Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Noncoherent decorrelative multiuser detection for nonlinear nonorthogonal modulation

Coherent multiuser detection for linear modulation has been the subject of intense research in the past decade. Noncoherent detection for linear differentially phase shift keyed modulation has also received considerable attention in recent years. This paper considers for the first time the problem of noncoherent multiuser detection for M-ary nonlinear nonorthogonal modulation in the synchronous Gaussian channel. A key idea proposed here is that of a noncoherent decorrelative front end for nonlinear modulation. Like its counterpart in linear modulation, that front-end eliminates multiuser interference and reduces the multiuser detection problem into that of single-user detection over an equivalent (noise-enhanced) single-user channel. However, the M effective signals of the equivalent single-user channel are correlated and of unequal energy. Noncoherent detection even in this single-user channel has been an open problem until now. We derive the optimum detector for this channel. It is unfortunately too complicated to implement or analyze. Two suboptimal detectors are hence proposed depending on whether the energies of the M signals are known or unknown at the receiver. For unknown energies, the generalised likelihood ratio test leads to a detector which is easy to implement. Error probability bounds are obtained for this detector. It is shown to be near-far resistant (in contrast to the conventional detector). For known energies, an asymptotic series expansion of a special function involved in the optimum noncoherent decision rule leads to the other suboptimum detector. Its analysis is more difficult but we nevertheless obtain exact expressions for error probability for binary modulation and bounds on error probability in the M-ary case. This detector can outperform the GLRT detector by a significant margin. Both detectors far outperform the conventional single-user detector.
BAKER–AKHIEZER FUNCTION AS ITERATED RESIDUE AND SELBERG-TYPE INTEGRAL

Abstract A simple integral formula as an iterated residue is presented for the Baker–Akhiezer function related to An-type root system in both the rational and trigonometric cases. We present also a formula for the Baker–Akhiezer function as a Selberg-type integral and generalise it to the deformed An,1-case. These formulas can be interpreted as new cases of explicit evaluation of Selberg-type integrals.
Determinants That Control the Distinct Subcellular Localization of p38α-PRAK and p38β-PRAK Complexes*

p38α and p38β MAPKs (mitogen-activated protein kinases) share about 80% of their protein sequence identity, but have quite different biological functions. One such difference is in regulating the subcellular localization of their downstream kinases, such as PRAK (p38-regulated/activated protein kinase or MK5). The p38α-PRAK complex is found in the nucleus, whereas the p38β-PRAK complex is exclusively localized to the cytosol. By generating a series of chimeric and point mutants of p38α and p38β, we found two amino acid residues (Asp145 and Leu156 in p38α, Gly145 and Val156 in p38β) that determine the distinct subcellular locations of p38α-PRAK and p38β-PRAK. The subcellular localization of MK2 (MAPK-activated protein kinase 2), another downstream kinase of p38, was regulated in the same manner as that of PRAK. We found that nuclear import, but not export, determines the subcellular localization of p38α-PRAK and p38β-PRAK. The published structure of the p38α-MK2 complex suggests Leu156 of p38α is involved in the interaction with the nuclear localization signal in PRAK. The difference at this residue between p38α and p38β may affect the nuclear localization signal in PRAK differently, and thereby influence the import of the complexes. Asp145 in p38α (or Gly145 in p38β) is located on a different surface patch, and further random mutagenesis revealed that mutation of Asp145, Thr123, and Gln325, the residues that can directly interact with importin α as predicted by modeling, but not mutation of the other 7 amino acid residues that cannot reach importin α, re-locate p38α-PRAK to the cytosol, suggesting that interaction with import machinery is involved in determining the subcellular localization of the p38α-PRAK and p38β-PRAK complexes. Last, we show that nuclear localization of PRAK is required for its role in inhibiting the proliferation of NIH3T3 cells. In conclusion, multiple determinants control the distinct subcellular localization of p38α-PRAK and p38β-PRAK complexes, and the location of PRAK plays a role in its function.
An FPGA architecture for high speed edge and corner detection

This paper presents an FPGA based architecture for high speed edge and corner detection. Applications targeted are in high speed computer vision (i.e. more than 100 images per second). The architecture design was centred on the minimization on the number of accesses to the image memory. The design is based on parallel modules with internal pipeline operation in order to improve its performance. The architecture design, FPGA resources utilization, results, and real time performance are discussed.
Duration of Graft Cold Ischemia Does Not Affect Outcomes in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients

BackgroundUtilizing donor hearts with prolonged graft ischemia may extend the donor pool. Methods and ResultsThe medical records of 363 infants and children, aged 1 day to 17 years, transplanted at Loma Linda University between November 1985 and March 2001, were retrospectively reviewed. Fourteen children received organs with prolonged ischemic times (>8 hours)(PIT) compared with 14 with short ischemic times (≤90 minutes)(SIT). There were no significant differences when comparing donors for gender, age, weight, cause of death, or duration of cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Preoperative donor shortening fraction (%), as determined by echocardiography, was significantly higher in the SIT group (44.5 versus 36.5%;P =0.006). There were no significant differences between PIT and SIT recipients when comparing age at transplant, weight at transplant, waiting time, weight mismatch, postoperative days on ventilator, duration of inotropic support, and hospital stay. Cardiopulmonary bypass time was significantly longer in the PIT group (140.5 versus 80.5 minute;P =0.001). Median length of follow-up for both groups was approximately 5 years. Five grafts were lost in the PIT group; 7 were lost in the SIT group, with 1 early graft loss in each group. Significant posttransplant coronary artery disease was diagnosed in 2 recipients in each group (PIT: 80 and 42; SIT: 84 and 67 months posttransplant). There was no significant difference between groups in actuarial graft survival. Number of rejection episodes and hospital readmissions during the first posttransplantation year did not differ significantly between groups. ConclusionLate outcomes were not adversely affected by donor hearts preserved by single dose cold crystalloid cardioplegia with greater than 8 hours of cold ischemia.
Cognitive Control Processes in Paranoia: The Impact of Threat Induction on Strategic Cognition and Self-Focused Attention

Background: Current clinical models emphasize certain cognitive processes in the maintenance of distressing paranoia. While a number of these processes have been examined in detail, the role of strategic cognition and self-focused attention remain under-researched. Aims: This study examined the deployment of cognitive strategies and self-focused attention in people with non-clinical paranoia. Method: An experimental design was used to examine the impact of a threat activation task on these processes, in participants with high and low non-clinical paranoia. Twenty-eight people were recruited to each group, and completed measures of anxiety, paranoid cognition, strategic cognition and self-focused attention. Results: The threat activation task was effective in increasing anxiety in people with high and low non-clinical paranoia. The high paranoia group experienced more paranoid cognitions following threat activation. This group also reported greater use of thought suppression, punishment and worry, and less use of social control strategies when under threat. No differences were found between the groups on measures of self-focused attention. Conclusions: This study shows that the threat activation task increased anxiety in people with high non-clinical paranoia, leading to increased paranoid thinking. The use of strategic cognition following threat activation varied dependent on level of non-clinical paranoia. If these differences are replicated in clinical groups, the strategies may be implicated in the maintenance of distressing psychosis, and may therefore be a valuable target for therapeutic intervention.
Improving POMDP Tractability via Belief Compression and Clustering

Partially observable Markov decision process (POMDP) is a commonly adopted mathematical framework for solving planning problems in stochastic environments. However, computing the optimal policy of POMDP for large-scale problems is known to be intractable, where the high dimensionality of the underlying belief space is one of the major causes. In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach that integrates two different approaches for reducing the dimensionality of the belief space: 1) belief compression and 2) value-directed compression. In particular, a novel orthogonal nonnegative matrix factorization is derived for the belief compression, which is then integrated in a value-directed framework for computing the policy. In addition, with the conjecture that a properly partitioned belief space can have its per-cluster intrinsic dimension further reduced, we propose to apply a k-means-like clustering technique to partition the belief space to form a set of sub-POMDPs before applying the dimension reduction techniques to each of them. We have evaluated the proposed belief compression and clustering approaches based on a set of benchmark problems and demonstrated their effectiveness in reducing the cost for computing policies, with the quality of the policies being retained.
The nature of bioadhesive bonding between barnacles and fouling-release silicone coatings

The failure mechanism of bioadhesive bonding between a marine macrofouler, the Balanus improvisus barnacle, and room-temperature vulcanized poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS)-based elastomers was investigated and compared with poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) panels. The strength of barnacle bioadhesive bonds measured in the shear mode when barnacles were detached from PDMS coatings was much lower than on PMMA and was comparable to the adhesion strength obtained in a 'pseudobarnacle test' in which an epoxy adhesive was used. The failure surfaces were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA), contact angle measurements, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Analysis of the fracture surfaces indicated that the failure mode was a cohesive failure within the PDMS coatings. It is suggested that the fouling-release properties of the silicone elastomers are facilitated by disentanglement and displacement of surface-enriched uncross-linked PDMS chains. The failure .
Online Advertisement, Optimization and Stochastic Networks

In this paper, we propose a stochastic model to describe how search service providers charge client companies based on users' queries for the keywords related to these companies' ads by using certain advertisement assignment strategies. We formulate an optimization problem to maximize the long-term average revenue for the service provider under each client's long-term average budget constraint and design an online algorithm which captures the stochastic properties of users' queries and click-through behaviors. We solve the optimization problem by making connections to scheduling problems in wireless networks, queueing theory and stochastic networks. Unlike prior models, we do not assume that the number of query arrivals is known. Due to the stochastic nature of the arrival process considered here, either temporary “free” service, i.e., service above the specified budget (which we call “overdraft”) or under-utilization of the budget (which we call “underdraft”) is unavoidable. We prove that our online algorithm can achieve a revenue that is within O(ε) of the optimal revenue while ensuring that the overdraft or underdraft is O(1/ε) , where ε can be arbitrarily small. With a view towards practice, we can show that one can always operate strictly under the budget. In addition, we extend our results to a click-through rate maximization model and also show how our algorithm can be modified to handle non-stationary query arrival processes and clients with short-term contracts. Our algorithm also allows us to quantify the effect of errors in click-through rate estimation on the achieved revenue. We show that we lose at most Δ/1+Δ fraction of the revenue if Δ is the relative error in click-through rate estimation. We also show that in the long run, an expected overdraft level of Ω(log(1/ε)) is unavoidable (a universal lower bound) under any stationary ad assignment algorithm which achieves a long-term average revenue within O(ε) of the offline optimum.
Treatment of patients with aortic atherosclerotic disease with paclitaxel-associated lipid nanoparticles

OBJECTIVE: The toxicity of anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agents can be reduced by associating these compounds, such as the anti-proliferative agent paclitaxel, with a cholesterol-rich nanoemulsion (LDE) that mimics the lipid composition of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). When injected into circulation, the LDE concentrates the carried drugs in neoplastic tissues and atherosclerotic lesions. In rabbits, atherosclerotic lesion size was reduced by 65% following LDE-paclitaxel treatment. The current study aimed to test the effectiveness of LDE-paclitaxel on inpatients with aortic atherosclerosis. METHODS: This study tested a 175 mg/m2 body surface area dose of LDE-paclitaxel (intravenous administration, 3/3 weeks for 6 cycles) in patients with aortic atherosclerosis who were aged between 69 and 86 yrs. A control group of 9 untreated patients with aortic atherosclerosis (72-83 yrs) was also observed. RESULTS: The LDE-paclitaxel treatment elicited no important clinical or laboratory toxicities. Images were acquired via multiple detector computer tomography angiography (64-slice scanner) before treatment and at 1-2 months after treatment. The images showed that the mean plaque volume in the aortic artery wall was reduced in 4 of the 8 patients, while in 3 patients it remained unchanged and in one patient it increased. In the control group, images were acquired twice with an interval of 6-8 months. None of the patients in this group exhibited a reduction in plaque volume; in contrast, the plaque volume increased in three patients and remained stable in four patients. During the study period, one death unrelated to the treatment occurred in the LDE-paclitaxel group and one death occurred in the control group. CONCLUSION: Treatment with LDE-paclitaxel was tolerated by patients with cardiovascular disease and showed the potential to reduce atherosclerotic lesion size.
Single Mutations in HIV Integrase Confer High-Level Resistance to Raltegravir in Primary Human Macrophages

ABSTRACT CD4+ T cells and macrophages are the primary target cells for HIV in vivo, and antiretroviral drugs can vary in their ability to inhibit the infection of these different cell types. Resistance pathways to the HIV integrase inhibitor raltegravir have previously been investigated in T cells. Primary raltegravir resistance mutations, most often at integrase amino acid position 148 or 155, afford some resistance to the drug. The acquisition of pathway-specific secondary mutations then provides higher-level resistance to viruses infecting T cells. We show here that during macrophage infection, the presence of a single primary raltegravir resistance mutation (Q148H, Q148R, N155H, or N155S) is sufficient to provide resistance to raltegravir comparable to that seen in viruses expressing both primary and secondary mutations in costimulated CD4+ T cells. These data implicate macrophages as a potential in vivo reservoir that may facilitate the development of resistance to raltegravir. Notably, the newer integrase inhibitor MK-2048 effectively suppressed the infection of all raltegravir-resistant viruses in both T cells and macrophages, indicating that more recently developed integrase inhibitors are capable of inhibiting infection in both major HIV cellular reservoirs, even in patients harboring raltegravir-resistant viruses.
Decoding Biosynthetic Pathways in Plants by Pulse-Chase Strategies Using 13CO2 as a Universal Tracer †

13CO2 pulse-chase experiments monitored by high-resolution NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry can provide 13C-isotopologue compositions in biosynthetic products. Experiments with a variety of plant species have documented that the isotopologue profiles generated with 13CO2 pulse-chase labeling are directly comparable to those that can be generated by the application of [U-13C6]glucose to aseptically growing plants. However, the application of the 13CO2 labeling technology is not subject to the experimental limitations that one has to take into account for experiments with [U-13C6]glucose and can be applied to plants growing under physiological conditions, even in the field. In practical terms, the results of biosynthetic studies with 13CO2 consist of the detection of pairs, triples and occasionally quadruples of 13C atoms that have been jointly contributed to the target metabolite, at an abundance that is well above the stochastic occurrence of such multiples. Notably, the connectivities of jointly transferred 13C multiples can have undergone modification by skeletal rearrangements that can be diagnosed from the isotopologue data. As shown by the examples presented in this review article, the approach turns out to be powerful in decoding the carbon topology of even complex biosynthetic pathways.
Increased nitric oxide synthase in the lung after ozone inhalation is associated with activation of NF-kappa B.

Acute inhalation of ozone is associated with a inflammatory response characterized by the accumulation of macrophages at sites of tissue injury. These cells, along with resident alveolar epithelial cells, become activated and release cytotoxic and proinflammatory mediators, such as nitric oxide (.NO), that we speculate contribute to toxicity. In these studies we analyzed mechanisms regulating increased . NO synthase activity in lung macrophages and type II cells after ozone inhalation. Brief exposure of rats to ozone (2 ppm for 3 hr) resulted in an increase in . NO production by alveolar macrophages as well as type II cells in response to the inflammatory mediators lipopolysaccharide and interferon gamma. These effects were apparently due to increased expression of inducible . NO synthase (iNOS) protein and mRNA, which were evident in vitro and in situ in histologic sections. NO production and iNOS protein expression by both macrophages and epithelial cells were blocked by pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC), an agent that inhibits activity of nuclear transcription factor kappa B (NF-kappa B). Cells from ozone-treated animals were less sensitive to the effects of PDTC than cells from control animals. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we measured NF-kappa B binding activity in nuclear extracts of cells from control and ozone-exposed animals. Treatment of rats with ozone resulted in a time-dependent increase in NF-kappa B binding activity in both cell types, reaching a maximum in cells isolated 12 to 24 hr after ozone inhalation. Taken together, these data suggest that changes in the activity of NF-kappa B signaling are important in the response of lung macrophages and type II epithelial cells to cytokines after ozone inhalation. ImagesFigure 1Figure 2
Elevated pretreatment serum levels of interferon‐inducible protein‐10 (CXCL10) predict disease relapse and prognosis in diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma patients

Although standard clinical prognostic factors predict outcome in diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL), predicting the outcome of patients might be further refined using biological factors. We tested whether serum cytokines could provide prognostic information in DLBCL patients. Thirty cytokines were measured in pretreatment samples from newly diagnosed DLBCL patients using a multiplex ELISA. Sixty‐nine patients treated with R‐CHOP plus epratuzumab were used in an initial cohort and 185 patients treated with standard R‐CHOP served as a subsequent validation cohort. In the initial cohort, elevated serum interleukin‐10 [IL‐10; hazard ratio (HR) = 6.6, P = 0.022], granulocyte macrophage colony‐stimulating factor (HR = 10.8, P= 0.027) and IP‐10 (interferon‐inducible protein‐10, CXCL10; HR = 3.32, P = 0.015) were associated with event‐free survival (EFS). An identical analysis of the subsequent validation cohort confirmed that elevated serum levels of IP‐10 were strongly associated with a poor EFS (HR = 2.42, P = 0.0007); and also identified interleukin‐8 (IL‐8; HR = 3.40, P = 0.00002) and interleukin‐2 receptor (IL‐2R, CD25; HR = 2.59, P = 0.0012) as significantly associated with prognosis. The prognostic significance of elevated IP‐10 remained significant after adjustment for the International Prognostic Index (EFS − HR 1.99, P = 0.009, overall survival‐HR 1.93, P = 0.021). Elevated pretreatment serum IP‐10 levels are therefore associated with an increased likelihood of disease relapse and an inferior survival in patients with DLBCL. Am. J. Hematol. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Genome-Wide Association Studies Identify Heavy Metal ATPase3 as the Primary Determinant of Natural Variation in Leaf Cadmium in Arabidopsis thaliana

Understanding the mechanism of cadmium (Cd) accumulation in plants is important to help reduce its potential toxicity to both plants and humans through dietary and environmental exposure. Here, we report on a study to uncover the genetic basis underlying natural variation in Cd accumulation in a world-wide collection of 349 wild collected Arabidopsis thaliana accessions. We identified a 4-fold variation (0.5–2 µg Cd g−1 dry weight) in leaf Cd accumulation when these accessions were grown in a controlled common garden. By combining genome-wide association mapping, linkage mapping in an experimental F2 population, and transgenic complementation, we reveal that HMA3 is the sole major locus responsible for the variation in leaf Cd accumulation we observe in this diverse population of A. thaliana accessions. Analysis of the predicted amino acid sequence of HMA3 from 149 A. thaliana accessions reveals the existence of 10 major natural protein haplotypes. Association of these haplotypes with leaf Cd accumulation and genetics complementation experiments indicate that 5 of these haplotypes are active and 5 are inactive, and that elevated leaf Cd accumulation is associated with the reduced function of HMA3 caused by a nonsense mutation and polymorphisms that change two specific amino acids.