallic structures with bonded carbon-fibre laminates. In this paper, the behaviour of composite steel-CFRP members is studied experimentally and using FE analysis. A new type of test specimen has been developed to examine the effect of various material parameters on the behaviour and strength of bonded steel-CFRP elements. Finite element analysis of the tested elements was also employed to examine the type and magnitude of interfacial stresses in the bond line of these elements. Moreover, different types of fracture mode could be examined by testing composite elements with different combinations of CFRP-laminates and adhesives. The tested composite elements displayed different behaviour and a large difference in strength and ductility could be observed.
EasyCommit: A Non-blocking Two-phase Commit Protocol

Large scale distributed databases are designed to support commercial and cloud based applications. The minimal expectation from such systems is that they ensure consistency and reliability in case of node failures. The distributed database guarantees reliability through the use of atomic commitment protocols. Atomic commitment protocols help in ensuring that either all the changes of a transaction are applied or none of them exist. To ensure efficient commitment process, the database community has mainly used the two-phase commit (2PC) protocol. However, the 2PC protocol is blocking under multiple failures. This necessitated the development of the non-blocking, three-phase commit (3PC) protocol. However, the database community is still reluctant to use the 3PC protocol, as it acts as a scalability bottleneck in the design of efficient transaction processing systems. In this work, we present Easy Commit which leverages the best of both the worlds (2PC and 3PC), that is, non-blocking (like 3PC) and requires two phases (like 2PC). Easy Commit achieves these goals by ensuring two key observations: (i) first transmit and then commit, and (ii) message redundancy. We present the design of the Easy Commit protocol and prove that it guarantees both safety and liveness. We also present a detailed evaluation of EC protocol, and show that it is nearly as efficient as the 2PC protocol.
Effect of food deprivation on formalin-induced nociceptive behaviors and β-endorphin and sex hormone concentration in rats.

BACKGROUND The present study examined the possible role of endogenous opioidergic system in effect of food deprivation on formalin-induced nociceptive behaviors in male and female rats. Also, we investigated the effect of food deprivation on the plasma level of beta-endorphin and sex hormones. METHODS Food was withdrawn 48 h prior to performing the formalin test, but water continued to be available ad libitum. The formalin was injected into hind plantar paw. RESULTS There is significant difference between male and female control rats during phase 2B. Following 48-h food deprivation, both male and female rats exhibited enhanced nociceptive behavior in response to formalin. Food deprivation for 12 and 24 h increased and for 48 h decreased beta-endorphin level in male and female rats. Food deprivation for 24 h decreased testosterone level in male, while it had no significant effect on female rats and food deprivation for 48 h decreased testosterone level in both sexes. Food deprivation for 24 h increased estradiol level in female and that for 48 h had no significant effect on male and female rats. CONCLUSIONS The present study demonstrates the existence of food deprivation for 48 h causes enhancement of nociception in the formalin test in male and female rats that has correlation with decrease in plasma beta-endorphin and testosterone levels.
Agreeing Asynchronously: Announcement of Results

This paper formulates and solves a continuous-time version of the widely studied Vicsek consensus problem in which each agent independently updates its heading at times determined by its own clock. It is not assumed that the agents' clocks are synchronized or that the "event" times between which any one agent updates its heading are evenly spaced. Heading updates need not occur instantaneously. Using the concept of "analytic synchronization" together with several key results concerned with properties of "compositions" of directed graphs, it is shown that the conditions under which a consensus is achieved are essentially the same as those applicable in the synchronous discrete-time case provided the notion of an agent's neighbor between its event times is appropriately defined
Computationally efficient heart rate estimation during physical exercise using photoplethysmographic signals

Wearable devices that acquire photoplethysmographic (PPG) signals are becoming increasingly popular to monitor the heart rate during physical exercise. However, high accuracy and low computational complexity are conflicting requirements. We propose a method that provides highly accurate heart rate estimates at a very low computational cost in order to be implementable on wearables. To achieve the lowest possible complexity, only basic signal processing operations, i.e., correlation-based fundamental frequency estimation and spectral combination, harmonic noise damping and frequency domain tracking, are used. The proposed approach outperforms state-of-the-art methods on current benchmark data considerably in terms of computation time, while achieving a similar accuracy.
HNF1B controls epithelial organization and cell polarity during ureteric bud branching and collecting duct morphogenesis

Kidney development depends crucially on proper ureteric bud branching giving rise to the entire collecting duct system. The transcription factor HNF1B is required for the early steps of ureteric bud branching, yet the molecular and cellular events regulated by HNF1B are poorly understood. We report that specific removal of Hnf1b from the ureteric bud leads to defective cell-cell contacts and apicobasal polarity during the early branching events. High-resolution ex vivo imaging combined with a membranous fluorescent reporter strategy show decreased mutant cell rearrangements during mitosis-associated cell dispersal and severe epithelial disorganization. Molecular analysis reveals downregulation of Gdnf-Ret pathway components and suggests that HNF1B acts both upstream and downstream of Ret signaling by directly regulating Gfra1 and Etv5. Subsequently, Hnf1b deletion leads to massively mispatterned ureteric tree network, defective collecting duct differentiation and disrupted tissue architecture, which leads to cystogenesis. Consistently, mRNA-seq analysis shows that the most impacted genes encode intrinsic cell-membrane components with transporter activity. Our study uncovers a fundamental and recurring role of HNF1B in epithelial organization during early ureteric bud branching and in further patterning and differentiation of the collecting duct system in mouse. Summary: High-resolution analyses during ureteric bud branching reveal that HNFB1 is required for maintaining cell-cell contacts, for proper epithelial cell organization and for further differentiation of the collecting duct system.
Several ways to solve the MSO problem

The so called MSO-problem, – a simple superposition of two or more sinusoidal waves –, has recently been discussed as a benchmark problem for reservoir computing and was shown to be not learnable by standard echo state regression. However, we show that are at least three simple ways to learn the MSO signal by introducing a time window on the input, by changing the network time step to match the sampling rate of the signal, and by reservoir adaptation. The latter approach is based on an universal principle to implement a sparsity constraint on the network activity patterns which improves spatio-temporal encoding in the network.